Automated Workflow with Teams and Copilot

Introduction

In this article, we will explore how to create an automated workflow using Copilot in Power Automate cloud flows. Copilot is a powerful tool that allows you to streamline your workflow by using natural language expressions. With Copilot, you can easily describe your automation scenario and create a flow through a series of conversational steps.

Getting Started with Copilot in Cloud Flows

Copilot in cloud flows provides several actions that can help you automate your workflow more efficiently. These actions include:

1. Understanding your intent and creating a flow based on the scenario prompt you provide.
2. Auto-setting up connections to get your automation up and running quickly.
3. Applying necessary parameters in the flow based on your prompt.
4. Responding to your requests for changes in the flow, such as updating or replacing actions.
5. Answering questions about your flow and the product itself.

To use Copilot in Power Automate cloud flows, you need to have a Power Platform environment in the supported regions. If you don’t see the Copilot feature in your environment, contact your admin to enable it in the Power Platform admin center.

Creating a Flow with Copilot in the Cloud Flows Designer

To create a flow using Copilot in the cloud flows designer, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to Power Automate.
2. Start describing your automation scenario. As you type, the cloud flows designer with Copilot will suggest AI-generated flow descriptions.
3. Alternatively, you can select “Create” and then “Describe it” to design your flow.
4. Choose a suggestion from the list or use the scenario you created in step 2.
5. Select “Next” to accept the flow created by Copilot. If you want to see different suggestions, you can update your prompt or select “This isn’t what I’m looking for.”
6. Review your connected apps and services, then select “Next.”
7. Configure the required settings to finalize your flow, and then select “Create flow.”
8. The cloud flows designer with Copilot will open with your flow. Follow the Copilot suggestions on the panel to the right to complete the flow setup or make edits using “Edit with Copilot.”
9. Once your flow is complete, select “Save this flow.” We recommend testing it by selecting “Test” in the upper-right corner.

Writing a Good Prompt for Copilot

When using Copilot, it’s important to write a good prompt to get accurate and relevant results. Here are some tips for writing a good prompt:

1. Be specific and provide details. Instead of a generic prompt like “I want to process an email,” try something more specific like “When an email arrives, I want to post the subject of the email to ‘Contoso’ Teams General channel.”
2. Mention the connector in your prompt if possible. For example, include Outlook, Teams, Forms, or other relevant connectors.
3. Try different variations of prompts to see what works best. If the initial results aren’t what you’re looking for, tweak your prompt and run it again.

For more general information about writing prompts with generative AI, refer to “The art of the prompt: How to get the best out of generative AI.”

Interacting with Copilot

Here are some example scenarios of how you can interact with Copilot:

1. From the Home page or “Describe it” option inside the canvas:
2. Prompt: “When an email arrives from contoso@gmail.com, post in Teams.”
3. Ask Copilot to edit the flow: “I want to send the email subject to Teams channel.”

4. Ask Copilot what your flow does: “What does my flow do?”

5. When an item is created in SharePoint, send a mobile notification.

6. Edit the flow with this prompt: “I want to send the item title to notification.”
7. Edit the flow with this prompt: “I don’t want to receive mobile notification. Send me an email instead.”

For more examples, you can try out the Power Platform Prompt Library.

Editing a Flow with Copilot

In addition to creating flows, you can also use Copilot to edit or complete existing flows. Here’s how:

1. Sign in to Power Automate.
2. On the left navigation pane, select “My flows.”
3. Find your flow and select the vertical ellipsis (⋮), then select “Edit.” Alternatively, you can access the cloud flows designer with Copilot from the flow Details page by selecting the flow name from “My flows” and then selecting “Edit.”
4. Your flow will open with the Copilot pane on the side. Use the cloud flows designer with Copilot capabilities to edit your flow.
5. Try typing prompts like “Delete action X” or “I want to send an email at the end of the flow with subject equal to the SharePoint file name.”
6. Instead of email, I want to post a message on Teams channel.
7. Check if each of the SharePoint items being returned has a title that equals ‘USB’, and if so, send an email.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about Copilot in Power Automate cloud flows:

1. Why don’t I see the cloud flow designer with Copilot in my Power Automate experience?

2. Check if your environment is in the Copilot available region. If it is, contact your admin to ensure Copilot is enabled in the Power Platform admin center.

3. How do I enable Copilot?

4. If your region doesn’t have Copilot enabled by default, your admin can enable it in the Power Platform admin center by consenting to data movement.

5. How do I disable Copilot in the cloud flows designer?

6. Refer to the availability table to determine if your region supports Copilot. You can toggle off the cross-geo data sharing settings from the Power Platform admin center if your region doesn’t have native GPUs to support Copilot.

7. How is Copilot in cloud flows different from the text generation model in AI Builder?

8. Copilot in cloud flows helps you create and edit Power Automate flows using natural language expressions. The text generation model in AI Builder allows you to use the GPT model directly in your flows and apps for tasks like text summarization and text classification.

9. What are the limitations of the cloud flows designer with Copilot?

10. The cloud flows designer with Copilot has some limitations. It can’t edit flows with non-Open API flows, flows with comments, unsupported hybrid triggers, Power Apps V1 triggers, Perform a Changeset Request (Dataverse), Power Pages components, or solution flows using connections instead of connection references.

These are just a few of the frequently asked questions about Copilot in Power Automate cloud flows. If you have more questions, feel free to explore the Power Platform documentation for further information.

Conclusion

Copilot in Power Automate cloud flows is a valuable tool for creating and editing automated workflows. By using natural language expressions, you can streamline your workflow and easily describe your automation scenarios. Whether you’re creating a new flow or editing an existing one, Copilot provides helpful guidance and suggestions. Take advantage of this powerful tool to enhance your workflow automation with Teams and Copilot.