microsoft/patterns

Copilot Studio — Repeatable Patterns

Reference architectures for building specific capabilities in MCS agents. Each pattern is a proven, end-to-end implementation guide.

Only read the file relevant to the current task — do NOT read all files.

JIT Glossary → jit-glossary.md

Automatically loads a CSV of customer-specific acronyms and terminology into a global variable (Global.Glossary) on the first user message. The orchestrator uses it to silently expand acronyms before searching knowledge sources — improving retrieval quality without the user having to explain internal jargon.

Read this pattern when:

• The user wants to add a glossary, acronym list, or terminology table
• Knowledge search quality is poor because the agent doesn't understand internal abbreviations
• The user asks about loading CSV/text data from SharePoint into a variable at conversation start

JIT User Context → jit-user-context.md

Loads the current user's Microsoft 365 profile (country, department, display name, etc.) into global variables on the first user message. The orchestrator uses these to personalize answers — e.g., returning the correct country-specific WFH policy without asking the user where they are.

Read this pattern when:

• The user wants country-aware, department-aware, or role-aware answers
• The agent needs to call the M365 Users connector (GetMyProfile / UserGet_V2)
• The user asks about personalizing responses based on who is chatting

Orchestrator-Generated Variables → orchestrator-variables.md

Uses AutomaticTaskInput to let the orchestrator's LLM classify or extract structured data from the user's message at orchestration time — no extra AI Prompt call, no extra latency, no extra cost. The primary use case is routing knowledge searches by category or country inside an OnKnowledgeRequested topic.

Read this pattern when:

• The user needs to route knowledge searches to different sources based on query category or country
• The user wants to classify user intent without an explicit question or AI Prompt
• The user asks about AutomaticTaskInput, shouldPromptUser, or orchestrator-generated inputs

Combining Patterns

You can combine more than one pattern. For example, when using both glossary and user context, merge them into a single conversation-init topic rather than creating separate OnActivity topics. Use the template at ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../templates/topics/conversation-init.topic.mcs.yml. The individual files explain the details.