Building Agents with Microsoft 365 Agents SDK

Overview

Microsoft 365 Agents SDK is a powerful new toolset that enables developers to build intelligent agents directly within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. These agents can interact with users through natural language, perform tasks, retrieve data, and automate workflows using Microsoft Graph, Copilot, and other services. It opens up the ability to create domain-specific, contextual, and personalized assistants within Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and other M365 apps.

What Is Microsoft 365 Agents SDK?

At its core, the Microsoft 365 Agents SDK helps you:

• Create intelligent agents that can understand and respond to user prompts.
• Define goals and steps the agent needs to perform.
• Use natural language to invoke business logic using plugins, Graph connectors, or APIs.
• Support multi-turn conversations, task planning, and memory.
• Integrate with Microsoft Copilot and show up as part of Copilot experiences in Teams, Word, Outlook, and more.

Key Concepts

1. Declarative Agent Definition Agents are defined using a declarative schema—this means you describe what the agent can do, rather than writing traditional imperative code.

2. Plugins and APIs Agents use plugins to perform tasks. These plugins can be built from:

   • REST APIs defined with OpenAPI (Swagger)
   • Microsoft Graph calls
   • Power Automate flows

3. Memory and Context Agents can maintain memory across sessions using persistent and temporary memory. This allows for contextual follow-up questions and smarter task execution.

4. Goal-Oriented Workflow You define what goals the agent can achieve. For each goal, you define the steps or actions the agent can take to fulfill it.

Sample Scenario: Onboarding Agent in Microsoft Teams

Imagine a scenario where an organization wants to automate onboarding tasks for new employees.

Agent Name: HR Onboarding Assistant Goal: “Onboard a new employee”

Steps:

1. Create a user account (via Microsoft Graph)
2. Add to Teams and SharePoint site
3. Trigger a welcome email using Power Automate
4. Share training materials from SharePoint
5. Schedule orientation meetings via Outlook

With the Agents SDK, you define this goal and plug in the required APIs and workflows. When a user types:

“Help me onboard a new employee named Aditya for the Sales team”

the agent plans out the steps, calls the necessary services, and reports progress to the user.

How to Get Started?

Prerequisites:

• Microsoft 365 Developer Tenant
• Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit
• Access to Microsoft Copilot Studio (for testing and hosting)

Steps:

• Install the Agent SDK using npm or Teams Toolkit templates.
• Define your agent manifest with goals, descriptions, and plugin endpoints.
• Host your API or connect to Graph/Power Automate.
• Test in Copilot Studio or Teams.

Use Cases

• IT Helpdesk Agent: Reset passwords, manage device assignments, track tickets.
• Sales Assistant: Retrieve customer data, generate proposals, summarize leads.
• HR Assistant: Onboarding, leave tracking, employee feedback automation.
• Project Tracker: Summarize project progress from Planner and SharePoint.

Summary

The Microsoft 365 Agents SDK is a breakthrough for building custom, goal-oriented, intelligent assistants within the Microsoft ecosystem. With minimal coding, developers can now create rich Copilot experiences that understand user intents and automate business workflows seamlessly.