Extend Copilot Studio with Semantic Kernel

This template demonstrates how to build a Copilot Studio Skill that allows to extend agent capabilities with a custom API running in Azure with the help of the Semantic Kernel.

Rationale

Microsoft Copilot Studio is a graphical, low-code tool for both creating an agent — including building automation with Power Automate — and extending a Microsoft 365 Copilot with your own enterprise data and scenarios.

However, in some cases you may need to extend the default agent capabilities by leveraing a pro-code approach, where specific requirements apply.

Prerequisites

• Azure Subscription
• Azure CLI
• Azure Developer CLI
• Python 3.12 or later
• A Microsoft 365 tenant with Copilot Studio enabled

Note

You don't need the Azure subscription to be on the same tenant as the Microsoft 365 tenant where Copilot Studio is enabled.

However, you need to have the necessary permissions to register an application in the Azure Active Directory of the tenant where Copilot Studio is enabled.

Getting Started

1. Clone this repository to your local machine.

git clone https://github.com/microsoft/semantic-kernel
cd semantic-kernel/python/samples/demos/copilot_studio_skill

2. Create a App Registration in Azure Entra ID, with a client secret.

az login --tenant <COPILOT-tenant-id>
$appId = az ad app create --display-name "SKCopilotSkill" --query appId -o tsv
$secret = az ad app credential reset --id $appId --append --query password -o tsv

4. Run azd up to deploy the Azure resources.

azd auth login --tenant <AZURE-tenant-id>
azd up

Note

When prompted, provide the botAppId, botPassword and botTenantId values from above.

You will also need to input and existing Azure OpenAI resource name and its resource group.

Tip

Once the deployment is complete, you can find the URL of the deployed API in the output section of the Azure Developer CLI. Copy this URL.

5. Ensure the App Registration homeUrl is set to the URL of the deployed API. This is required for the bot to be able to respond to requests from Copilot Studio.

6. Register the bot in Copilot Studio as skill

   • Open the Copilot Studio in your Microsoft 365 tenant.
   • Create a new agent or reuse an existing one.
   • Go to "Settings" in the upper right corner of the agent page.
   • Go to the "Skills" tab and click on "Add a skill".
   • Now input as URL API_URL/manifest where API_URL is the URL of the deployed API.
   • Click on "Next" to register the skill.
   • Once the skill is registered, you can start using it in your agent. Edit a Topic or create a new one, and add the skill as a node to the topic flow.

Architecture

The architecture features Azure Bot Service as the main entry point for the requests. The bot service is responsible for routing the requests to the appropriate backend service, which in this case is a custom API running in Azure Container Apps leveraging Semantic Kernel.

Below is the updated markdown content with the new call included:

Loading

flowchart LR
    subgraph Clients
        A[Copilot Studio]
    end

    C[Azure Bot Service]
    D["SK App<br/>(Azure Container Apps)"]

    A -- "Initiates Request" --> C
    C -- "Forwards Request" --> D
    D -- "Processes & Returns Response" --> C
    C -- "Routes Response" --> A

    %% Una tantum call to fetch manifest directly from SK App
    A -- "Fetch Manifest" --> D

Implementation

Please refer to the original Bot Framework documentation for more details on how to implement the bot service skill and the custom API.

Note

As of today, Bot Framework SDK offers only aiohttp support for Python.