Add a copilot to Microsoft Teams

Important

Power Virtual Agents capabilities and features are now part of Microsoft Copilot Studio following significant investments in generative AI and enhanced integrations across Microsoft Copilot.

Some articles and screenshots may refer to Power Virtual Agents while we update documentation and training content.

With your copilot published, you can make your copilot available to users in Microsoft Teams. This way you, your teammates, and your broader organization can interact with it. You need to publish the copilot at least once before users can interact with the copilot in Microsoft Teams.

You can:

• Customize your copilot's appearance in Microsoft Teams
• Install the copilot for yourself in Microsoft Teams
• Share the copilot's installation link with other users
• Show the copilot in Microsoft Teams app store.
  • Show the copilot to shared users by adding it to the Microsoft Teams app store Built by your colleagues section.
  • Share the copilot with the organization by submitting the copilot for admin approval to be featured in the Microsoft Teams app store Built by your org section.
• Add the copilot to a team channel.
• Download the pregenerated Teams app manifest to distribute it within your Microsoft Teams tenant.

When you add the copilot to Microsoft Teams, some of your data, such as copilot content and end-user chat content, is shared with Microsoft Teams. Your data might flow outside of your organization's compliance and geographic or regional boundaries. For more information, see the Microsoft Teams app privacy policy.

Prerequisites

• Share with users so they can install and chat with the copilot in Microsoft Teams.
• Your organization needs to allow Microsoft Power Platform apps to be added to Microsoft Teams before you or other users can directly install the copilot in Teams or find it in the Built by your colleagues section in the Teams app store. Work with your admin to Manage Microsoft Power Platform apps in the Microsoft Teams admin center if it's disabled for your organization.
• Copilots that are approved for the Built by your organization section (after submission to an admin) are managed separately by admins in the Microsoft Teams admin center's Manage apps page.
• Before installing the copilot for yourself or sharing the copilot with others, you should publish the copilot at least once.

Connect your copilot to the Microsoft Teams channel

After publishing your copilot at least once, you can connect your copilot to the Microsoft Teams channel to allow users to chat with the copilot in Microsoft Teams.

Note

We recommend you turn on security settings for copilots built for Microsoft Teams or internal employee use so you can ensure the copilot will not be accessible by individuals outside of your organization.

Connect to Microsoft Teams:

1. In the navigation menu under Settings, select Channels.

2. Select Microsoft Teams.

3. Select Turn on Teams.

   

   Note

   If you do not see this option, then the Microsoft Teams channel may already be enabled.

Customize the copilot's appearance in Microsoft Teams

Providing the right description and appearance for the copilot before making it available to other users is important as it educates them on what the copilot's purpose is and its branding, when applicable.

1. In the navigation menu under Settings, select Channels.

2. Select Microsoft Teams.

3. Select Edit details to change the copilot's icon, color, and descriptions. These options are shown in the Microsoft Teams app store and the app's About tab after the user installs the copilot. Review the recommendations on Microsoft Teams icon formats.

   

   Important

   Updates to the copilot's detail will not apply to users who have already installed the copilot from a shared link or the Built by your colleagues section. They will need to reinstall the copilot to receive the updates.

   Updates to the copilot's detail will not apply to copilots that have been approved by an admin. You will need to resubmit the copilot for approval to have the latest detail updated for users.

4. Select More to add additional information:

   • Developer name

   • Website

   • Privacy Statement

   • Terms of use

     You should provide this information to keep your user informed about the copilot. See the Privacy statement and terms of use article for more details and examples.

5. Select Save to return to the screen where you can make your copilot available in Teams. Your updates to the color, icon, and description are now visible.

Note

Icon customization in this section only applies to the copilot avatar for copilots that are approved by admin and does not apply for users who install the copilot with a direct installation link or from the Microsoft Teams app store Built by your colleague section. You can customize the copilot avatar at Customize the look and feel of the copilot.

Install a copilot as an app in Microsoft Teams

With your copilot published, you can add the copilot to your own version of Microsoft Teams directly from the Microsoft Copilot Studio app.

Important

New content in a freshly published copilot won't appear in conversations that are currently ongoing. After 30 minutes of idle time, the copilot will be updated.

You can type Start over in an existing conversation to start a new conversation right away and see the latest updates to the copilot.

You should add your copilot to your own version of Teams before sharing it with others.

1. In the navigation menu under Settings, select Channels.

2. Select Microsoft Teams.

3. Select Open copilot to have the installation prompt launch in Microsoft Teams. Select Add to add it as an app in Teams. This only installs the copilot for you.

   

Share a link so others can install the copilot

1. In the navigation menu under Settings, select Channels.

2. Select Microsoft Teams.

3. Select Availability options and select Copy link

   Important

   Only users who can access the copilot can use the installation link to install the copilot. You can share the copilot to give users access to chat with the copilot.

   

4. Share the copied link with users so they can install the copilot in Microsoft Teams.

Show the copilot in Microsoft Teams app store

Once you publish your copilot, you can show it in the Microsoft Teams app store so users can find and install it.

Show to shared users

You can share your copilot by adding it to the Microsoft Teams app store, Built for your org > Built by your colleagues section. Only shared users can find the copilot there.

Important

Only shared users can find and install the copilot in the Microsoft Teams app store Built by your colleagues section. The copilot does not show for everyone in the organization even if it is configured to allow everyone to use the copilot. To show the copilot to the organization, submit the copilot for an admin's approval to show it in the Microsoft Teams app store Built by your org section.

The copilot can only be shown in the Microsoft Teams app store Built by your colleagues section when the total number of shared users does not exceed the tenant's Teams app store discovery policy. To show the copilot beyond your organization's policy limit, partner with your admin to show the copilot to the organization.

1. In the navigation menu under Settings, select Channels.

2. Select Microsoft Teams.

3. Select Availability options.

4. Select Show to my teammates and shared users and review who has access to the copilot.

   

5. Confirm the Visible in Build by your colleagues checkbox is selected and select Share.

   

6. This automatically adds the copilot to the Built by your colleagues section, and shows a green label Added to Teams in the availability options page.

   

Note

If your app doesn't appear in the Built by your colleagues section, your Teams app might be caching information.

Try signing out and back in again (if you're using the desktop app) or refreshing your browser (if you're using the web app of Teams).

Remove the copilot from the Built by your colleagues section

You can remove the copilot from showing in the Built by your colleagues section. Removing the copilot here doesn't affect users with the copilot installed.

1. In the navigation menu under Settings, select Channels.

2. Select Microsoft Teams.

3. Select Availability options.

4. Select Show to my teammates and shared users and remove the Visible in Built by your colleagues checkbox selection.

   

5. Select Share. Now the copilot no longer appears in the Microsoft Teams app store Built by your colleagues section.

Show to the organization

You can share the copilot with your organization by submitting your copilot for admin approval to be featured in the Built for your org > Built by your colleagues section. Featuring your app in Built by your colleagues is a great way to broadly distribute your copilot by partnering with your admin to roll out the copilot to everyone in the organization or a subset of users.

Admins can also preinstall and pin the copilot for users in the organization so they can access it directly from their app bar in Microsoft Teams.

Before submitting the copilot to your organization, make sure:

• Your copilot is ready for release and in compliance with company standards, rules, and policies.
• You coordinate with other copilot managers. Once you submit the copilot, a different user can't resubmit it by until an admin approves or rejects the previous submission.
• You remove the copilot, if applicable, from the Built by your colleagues section. Otherwise if you submit your copilot for admin approval your copilot could end up showing up in two places. See the instructions on removing your copilot for details.

Note

Once a copilot is approved by an admin, the copilot availability in the Built by your org section will be completely managed by your admin. Only an admin can remove the copilot from the Built by your org section.

Submit for the Built by your org section

1. In the navigation menu under Settings, select Channels.

2. Select Microsoft Teams.

3. Select Availability options.

4. Confirm the copilot isn't shown to teammates or shared users. Remove it if it says Added to Teams.

5. Select Show to everyone in my org.

   

6. Review the requirements for submission, and select Submit for admin approval.

   Note

   Make sure you review the content and it's ready for an admin to review. You need to submit new requests to the admin to update the icon and descriptions for copilots that were previously approved.

   Once approved, all new and existing users of the copilot in Teams receive the update.

   This only applies to the copilot details. You can continue to make content updates to your copilot by publishing the latest content. You don't need to re-submit to an admin.

7. A final confirmation prompt appears. Select Yes to continue. The copilot is sent to your admin for them to approve it, and you can see a note indicating the status of your submission.

   

   Note

   After submitting the copilot for admin approval, you should not change the copilot's access setting to be less than everyone in your organization.

   Setting to less than everyone results in users in the organization unable to chat with the copilot after installing it from the Microsoft Teams app store Built by your org section.

   Work with your admin on the Microsoft Teams app policy on who can find and install the copilot.

8. You need to wait for your admin's approval. You can check the latest status by selecting Refresh, or opening the Make the copilot available to others window from the Publish page.

9. After your admin approves the copilot, the status is updated to Approved. You can directly open the copilot and share the approved version's link with other users.

10. Optionally, partner with your admin to prepin or install the app for users in the Microsoft Teams app policy so they can find the copilot directly in their Microsoft Teams left app rail.

Note

If your app doesn't appear in the Built by your org section even though it's marked as Approved, your Teams app might be caching information.

Try signing out and back in again (if you're using the desktop app) or refreshing your browser (if you're using the Teams web app).

Add copilot to a team

In Microsoft Teams, you can add copilot to teams. When you add the copilots, team members can @mention the copilot in any team channels, and all teammates will see the response from the copilot. This feature is useful for scenarios where:

• Your copilot supports collaboration, like sharing the latest sales report insight with the rest of the Sales team.
• You want to allow every team member to engage with the copilot in a team channel or via private chat without needing to manually install the copilot themselves.

Allow users to add copilot to a team and Enable for Teams group and meeting chats

This two option controls if users can add the copilot to any team that they're part of, or to grout and meeting chats when adding the copilot in Microsoft Teams.

When you select these two options, the copilot gets the conversation history from the team channel, group chat, or meeting chat to be able to provide the best answer in context of the conversation.

After you enable at least one option, any user, who installs the copilot from the Teams app store or the installation link, can see one of the following:

• the option to add the copilot to a team channel
• the option to add the copilot to group and meeting chats in Microsoft Teams

Team members can also remove the copilot from a team.

Important

The copilot is configured to allow everyone in the organization to chat with it. This ensures all team members have permission to chat with the copilot in team channels. It's highly recommended to not change the security setting of the copilot after enabling this capability. Otherwise users will see permission errors when interacting with the copilot in team channels.

To allow users to add a copilot to a team:

1. In the navigation menu under Settings, select Channels.

2. Select Microsoft Teams.

3. Select Edit details.

4. Select Allow your users to add this copilot to a team and/or Enable for Teams group and meeting chats.

   

5. Select Save.

Microsoft Teams caches information, so it can take a while before users see the option to add the copilot to a team or group chat. Users can refresh the browser or sign in and out of the Microsoft Teams desktop client to reflect changes immediately.

If you previously submitted the copilot for admin approval, you need to resubmit after enabling this option. The admin needs to approve these changes before users can add the copilot to their teams from the Microsoft Teams app store in the "Built by your org" section.

Disallow users from adding copilot to a team, or group and meeting chats

Disabling this option prevents users from adding a copilot to a new team, group, or meeting chat. If you added a copilot to a conversation already, disabling this option doesn't remove it. You need to manually remove the copilot.

To disallow users from adding a copilot to a team:

1. In the navigation menu under Settings, select Channels.

2. Select Microsoft Teams.

3. Select Edit details.

4. Clear the Allow your users to add this copilot to a team and/or Enable for Teams group and meeting chats checkbox.

   

5. Select Save.

Configure private greeting behavior

Private greetings from a copilot are useful for when you want team members to have one-on-one conversations with the copilot without needing to manually install the copilot themselves.

Note

Private greeting configuration isn't supported for copilots using the upgraded unified authoring canvas.

When enabled, your copilot automatically starts a conversation with team members. To customize the copilot's greeting message, modify the Greeting system topic.

Consider how relevant the copilot is to team members. Make sure the copilot's greeting helps them understand what to do with it, describes its limitations and, most importantly, gets them comfortable interacting with it.

To configure when a copilot sends a private greeting:

1. In the navigation menu under Settings, select Channels.

2. Select Microsoft Teams.

3. Select Settings.

   

4. Configure the private greeting options.

   

5. Select Save.

Download the copilot's Teams app manifest (advanced)

You can download the copilot's Teams app manifest to make detailed changes to the manifest directly and share with your admin or users in the tenant. You can also directly upload the app manifest into Microsoft Teams if your organization's policy allows you to upload custom applications.

1. In the navigation menu under Settings, select Channels.

2. Select Microsoft Teams.

3. Select Availability options.

4. Select Download .zip.

   

5. The manifest is generated as a .zip file, and is saved according to your browser's save settings.

Disconnect your copilot from Teams

You can take your copilot offline so users can no longer chat with the copilot in Teams. When your copilot is offline, it doesn't respond to anyone who tries to chat with it, and disrupts anyone who might be using it. You should thoroughly consider the need to disconnect your copilot before you do so.

Copilots no longer show in the Microsoft Teams app store Built by your colleague section and can't be installed from the shared link. Copilots added by users in Microsoft Teams continue to exist until the user uninstalls the copilot.

For copilots that are approved by an admin, the copilots continue to appear in the Microsoft Teams app store Built by your org section. You need to contact your admin to remove the copilot.

1. In the navigation menu under Settings, select Channels.

2. Select Microsoft Teams.

3. Select Disconnect from Teams.

   

4. Review the information about disconnecting your copilot, and select Disconnect to continue.

You can always reconnect your copilot after disconnecting by selecting Turn on Teams in the Make the copilot available to others window on the Publish page.

Known limitations

• Private greeting configuration isn't supported for copilots using the upgraded unified authoring canvas.
• Currently, only the Personal and Team scopes are supported for Microsoft Teams. Group chat isn't supported.
• Setting the copilot avatar icon on the details page doesn't show up for copilots approved by an admin. Copilots approved by an admin use the app icon as the copilot avatar.
• Teams has rate limiting on copilots. Depending on your business needs, you might want to keep your copilot content concise for copilots that are added to Microsoft Teams.
• Currently, if your copilot supports end-user authentication, the user isn't able to explicitly sign out. This fails the Microsoft Teams AppSource certification if you're publishing your copilot in the Seller Dashboard. This doesn't apply to personal or tenant usage of the copilot. Learn more at Publish your Microsoft Teams app and AppSource Validation Policy.
• Disconnecting your copilot from Teams might take a few minutes before the copilot becomes unreachable by users on Microsoft Teams.