Creating a Copilot Agent for SharePoint: Simple Guide to Get Started

Productivity is at the top of every business leader’s mind. Employees are taking on more tasks, and freeing up any time – even an hour – is worth the effort. Copilot can help with that. We’ll explain how to create Copilot agents for SharePoint to make sense out of any content you store:

• Documents
• Lists
• pages

Why People Are Building Copilot Agents for SharePoint

As a professional IT services provider, we know that businesses are trying to find ways to make better sense of their data. One way to achieve this goal is to add Copilot agent to SharePoint. You can:

• Use natural language prompts
• Summarize content and files
• Ask questions and receive responses

For example, let’s say that we created an agent that is connected to our SharePoint with data on managed IT services and solutions. We can then query the “assistant” to ask it questions, such as:

• How much do we charge?
• What was the date our policies went into effect?

Rather than sifting through data manually, you can have Copilot do it for you. Is this the right choice for every business? No, but it’s worth considering and learning more about.

What You Need Before You Start Building a Copilot Agent

Not much. Before you can follow our tips on how to create a Copilot agent in SharePoint, you only need:

• Copilot Studio access
• A Microsoft 365 tenant
• SharePoint permissions
• Admin approval (maybe)

Work with us and our business cybersecurity services to be sure that your data is safe when using an agent.

Step-by-Step Process to Build a Copilot Agent for SharePoint

Building a Copilot agent for SharePoint is less about clicking buttons and more about sequencing the work correctly. Follow these steps on how to create a Copilot agent in SharePoint.

Connecting Your SharePoint Data Sources

You want to connect the right data, which means:

• Identifying specific SharePoint sites, libraries or folders
• Excluding drafts, archives and sensitive libraries
• Cleaning up duplicate or outdated documents first
• Confirming permissions are correct before connecting

Copilot inherits SharePoint permissions, so if access is wrong here, it will be wrong everywhere.

Defining Actions and Triggers for the Agent

Decide what your agent can and can’t do. Determine if it can:

• Create or update items in SharePoint lists
• Trigger Power Automate workflows
• Look up records in Dataverse or APIs
• Escalate issues to Teams or email

You’ll need to define what triggers an action and the inputs required.

Building the Conversation Flow

Copilot agents for SharePoint require flows, or how the user will interact with the agent. Focus on:

• Clear entry points (“How do I…”, “Find me…”, “Create a…”)
• Guided questions instead of open-ended prompts
• Confirmation steps before taking actions
• Helpful fallbacks when Copilot isn’t confident

Testing the Agent in Real Scenarios

Be sure to test your agent. Allow real users to access the agent and ask it questions. Focus on finding out what happens when:

• Answers are worded poorly
• Data is missing or restricted
• Responses are given

Your goal is to fix issues to allow for greater adoption of your agent.

Deploying the Agent to Your SharePoint Site

Copilot agents for SharePoint need to be deployed. You can do this in Copilot Studio. Once done, you can click the share button and allow your team to use it.

Common Mistakes When Building a Copilot Agent for SharePoint

Resolve issues before they become problems. Common mistakes we see when businesses add Copilot agent to SharePoint include:

• Connecting Copilot to old SharePoint locations with poor file structures
• Giving the agent too much of a scope
• Ignoring permission inconsistencies
• Not defining escalation paths

Copilot is a conversational assistant. Treat it like one – not a search engine.

Tips to Make Your SharePoint Copilot Agent More Useful

A great SharePoint Copilot agent doesn’t just retrieve documents – it helps users get things done.

To increase the usefulness of Copilot agents for SharePoint:

• Curate and clean content before connecting it
• Organize SharePoint libraries with clear naming and metadata
• Focus on top user questions and repeatable workflows
• Use prompts and grounding instructions to guide tone and behavior
• Design for outcomes (answers, summaries, next steps)

Less content and better structure beat “everything in SharePoint” every time.

How Much Time and Effort Does It Take to Build One?

Not long at all. You can embed the Copilot agent in SharePoint within an hour (maybe even less) if it’s simple. The first time you start experimenting with these agents, it will take much longer than subsequent attempts.

If you don’t have SharePoint well structured or in place yet, then it can take several weeks to create and structure content.

Security and Permissions You Need to Get Right

Microsoft Copilot for SharePoint agents, like this one, requires users to have access to SharePoint. Read-only is a good starting point for users, but to approve the agent, the Site Owner must accept it.

Agents will only use documents that are shared with the user for answers.

Integrating the Copilot Agent with Other Microsoft Tools

Your team uses a lot of applications. Many of these tools go beyond the basic implement Copilot in SharePoint and live within the Microsoft ecosystem. Agents can be integrated into:

• Teams
• Power Automate
• Outlook
• Planner
• Dataverse
• Etc.

When It Makes Sense to Get Help Building a Copilot Agent

For small companies, experiment with the DIY approach. You can embed a Copilot agent in SharePoint fairly easily, but you may need expert help if:

• Your SharePoint environment is large or complex
• Security and compliance are critical
• Multiple departments need different behaviors
• You want a faster time to value with fewer missteps

How We Help Teams Build Copilot Agents at Cyber Husky

Our team is always on standby to assist our clients. If you have a Microsoft Copilot integration with SharePoint, we will make sure that it’s safe and secure. As IT professionals, we can also assist with configurations.

Conclusion: Making Your First Copilot Agent a Success

Good job. You can implement Copilot in SharePoint and start to experiment with the power of your agent. Learn its limitations and see what business-critical questions you can ask it to save your team time.