{"id":655,"date":"2025-07-10T09:10:37","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T08:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/?page_id=655"},"modified":"2025-08-06T14:37:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T13:37:40","slug":"copilot-agents-how-to-create-and-share","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/copilot-agents-how-to-create-and-share\/","title":{"rendered":"Copilot Agents \u2013 How to create and share"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can create Copilot Agents in both the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/m365.cloud.microsoft\/chat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">web Copilot interface<\/a>, and from within the Copilot app in Teams. Watch the video below or follow the written instructions. Note: Microsoft update Copilot quite often, so it may look different when you use it to how it looks in the video, but the steps to create an Agent should roughly be the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udcf9&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/media.coventry.ac.uk\/View.aspx?id=44308~5g~7RNhMTOEdB&amp;code=L7~MBTgngKtLGV5OZgjRehQWSPtKItMnifGTitRMsehuOL6irqTlwemBx7njIK4mJea9Pw0ymDuoD&amp;ax=7A~hFvv9ndSjqWGBs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Video \u2013 Creating and sharing Copilot Agents<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 1: Create a new Agent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Go to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/m365.cloud.microsoft\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Copilot website<\/a>&nbsp;or open the Copilot app within Teams.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select \u2018<strong>Create an Agent<\/strong>\u2019 on in the side-panel of the Copilot interface.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Choose \u2018<strong>Configure<\/strong>\u2019 for manual set up.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Give your Agent a&nbsp;<strong>name<\/strong>&nbsp;(e.g. \u2018Find an Ed Tech tool!\u2019)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add a&nbsp;<strong>description<\/strong>&nbsp;of what your Agent does (this doesn\u2019t affect how it behaves, it\u2019s purely to inform the user).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"agent-instructions\">Step 2: Add instructions and knowledge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use the \u2018<strong>Instructions<\/strong>\u2018 field (8,000 character limit) to:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Define the Agent\u2019s goal<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Set constraints for responses<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Include examples of \u2018good\u2019 answers or the required format (e.g. if you want the agent to output a table with specific headings)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add knowledge it should reference<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Best practice: Write your instructions (prompt) in a <strong>separate Word document<\/strong> first to help you stay within the character limit and easily refine content.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"is-style-info wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Tip &#8211; How to write good instructions<\/strong><br>Writing good instructions (or &#8216;prompts&#8217;) for AI is often a case of <strong>trial and error <\/strong>\u2013 have a go, see how the AI responds, and tweak your instructions if it doesn&#8217;t behave the way you want. However, there are a number of things you can consider including in your prompts to make them more effective. We&#8217;ve made a series of resources to help you experiment with writing good prompts:<br>\u2b50 Here is a colour-coded &#8216;infographic&#8217; style webpage that breaks down the structure of a good prompt: \ud83d\udd17 <a href=\"https:\/\/edtechtools.coventry.domains\/prompt-anatomy\/prompt-anatomy.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Anatomy of a Good Prompt<\/a><br>\u2b50 Here is an interactive <strong>Template<\/strong>&nbsp;that suggests things you could include in your instructions, with examples: \ud83d\udd17 <a href=\"https:\/\/edtechtools.coventry.domains\/prompt-template\/prompt-template.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Copilot Agent Prompt Builder<\/a><br>\u2b50 If you&#8217;re new to creating Agents, we&#8217;ve made a Copilot Agent that will try to help you write instructions for your own Agents: \ud83e\udd16 <a href=\"https:\/\/m365.cloud.microsoft\/apps\/?templatedAppId=9e2962b8-7eae-4124-86f3-1799090725e1&amp;templateInstanceId=2a36d217-4017-46df-9a4b-6af7d43936fa&amp;environment=Default-4b18ab9a-3765-4abe-ac7c-0e0d398afd4f&amp;source=embedded-builder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Agent Instruction Writer<\/a>. Please note that you will probably get a better understanding of what goes into good prompts (and possibly better results) if you write your instructions manually, as it&#8217;s often a case of trial and error as you write instructions, test the Agent, and tweak your instructions to improve it.<br>\u2b50 On the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/copilot-agents-example-agents\/\">Copilot Agents \u2013 Example Agents<\/a>&nbsp;page you can download the instructions that were used to create the demo agents \u2013 you may find it helpful to look at them as a reference when writing your own instructions.<br>\u2b50 See the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/tips-for-using-copilot\/\">Tips<\/a>&nbsp;page for general advice about how to write good instructions for AI. These tips work equally well for both normal Copilot and Copilot Agents. For a more interactive approach, see the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/games\/\">Games<\/a>&nbsp;page, and particularly the&nbsp;\ud83c\udfae <a href=\"https:\/\/edtechtools.coventry.domains\/prompt-games\/prompt-painter.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Prompt Painter Game<\/a><strong>,<\/strong> which guides you to break down example prompts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 3: Give the Agent access to websites (optional)<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Turn on web search and \/ or give the Agent access to <strong>specific URLs<\/strong> (these need to be \u2018open\u2019, i.e. they can\u2019t require a log-in).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Copilot Agents will only be able to access <strong>static content<\/strong> from the first page of the link you give it access to.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>With our licence, we <strong>can&#8217;t<\/strong> give Agents access to documents. All the information you want it to access must be in the instructions field, or on the first page in the websites you give it access to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-info wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Tip: Should you give your agent access to the web?<\/strong><br>Where possible,&nbsp;put important information in the \u2018Instructions\u2019 field (the prompt), rather than relying on giving the Agent access to URLs&nbsp;\u2013 the Agent will always hold the prompt in its memory, whereas it will perform a search to access information on websites and may not always find the most relevant information. Putting key information in the prompt can also help reduce hallucinations. For more tips, see \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/tips-for-using-copilot\/#hallucinations-p\">How can I reduce hallucinations<\/a>?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 4: Add &#8216;Suggested prompts&#8217; (optional)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Add prompts that help users begin conversations. Use these to <strong>guide people as to how to use the different functions of the Agent.<\/strong> Add some of the Agents on the <a href=\"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/copilot-agents-example-agents\/\">Copilot Agents \u2013 Example Agents<\/a> to explore how they use &#8216;Suggested prompts&#8217; to guide the user. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Give each prompt a short <strong>title<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Write out the <strong>full message<\/strong> users will see when clicking the prompt.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For Agents that can do many different things, you can add multiple &#8216;Suggested prompts&#8217; to guide different user scenarios.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 5: Test your Agent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Click on your <strong>suggested prompts <\/strong>to see how they work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Test with sample questions<\/strong> to confirm responses follow your instructions as you intended<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Make adjustments<\/strong> to your instructions if needed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 6: Share your Agent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Click \u2018<strong>Create<\/strong>\u2019 to finalize your Agent<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click \u2018<strong>Change<\/strong> <strong>Sharing<\/strong> <strong>Settings<\/strong>\u2019<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Set to \u2018<strong>Anyone<\/strong> <strong>in<\/strong> <strong>the<\/strong> <strong>organisation<\/strong>\u2019<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Copy the link.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Share the link, e.g. by pasting in Aula, or sending via email.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You can create Copilot Agents in both the&nbsp;web Copilot interface, and from within the Copilot app in Teams. Watch the video below or follow the written instructions. Note: Microsoft update Copilot quite often, so it may look different when you use it to how it looks in the video, but the steps to create an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3323,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-655","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3323"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":773,"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/655\/revisions\/773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/copilotcookbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}