Microsoft Copilot Studio & SharePoint Integration 101

In the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI), Microsoft has introduced an exciting new offering: Microsoft Copilot Studio. This innovative platform empowers users to create and deploy AI-powered copilots, revolutionizing how we interact with our digital workspaces. In this blog post, we will explore Microsoft Copilot Studio and delve into the process of publishing copilots to a SharePoint page using a web part.

To start with Microsoft Copilot Studio, users can access the platform through their Microsoft 365 account. The intuitive interface guides users through the process of creating a new copilot. Users can define the copilot's purpose, specify its capabilities, and train it using relevant data sources.

Let's take a look at our Copilot

To set the stage, I created a Copilot with 2 data sources: The entire MS Learn website, and a SharePoint page I created. Users can ask the bot questions such as "Explain model-driven apps to me" and the Copilot will respond using generative answers via the provided data sources! A user can also ask about posts or documents from the SharePoint site and the copilot will generate answers. Remember to publish the copilot before moving onto our SharePoint configuration.

Publishing a Copilot to a SharePoint Page

Once a copilot has been created and trained in Microsoft Copilot Studio, publishing it to a SharePoint page is next. SharePoint, a collaborative platform within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, provides an ideal environment for integrating and showcasing copilots. By publishing a copilot to a SharePoint page, users can make the custom copilot accessible to their team members and leverage its capabilities within their digital workspace.

The first requirement is to develop a chatbot web part using a .sppkg file. An sppkg file is a package format used in SharePoint for deploying client-side solutions. The package must be uploaded to SharePoint via the SharePoint admin center. I will cover the development of the web part in a future post, so no worries if the concept feels foreign or new!

To add the web part to SharePoint first add the web part to the list of accessible apps for your site.

Next, upload the .sppkg file. This will allow you to add your chatbot to a SharePoint site as a web part.

Back on your SharePoint site, click the gear in the top right corner, select "add an app", and locate the web part you just uploaded in the SharePoint admin center

Finally, it is time to add our Copilot to our SharePoint site. Edit any of your site pages, I chose to use the Home page, and proceed to add a new element. Click the + icon and select "Chatbot Webpart"

Add the ID of your Copilot along with the name, logo, and image you want your Copilot to use when users interact with it.

After configuring the Chatbot web part you should see it appear on the screen you added it to. Click the icon image you chose when configuring the web part (mine is circled below) and ensure the bot responds to questions the way you expect it to.

Next, we will learn to create a web part that can be deployed to SharePoint. The .sppkg file will contain the metadata for our web parts solution. We will explore this further in my next article!