Agents are apps for Microsoft 365

When you build an agent, you're also building an app for Microsoft 365. Apps for Microsoft 365 share a common manifest schema and packaging format, and unified distribution and management processes and tools. The end result is that your apps and agents reach the widest possible audience and appear contextually within the workflow of your users.

This article describes the key parts of the Microsoft 365 app model that apply to agent development.

App package

The app package for Microsoft 365, including agents, is a zip file that contains one or more configuration (manifest) files and your app icons. Your app logic and data storage are hosted elsewhere and accessed by the Microsoft 365 host application via HTTPS. You'll submit the app package to your admin to publish to your organization or to Partner Center to publish to Microsoft AppSource.

At minimum, an app package contains:

• The app manifest (manifest.json), which describes app configuration, capabilities, required resources, and important attributes
• A large color icon (color.png), a full-color 92x92 icon to display your agent in the Microsoft Copilot UI and store
• A small outline icon (outline.png), a 32x32 icon with transparent background (not currently used in Copilot, but required to pass validation)

The app package can also contain declarative agent and API plugin definitions, as well as localization files for other supported languages.

App icons

Your app package must include both a color and outline version of your app icon, as .png files. These icons have specific size requirements in order to pass store validation.

For design guidance for color and outline icons for the Microsoft 365 app package, see App icons for Teams Store and app bar.

Color icon

The color icon represents your agent within the Microsoft Copilot UI and in-product (Teams, Outlook, Microsoft 365) app stores.

Outline icon

The outline icon is used to represent pinned and/or active apps on the Teams app bar. It's not currently used for agents, but still required in order for the app package to pass validation.

App manifest

The app manifest for Microsoft 365 is a JSON file that describes the functionality and characteristics of your app. At its core, the app manifest for Microsoft 365 is the schema for building Teams apps; however, starting with version 1.13, it supports apps that run across Microsoft 365 hosts, in addition to Teams.

If you're using Copilot Studio to build a declarative agent, the app manifest is generated for you based on the information you provide during the creation process.

Every app manifest must include the following fields.

The following example shows an app manifest with placeholder sections at the end for message extension and declarative agent app capabilities.

{
    "$schema": "https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/json-schemas/teams/v1.18/MicrosoftTeams.schema.json",
    "manifestVersion": "1.18",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "id": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
    "developer": {
        "name": "Northwind Traders",
        "websiteUrl": "https://www.example.com",
        "privacyUrl": "https://www.example.com/termofuse",
        "termsOfUseUrl": "https://www.example.com/privacy"
    },
    "icons": {
        "color": "Northwind-Logo-196.png",
        "outline": "Northwind-Logo-32.png"
    },
    "name": {
        "short": "Northwind Inventory",
        "full": "Northwind Inventory App"
    },
    "description": {
        "short": "App allows you to find and update product inventory information",
        "full": "Northwind Inventory is the ultimate tool for managing your product inventory. With its intuitive interface and powerful features, you'll be able to easily find your products by name, category, inventory status, and supplier city. You can also update inventory information with the app."
    },
    "accentColor": "#3690E9",
    "composeExtensions": {
        ...
    },
    "copilotAgents": {
        ...
    }
}

To learn more, see App manifest.

copilotAgents definitions

Declarative agents and API plugins each have their own definition schemas. The definition file for a declarative agent is referenced from the copilotAgents object of the app manifest.

The following example shows how to reference a declarative agent:

    "copilotAgents": {
        "declarativeAgents": [
            {
                "id": "agent1",
                "file": "declarativeAgent1.json"
            }
        ]
    },

The definition of an API plugin is referenced from the declarative agent definition.

Note the following:

• Currently only one declarative agent definition is supported per app manifest. Only one API plugin is supported per declarative agent.

• When you use Copilot Studio to build agents, a unique id is generated for each, as part of the overall app manifest generation. When building agents with Teams Toolkit or your own IDE, you assign the id yourself, according to your own conventions or friendly name.

Declarative agent manifest

The declarative agent manifest includes instructions for Copilot responses, conversation starter sample prompts, data sources used for grounding, and a list of actions (API plugin skills) the agent is able to perform.

To learn more, see Declarative agent manifest schema for Microsoft 365 Copilot.

API plugin manifest

The API plugin manifest describes the plugin's capabilities, including the APIs it supports and the operations it can perform. It also includes metadata such as name, description, version, and a reference to the OpenAPI definition of the REST APIs with which it interacts. API plugins can be referenced from a declarative agent manifest to be used within the declarative agent experience.

To learn more, see API plugin manifest schema for Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Related content

• Localize your agent
• Manage extensibility for Microsoft 365 Copilot
• Publish agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot