>_ The Manifest

Read-only agents answer questions. Agents with actions get work done. The moment your agent can create a ticket or update a record, it stops being a search box and starts being a coworker. Watch the walkthrough, then skim the recap below.

▶ Extending your Copilot Chat declarative agent with actions - API plugins and MCP on the Microsoft 365 & Power Platform Community channel. Open on YouTube.

What you’ll see

Actions let a declarative agent call external systems to create, update, and retrieve data. This walkthrough connects an agent to real services two ways and shows when to reach for each.

  • API plugins to call live REST endpoints described by OpenAPI
  • MCP servers to expose tools through the Model Context Protocol
  • Moving beyond read-only into write operations against real systems
  • Authentication so those calls are secure, not open doors

The takeaway: knowledge tells your agent things, actions let it do things. Wiring in a plugin is where an assistant becomes an operator.

Resources

Have questions or want to share what you're building? Connect with me on LinkedIn or check out more on The Manifest.