Access agents in Microsoft Copilot and SharePoint

Microsoft Copilot Chat is available to eligible Microsoft 365 users with a Microsoft Entra account. It provides enterprise data protection and can use web search when organizational policy and user settings allow it. Microsoft Copilot adds work-grounded chat and Copilot experiences in Microsoft 365 apps for users who have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

Access agents in Microsoft Copilot Chat

Users can access agents that their organization makes available in Microsoft Copilot Chat. The data that an agent can use depends on its configuration, the user's license, any configured consumption-based billing, and organizational policies.

Agent Builder in Microsoft Copilot supports agent creation through natural language. The available knowledge sources and capabilities vary by license. For example, access to organizational content can require a Microsoft 365 Copilot license or a consumption-based billing option configured by the organization.

Create and use agents in SharePoint

Access to agents in SharePoint requires one of these options:

• The user has a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and the Microsoft Copilot for SharePoint service plan is enabled.
• The organization configures pay-as-you-go billing for agents in SharePoint and includes the user in the security group assigned to the billing policy.

SharePoint permissions provide another layer of access control:

• Users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license who can add files to a site can create agents there. Pay-as-you-go access alone doesn't support agent creation.
• Permissions on an .agent file determine who can access or edit that agent.
• Permissions on the agent's knowledge sources determine which information appears in each user's responses.

For example, sharing an agent file with a colleague doesn't grant that colleague access to every site or document referenced by the agent. The agent omits content from sources that the colleague can't access.

Manage where agents appear

Agents created in SharePoint don't automatically appear in a published catalog. Users can open an .agent file directly, and a site owner can select one agent for the site's Agent icon.

Administrators can further manage access by:

• Enabling or disabling the Microsoft Copilot for SharePoint service plan for licensed users.
• Assigning pay-as-you-go billing policies to security groups.
• Using restricted content discovery to turn off agent features on selected sites.
• Blocking an agent from use in Microsoft Copilot through the Microsoft 365 admin center.

These controls work with SharePoint permissions. They don't broaden a user's access to content.