Copilot Studio Tools: A Practical Guide (Using This Chat as a Case Study)
Modern copilots must act, not just chat. Copilot Studio Tools (Actions) enable an agent to invoke flows, call APIs, query data, and write to systems with governed inputs and outputs. Properly engineered Tools improve reliability, traceability, and user outcomes. This article defines Tools, explains how to connect them to your Copilot, details observability and error handling, and provides design guidance for production-grade implementations. What are Copilot Studio Tools? Tools (also called Actions) are typed, parameterized operations a Copilot can call at runtime. Each Tool declares its purpose, inputs, outputs, and authentication context so the agent can decide when and how to use it safely. Common Tool categories include: Power Automate flow actions: Rapid composition over Microsoft and third-party connectors. Custom connectors / OpenAPI endpoints: HTTP/JSON services with defined schemas. Dataverse actions/queries: CRUD and lookups with security trimming. Micro...