Publish an agent

Prerequisites

• You drafted and saved your agent after configuring its name, description, and instructions.
• You tested your agent in the Preview pane before publishing.
• To learn more about testing your agent before publication, see Preview overview for agents.

Publish your agent for the first time

1. Open your agent in Copilot Studio.
2. Select the chevron next to Publish.
3. In the Publish agent dialog, review the agent details. Select and configure each channel you want to publish your agent to.
4. If your agent isn't ready because it's missing a name, description, or instructions, the dialog shows what needs to be completed. Address the issues before continuing.
5. Select Publish to confirm.
6. Wait for the publish process to complete. The dialog shows the progress.
7. When publishing succeeds, the dialog shows a confirmation with options to share your agent or add it to the organization catalog.

Publish updates to your agent

After you publish your agent for the first time, any changes you make require republishing before users can access them.

1. Make your changes in the Build tab.
2. Select Publish in the upper-right corner.
3. In the Publish your changes dialog, review the changes.
4. Select Publish to confirm.
5. The new version replaces the previous published version.

Handle publish failures

• If publishing fails, the dialog shows an error with a Retry option.
• Select Retry to attempt publishing again.
• If the issue persists, check your agent configuration and try again.

How data policies affect publishing

Your organization can use data policies (sometimes called DLP policies) to restrict which connectors and channels an agent can use. When a data policy applies to a channel your agent publishes to, the publish flow evaluates the policy alongside the rest of the readiness checks.

If you want to add a channel and open the Add Channel dialog, any channels restricted by your organization's DLP policies are disabled and can't be added. If a channel's usage is restricted but not outright disabled, the publish flow evaluates the policy alongside the rest of the readiness checks and notifies you if it's failing.

The built-in test channel doesn't block publishing

Every new agent gets a built-in Direct Line test channel that powers the Preview pane. This channel is provisioned automatically and can pick up policy restrictions that were authored for other reasons—for example, a broad rule that blocks all Direct Line surfaces. To prevent a routine environment policy from stopping you from publishing a brand-new agent, Copilot Studio doesn't count a policy violation on the built-in test channel toward the publish-blocking gate.

The behavior is as follows:

• The channel status in the Publish agent dialog still shows the violation on the built-in test channel so you know it's there.
• The Publish button remains enabled unless another channel your agent uses is also blocked by policy, or every channel your agent uses is blocked.
• The published agent still runs through your organization's data policies at runtime. Bypassing the publish gate doesn't grant the built-in test channel access to blocked connectors or endpoints.

When publishing is still blocked

Publishing is blocked by data policy when either of these conditions is true:

• Your agent uses a channel other than the built-in test channel, and that channel is blocked by policy.
• Every channel your agent publishes to (excluding the built-in test channel) is blocked by policy.

In either case, the publish dialog shows the block and the connectors or channels that need attention. Ask your administrator to review the policy, or reconfigure the agent to use a channel and connector combination that's allowed.

Limitations

• Some channels might behave differently or have limited availability.
• Changes you make after publishing don't take effect until you publish again.

Related information

• Publish overview for agents
• Available channels for agents
• Key concepts - Publish and deploy agents
• Preview overview for agents