Available knowledge sources for agents

The new agent experience supports several types of knowledge sources. Each type connects your agent to different kinds of content and data.

Note

Features in this article are used by agents or workflows powered by the GitHub Copilot harness.

Usage-based billing applies to using, building, testing, and evaluating agents. These actions might consume Copilot Credits. Learn more in Manage costs for agents powered by the GitHub Copilot harness.

Note

A knowledge source is content the maker makes available to the agent at design time, so every user gets the same grounding. If instead you want an end user to bring their own file into a single conversation - for example, a PDF to summarize - that's an attachment, not a knowledge source. See Attach files to a conversation.

Knowledge source types

When you select Add knowledge on the Build tab, the dialog presents sources organized into Featured and Advanced tabs, plus a file upload area. Featured sources include: Public websites, SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, Salesforce, and ServiceNow. Advanced sources include: Azure DevOps Wiki, Azure DevOps Work Items, Custom Connector, and Enterprise websites.

Uploaded files

  • Drag and drop or upload documents directly to the agent. Supported file types include PDF, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
  • The file upload area appears at the top of the Add knowledge dialog.
  • Upload files as a knowledge source
  • Connect to ServiceNow to let the agent reference service management content.

Confluence (Advanced)

  • Connect to Confluence workspaces to let the agent reference team documentation and knowledge base articles.

Jira (Copilot connector)

  • Connect to Jira to let the agent reference issues, bugs, and project tracking content.

Azure DevOps Work Items (Copilot connector)

  • Connect to Azure DevOps to let the agent reference work items, bugs, and backlog content.

Note

Other knowledge source types, such as Dataverse, Azure AI Search, and Copilot connectors, might be available depending on your environment and licensing. The sources shown in the Add knowledge dialog can vary.

Dataverse

Note

If your environment's Dataverse search-and-index setting is set to a mode that doesn't support agent knowledge, the Add knowledge dialog shows a banner explaining that Dataverse, Dynamics 365, and uploaded-file sources aren't available for this agent until an administrator updates the environment. See When Dataverse, Dynamics 365, and uploaded files aren't available.

Prepare Dataverse data in Power Apps Data Workspace

On the Select tables step in the Add knowledge wizard, Copilot Studio can offer a link that opens Power Apps Data Workspace in a new tab. Data Workspace lets you prepare and structure your data before you select tables for the agent.

The link appears when:

  • Your environment includes the required data-preparation solution at the minimum version.
  • Data Workspace is enabled for your environment.

If the link doesn't appear, the step shows a description of the table-limit constraints instead. Ask your administrator whether Data Workspace is available in your environment.

Copilot connectors

Choose the right knowledge source

Source type Best for
Uploaded files Specific documents you want the agent to reference directly
Public websites Product documentation, FAQs, public reference material
SharePoint Internal documents, policies, and team content
ServiceNow Service management content and knowledge base articles
Confluence Team documentation and collaboration content
Dataverse Structured business data (records, tables)
Azure AI Search Large document collections needing enterprise search
Copilot connectors Non-Microsoft data indexed for Microsoft 365
Jira Issues, bugs, and project tracking content
Azure DevOps Work Items Work items, bugs, and backlog content

When Dataverse, Dynamics 365, and uploaded files aren't available

If the Dataverse search-and-index setting for your environment is set to a mode that doesn't support agent knowledge, the Add knowledge dialog shows an admin-action banner. While that setting is in effect:

  • New Dataverse, Dynamics 365, and Uploaded files sources can't be added to agents in the environment.
  • Sources of these types that were added before the setting changed remain configured, but the agent might not be able to retrieve from them.

Copilot Studio makers can't change this setting themselves. Ask your administrator to update the environment's Dataverse search-and-index setting to a mode that supports agent knowledge. After the setting is updated, the banner clears and you can add these sources again.

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