copilot-cli

name

copilot-cli

description

Use this skill for service operations only. DO NOT use this skill for CLI implementation lifecycle work such as creating, testing, updating, troubleshooting, validating, removing, or documenting the CLI tool itself; delegate those tasks to cli-tool-expert. Execute Copilot Studio operations using the `copilot` CLI tool. CLI interface for Microsoft Copilot Studio agents via Dataverse API. Triggers: copilot, copilot cli, copilot studio, copilot agent, manage copilot agents, copilot studio agents, copilot topics, copilot knowledge, copilot tools, copilot connectors, power platform copilot, copilot flows, copilot solutions, copilot prompts, copilot models, copilot environment, copilot connections

Execute Copilot Studio operations using the `copilot` CLI. All Copilot Studio interactions should use this CLI.

<quick_start> The copilot CLI follows this pattern:

copilot <command-group> <action> [arguments] [options]

Command	Description
copilot agent list --table	List all agents with formatted output
copilot agent get <id>	Get agent details by GUID
copilot agent create --name "Name"	Create a new agent
copilot agent prompt <id> -m "msg"	Send a message to an agent
copilot agent publish <id>	Publish agent changes
copilot agent knowledge list <id>	List agent knowledge sources
copilot agent tool list -a <id>	List tools attached to an agent
copilot agent topic list -a <id>	List agent topics
copilot solution list --table	List solutions
copilot auth status	Check authentication status
</quick_start>

<essential_principles> MANDATORY: Consult the adjacent usage.json at <cli-tools-root>/_repo/skills/<tool>-cli/usage.json before executing ANY copilot command. This file contains complete command syntax, all arguments, all options, and usage instructions for every command. Never guess at command syntax.

- **whoami** — Current user info (ID, business unit, org) - **auth** — Login, logout, status, refresh, test credentials - **auth** -- Authentication commands and nested `auth profiles` management - **agent** — Core agent CRUD, publish, prompt; subgroups: knowledge, topic, trigger, tool, transcript, analytics, auth, model, channel - **solution** — Solution lifecycle (create, export, import); subgroups: agent, connection-reference, custom-connector, component, publisher - **powerautomate-flow** — List/inspect Power Automate cloud flows - **agent-flow** — Agent flow lifecycle (create, export, import, test, enable/disable); subgroups: runs, scaffold - **tool** — Discover tools (prompts, MCP, connectors); subgroups: restapi, mcp - **prompt** — AI Builder prompt lifecycle (create, update, run, publish); subgroups: permissions, auth - **model** — AI Builder model management (list, enable, disable) - **managed-connector** — Browse Microsoft's built-in connector catalog - **custom-connector** — Custom connector lifecycle (create from OpenAPI, validate, register, remove) - **connections** — Manage authenticated connections (credentials); subgroup: onedrive - **connection-references** — Solution-aware connection pointers (create, update, remove) - **environment** — Power Platform environment management (list, select, create, delete) - **admin** — Auth identity management (app registrations, service principals) - **user-licenses** — Check M365 license assignments via Microsoft Graph

<reference_index> usage.json — Complete command tree with arguments, options, defaults, and usage instructions for every command. </reference_index>

**`copilot agent update --instructions-file ` and `--response-format-file ` write into TemplateLine fields whose default template format is Power Fx.** Power Fx treats `{ ... }` as a record literal, so a JSON example inside the file (e.g. `{ "summary_markdown": "..." }`) breaks `copilot agent publish` with:

Unexpected character in expression '
  "summary_markdown": "..."

The CLI handles this automatically: when content contains {, the emitted YAML adds template: { kind: TemplateEngineOptions, format: Mustache } so the publisher uses Mustache (which uses {{ ... }} for expressions) and a single { is plain text. No escaping is needed in the source content. Keep JSON shape examples written naturally.

If you ever see "Unexpected character in expression" on copilot agent publish for an agent whose response-format file or instructions file contains {, suspect the Mustache opt-in is missing — check client.py build_gpt_component_yaml.

**For integrated-auth agents ("Authenticate with Microsoft"), `copilot agent prompt` uses the M365 Agents SDK and derives the Power Platform cloud automatically from the environment's Dataverse host** — no cloud config is needed for normal commercial tenants (`*.crm.dynamics.com` → public cloud `api.powerplatform.com`). Sovereign clouds are mapped from the Dataverse host too: GCC (`*.crm9.dynamics.com`), GCC High (`*.crm.microsoftdynamics.us`), DoD (`*.crm.appsplatform.us`), China (`*.crm.dynamics.cn`).

Do NOT set POWERPLATFORM_CLOUD_URL to force a cloud — that legacy profile value held a Direct Line island-gateway host and is ignored for SDK cloud selection. Forcing the SDK's Other cloud with a host-only value caused M365 SDK request failed: ... PowerPlatformCloud is Other (error code -65003); this is fixed by the auto-resolver.

Override only for a cloud the host table cannot classify: set POWERPLATFORM_CLOUD to a PowerPlatformCloud enum name understood by the SDK (Prod, Gov, High, DoD, Mooncake). A free-form base address is intentionally NOT accepted because the SDK's Other base-address path cannot build a valid connection URL.

**If `copilot agent prompt` authenticates, opens a conversation, and delivers the message but the agent replies with `Error code: EnvironmentGroupPolicyViolation`, the environment's Power Platform environment-group rule is blocking direct chat channels at runtime.** The block is transport-independent for direct paths (Direct Line and M365 SDK Direct-to-Engine fail identically) but does NOT apply to connector invocation: the same agent answers normally through the Microsoft Copilot Studio connector (`ExecuteCopilotAsyncV2`) inside a Power Automate/agent flow (`copilot agent-flow test --trigger manual --body-file --wait`).

Diagnose by running both paths against the same agent minutes apart — direct fails with the violation, flow succeeds. This proves the agent, auth, and LLM are all fine and the block is a governance rule. The fix is admin-side only: a tenant admin must adjust the environment group's rules (Power Platform admin center → Manage → Environment groups → group → Rules); non-admin makers get 403 listing the rules via the governance API. Do not retry other client-side transports — build/keep a minimal flow-based invoke path (copilot agent-flow create --file <def> with an ExecuteCopilotAsyncV2 action) as the policy-compliant route until the rule changes.

**`copilot agent prompt` in M365 SDK mode fails with `--client-id or ENTRA_CLIENT_ID env var required` unless the auth profile's `.env` sets `ENTRA_CLIENT_ID=`** (an app with delegated `CopilotStudio.Copilots.Invoke` consented, e.g. the psdxautomation app `12d53a00-9654-4398-9855-a8517fb732c4`). The MSAL token cache lives at `/cache/.m365-token-cache.json` and is a standard MSAL `SerializableTokenCache` JSON — a cache from another tool using the same client id + tenant (e.g. AgentTrainer's `/msal_cache.bin`) can be copied there to skip the device-code sign-in; MSAL silently exchanges the refresh token for the `https://api.powerplatform.com/.default` scope. **If `copilot agent prompt` reaches the agent but fails with HTTP `405` while the active profile has a service-principal secret (`AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET`/`M365_SDK_CLIENT_SECRET`), the environment does not allow app-only (service principal) access to Copilot Studio conversations.** The Direct-to-Engine endpoint returns `App-only S2S access is not enabled for this environment.`

Fix: use delegated (user) auth — run with a profile that has no service-principal secret so the device-code sign-in flow runs — or have an admin enable app-only S2S access for the environment. This is an environment/tenant policy, not a CLI defect; the CLI now prints this cause and fix when it detects the condition.

**A profile that sets `AZURE_TENANT_ID` + `AZURE_CLIENT_ID` + `AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET` (in addition to `DATAVERSE_URL`) automatically switches ALL Dataverse Web API command groups** — `connections`, `connection-references`, `agent-flow`, `solution`, `agent` CRUD (everything routed through `client.get_client()`) — **to MSAL client-credentials auth instead of `az login`.** `Config.get_auth_method()` is the single source of truth: it returns `service_principal` only when all four fields are present (`has_service_principal_auth()`), otherwise `azure_cli`. This is a deterministic per-profile choice, not a try-then-fallback — a profile is either fully opted into service-principal auth or it uses delegated `az login` auth, never both in the same call.

This exists specifically to avoid the ~30-day Entra conditional-access sign-in-frequency expiry that delegated az login sessions hit (AADSTS70043) — service principals have no interactive user session and are not subject to that policy. To activate it for a profile:

1. An Azure AD app registration with a client secret (an existing one can be reused — it does not need Access Dynamics 365 as organization users delegated permission for this path).
2. A Dataverse Application User for that app, in the target environment, bound to a security role (Power Platform admin center → environment → Settings → Users + permissions → Application users → New app user → search by Application/Client ID → assign a role). Without this, every call fails HTTP 403: The user is not a member of the organization. even though MSAL successfully issues a token — Entra ID and Dataverse are separate trust boundaries here.
3. Set the profile's AZURE_CLIENT_ID (Dataverse-specific field — do not confuse with ENTRA_CLIENT_ID, the M365 SDK's public-client field used by agent prompt; both can hold the same app ID but are read by different code paths) and AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET=secret://<name> via the CLI-tools secret manager.

This does NOT extend to copilot agent prompt (Copilot Studio Direct-to-Engine conversations) — that surface has its own, usually-disabled app-only S2S gate; see the "405 'App-only S2S access is not enabled'" gotcha above. Service-principal auth here only covers the Dataverse Web API command surface, not conversational/runtime agent invocation.

`copilot auth status --profile default` can exit `2` for an unauthenticated profile while still returning structured JSON that includes `"authenticated": false`. Treat that as status data, not an unhandled tool failure, when the probe is intentionally checking auth state. Wrap the command per the cli-tool `Shape Expected Auth Status Probes` rule and validate both exit status `2` and the unauthenticated evidence before exiting `0`. Copilot auth profile names are local runtime state. Do not infer the Progress profile name from the tenant or this skill; first run `copilot auth profiles list --table`, then use the discovered profile name for the whole command batch. The Progress profile should set `AZURE_CLI_EXPECTED_USER` to `[e-mail]` and the tenant to `db266a67-cbe0-4d26-ae1a-d0581fe03535`. Before redirecting data commands such as `copilot agent model list --profile "$profile"` or `copilot agent list --profile "$profile"` into JSON files, run a shaped auth preflight and preserve the producer status:

profile="${profile:?set profile from copilot auth profiles list --table}"

if copilot auth status --profile "$profile" >"$auth_out" 2>"$auth_err"; then
  auth_rc=0
else
  auth_rc=$?
fi

if [ "$auth_rc" -ne 0 ]; then
  if [ "$auth_rc" -eq 2 ] && rg -q -F '"authenticated": false' "$auth_out"; then
    printf 'COPILOT_AUTH_UNAUTHENTICATED profile=%s rc=%s\n' \
      "$profile" "$auth_rc" >&2
    cat "$auth_out" >&2
    exit 0
  fi
  printf 'COPILOT_AUTH_STATUS_FAILED rc=%s\n' "$auth_rc" >&2
  cat "$auth_err" >&2
  exit "$auth_rc"
fi

When running multiple copilot producers in one shell batch, capture each producer status immediately after that command and carry the first non-zero status to the final exit. Do not let later reporting commands such as wc, printf, head, jq, or ls mask a failed producer command.

`copilot agent list` emits JSON. JSON is already the default. Do not add `--format json`, `--json`, or any output flag not listed for the leaf command. `copilot agent --help` is group help only; before adding flags, inspect `usage.json` at `commands.agent.commands.list.options` or run `copilot agent list --help`. Use `--table` only when human-readable output is requested. **The `copilot agent channel` subgroup is read-only — `list`, `get`, and `get-token` only.** There is no CLI command, and no supported Microsoft API, to *enable* a channel or *retrieve* the Web/Direct Line channel secret. The official Power Platform "PVA Bots" REST API exposes only quarantine operations, and Microsoft's own Copilot Studio Kit requires the Direct Line secret to be pasted in by hand. Enabling Teams and reading the secret are manual Copilot Studio portal actions:

• Enable Microsoft Teams (no API): publish the agent first (copilot agent publish <id>), then in Copilot Studio open Channels → Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot → Add channel. Org-wide availability needs admin approval. Docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot-studio/publication-add-bot-to-microsoft-teams
• Get the Direct Line / Web channel secret (no API): in Copilot Studio open Settings → Security → Web channel security, then copy Secret 1 or Secret 2. Teams-only licenses can't generate secrets (tokens are auto-managed). Docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-copilot-studio/configure-web-security
• For web embeds, prefer a token over the secret. Run copilot agent channel get-token <agent> to mint a short-lived Direct Line token (no secret exposure), or exchange a secret for a token server-side via POST https://directline.botframework.com/v3/directline/tokens/generate. Never put the Direct Line secret in browser code.

**Do not use `Microsoft.PowerApps.Administration.PowerShell` on macOS as a substitute for missing `copilot` DLP policy commands.** Microsoft's Power Platform PowerShell docs require Windows PowerShell 5.x and .NET Framework; PowerShell 6+ uses .NET Core and is incompatible with those modules. On macOS, `Get-AdminDlpPolicy` can fail during module auth with `System.Windows.Forms` / `WithAuthority` assembly errors because the module's auth helper calls Windows Forms APIs. Treat DLP policy reads and changes as Power Platform admin/portal work unless the CLI grows a first-class, tested Dataverse/Power Platform API path. `pac` is not interchangeable with the repo-owned `copilot --profile ` auth profile. Before using `pac` as evidence, run `pac auth who` and prove the tenant, environment, and user match the target Copilot Studio environment. A stale/default `pac` profile can point at Adam's personal default tenant while `copilot --profile psdxautomation` points at a Progress/PSDX tenant. `pac` has copilot publish/status and connector list commands, but no verified DLP policy command and no portal-only channel enablement or Direct Line secret retrieval surface. **Tools and knowledge can be attached while authoring without Copilot Studio capacity. Before `copilot agent publish`, the CLI runs a fail-fast capacity pre-check on the target Power Platform environment. If the environment has no Copilot Studio capacity, publishing is blocked with a non-zero exit BEFORE the publish mutation.** Agent create/update and tool/knowledge attachment are not capacity-gated.

An environment is entitled to publish if EITHER:

• Prepaid Copilot Studio capacity (Copilot Credits) is allocated to it — one of the currencies MCSMessages, MCSSessions, or VAConversations has a positive allocation (GET https://api.powerplatform.com/licensing/environments/{id}/allocations); OR
• It is covered by an Enabled pay-as-you-go billing policy (GET https://api.powerplatform.com/licensing/billingPolicies + each policy's /environments).

When not entitled, publish exits non-zero with a CapacityError whose message names the environment and lists three fixes: allocate prepaid capacity in the Power Platform admin center (Licensing > Copilot Studio, https://admin.powerplatform.microsoft.com), link a pay-as-you-go billing policy, or use an environment that already has capacity. This is an environment-capacity policy, not a CLI defect — do not retry; allocate capacity or switch environments. A 404 on the allocations endpoint means "no allocation" (Developer environments), so the env is treated as not entitled. Any other non-200/404 on allocations, or a non-200 on a policy's /environments lookup, is undeterminable and raises an error (the signal cannot be confirmed) rather than silently allowing publish. The target environment id is resolved from DATAVERSE_ENVIRONMENT_ID/POWERPLATFORM_ENVIRONMENT_ID, or matched from DATAVERSE_URL; if neither resolves, the command fails with a clear message.

<success_criteria>

• Command executes without error
• Output is displayed in requested format
• Correct command and flags used (verified against usage.json) </success_criteria>