Tutorial: Create declarative agents by using Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit

A declarative agent is a customized version of Microsoft 365 Copilot that you can use to create personalized experiences by declaring specific instructions, actions, and knowledge. This guide provides information about how to build a declarative agent by using Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit.

The agent that you build in this tutorial targets licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot users. You can also build agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat users, with limited capabilities. For details, see Microsoft 365 Copilot developer licenses.

👁 Screenshot shows the answer from the declarative agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

For overview information, see Declarative agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure that Microsoft 365 Copilot is available for your organization.

The following options are available for your development environment:

• A sandbox Microsoft 365 organization with Copilot (available in limited preview through TAP membership).
• An eligible Microsoft 365 or Office 365 production environment with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

The following resources are required to complete the steps described in this article:

• Visual Studio Code
• Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit Visual Studio Code extension

You should be familiar with the following standards and guidelines for declarative agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot:

• Standards for compliance, performance, security, and user experience described in Microsoft Teams Store validation guidelines.

Create a declarative agent

Start by creating a basic declarative agent.

1. Open Visual Studio Code.

2. Select Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit > Create a New Agent/App.

   👁 A screenshot of the Create a New Agent/App button in the Agents Toolkit sidebar
   

3. Select Declarative Agent.

   👁 A screenshot of the New Project options with Agent selected
   

4. Select No Action to create a basic declarative agent.

5. Select Default folder to store your project root folder in the default location.

6. Enter My Agent as the Application Name and press Enter.

7. In the new Visual Studio Code window that opens, select Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit, then select Provision in the Lifecycle pane.

   👁 A screenshot of the Provision option in the Lifecycle pane of Agents Toolkit
   

Test the agent

1. Go to the Copilot application at https://m365.cloud.microsoft/chat.

2. Next to the New Chat button, select the conversation drawer icon.

3. Select the declarative agent My Agent.

   👁 A screenshot of the declarative agent in Copilot
   

4. Enter a question for your declarative agent and make sure it replies with "Thanks for using Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit to create your declarative agent!"

   👁 A screenshot of an answer from the declarative agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot
   

Next step