| name | outlook-connector |
| category | kumite-connector |
| description | Drive Outlook mail and calendar from Copilot — search threads, draft replies, schedule meetings, manage rules. Use whenever the input or output of a task is an email or a calendar event. Triggers: "draft a reply", "schedule a meeting", "find emails from", "calendar conflicts", "send to". |
Outlook Connector
Email is the most overloaded surface in the enterprise. Use Copilot to triage and draft, never to send unread.
Quick Reference
| Task | Approach |
|---|
| Triage an inbox | Bucket -> drafts -> human review -> send |
| Reply in-thread | Use conversationId; never auto-rewrite the subject |
| Schedule a meeting | Find free/busy across attendees -> propose 3 slots -> book on confirmation |
| Forward externally | Strip earlier internal-only messages; remove sensitive attachments |
| Search a mailbox | KQL with sender + date range + folder filter |
| Bulk action | Dry-run first; never auto-send via rules |
Prerequisites — this skill is a playbook, not the connector
A SKILL.md cannot call Outlook on its own. It assumes the platform already exposes Microsoft Graph mail / calendar as tools. The skill teaches Cowork how to use Outlook well; the connector itself is separate infrastructure.
Before this skill works end-to-end you need:
- A Microsoft Graph connector — typically Copilot Cowork's built-in M365 connectivity, or an MCP server wrapping the Graph
/me/messages and /me/events endpoints.
- Credentials — your Entra ID session with
Mail.Read / Mail.Send / Calendars.ReadWrite scopes consented for the connector.
- Tenant policies — mail flow, retention, and DLP rules must permit programmatic access.
- Tool discovery — confirm mail / calendar tools are visible (ask Cowork: "what Outlook tools do you have?") before using this skill.
In Cowork on a properly licensed M365 tenant, this is usually present out of the box. On other surfaces, you'll need an MCP connector explicitly installed.
When to Use
- Triaging a backlog (see email-triage).
- Drafting replies grounded in the thread + attachments.
- Scheduling meetings from natural-language constraints ("next Tue–Thu, 30 min, anyone in EMEA").
- Searching across mailboxes you have delegated access to.
- Producing a meeting invite from a meeting-prep brief.
How to Use
- Search / list messages by
conversationId, sender, date range, or KQL — narrow before you read.
- Read the thread, then attachments. Treat attachments as separate sources for citation.
- Draft the reply in a draft surface (Outlook draft folder, not in chat). Keep the draft until verified.
- Resolve recipients — verify To/Cc/Bcc against the original thread + the deliverable's intended audience.
- Send / schedule only after the verify-before-send gate.
Parameter Guidance
| Parameter | Why it matters |
|---|
conversationId | Anchors a reply to the right thread; avoids forking. |
to / cc / bcc | Audience defects = blast-radius defects. Verify each list. |
subject | Don't auto-rewrite an existing thread's subject — breaks threading. |
attachments | Re-attach only what's needed; remove confidential earlier attachments when forwarding externally. |
categories / flag | Use to mark Copilot-drafted items pending human review. |
Examples
| Don't: Anti-pattern | Do: Right move |
|---|
| Let Copilot auto-send a drafted reply | Draft to the Outlook drafts folder; a human reviews, then sends |
| Rewrite the subject line on a reply | Keep the existing subject; reply by conversationId to preserve threading |
| Forward a thread externally as-is | Strip internal-only earlier messages and sensitive attachments first |
| "Summarize my inbox" with no scope | Filter by sender + date + folder before reading — privacy and cost both matter |
Critical Rules
- Never auto-send. Every Copilot-drafted message goes through human review.
- Recipient list = blast radius. Always verify To/Cc/Bcc before send.
- Forwarding externally is a different ask. Earlier internal context, attachments, sensitivity labels — all need re-checking.
- Calendar invites have a body. Empty invites get ignored or declined.
- Time zones travel with the invite. Verify the organizer's TZ matches intent.
Common Pitfalls
- "Reply All" to a distribution list with 2,000 members.
- Forwarding a thread externally that contains an internal-only earlier message.
- Calendar invites without a body — recipients can't tell what the meeting is for.
- Time zones — always confirm the organizer's TZ vs. attendees'.
- Stripped signatures or classification banners after Copilot rewrite.
- Subject-line rewrites breaking thread continuity in the recipient's mailbox.
- Inline replies that lose the thread quote, making downstream readers context-blind.
Anti-Patterns
- Auto-send rules driven by Copilot output. Never. Always human-in-the-loop.
- Using mailbox rules to delete what Copilot misclassified — silent loss of evidence.
- Asking Copilot to "summarize my inbox" without a scope filter — privacy and cost both blow up.
- Treating Copilot voice samples (recent sent items) as sufficient for an external counterparty's voice.
Verify Before Send
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