Explore Microsoft Copilot Studio, compare its three agent harnesses, and select an appropriate harness for a business scenario.
After completing this module, you can:
- Explain the role of a harness in Microsoft Copilot Studio.
- Compare the GitHub Copilot, standard, and Copilot Chat harnesses.
- Identify the components and lifecycle of an agent powered by the GitHub Copilot harness.
- Select a harness based on business and technical requirements.
Learn how billing works for agents built on the GitHub Copilot harness in Microsoft Copilot Studio, which design and build-time decisions drive Copilot Credit consumption, and how administrators fund and monitor capacity.
After completing this module, you can:
- Compare billing models across Copilot Studio agent harnesses.
- Identify the maker activities and decisions that drive consumption on the GitHub Copilot harness.
- Describe how administrators govern and monitor Copilot Credit usage.
Create an agent powered by the GitHub Copilot harness, define its behavior with instructions, add knowledge, and refine it through testing.
After completing this module, you can:
- Create an agent powered by the GitHub Copilot harness.
- Define an agent's purpose, scope, behavior, tone, boundaries, and escalation approach.
- Add file and website knowledge sources.
- Configure agent details, a greeting, and suggested prompts.
- Test and refine an agent in Preview.
Choose, author, and package reusable skills for agents powered by the GitHub Copilot harness in Microsoft Copilot Studio, and plan their reuse across agents and environments.
After completing this module, you'll be able to:
- Choose when to use a skill instead of other agent components.
- Author skills from pre-built templates or from scratch.
- Compose and package a skill for reuse.
- Reference skills from agent instructions and plan reuse across agents and environments.

Syllabus

Explore Microsoft Copilot Studio and agent harnesses
- Introduction
- Understand agent harnesses
- Compare Copilot Studio agent harnesses
- Explore the GitHub Copilot harness
- Understand the agent lifecycle and authoring surface
- Exercise - Select a harness for a business scenario
- Module assessment
- Summary
Manage usage and cost for agents in Microsoft Copilot Studio
- Introduction
- Compare billing models across harnesses
- Identify runtime consumption drivers
- Plan for build-time consumption
- Understand admin cost governance
- Module assessment
- Summary
Create instruction-driven agents in Microsoft Copilot Studio
- Introduction
- Define an agent's purpose and scope
- Write effective agent instructions
- Add file and website knowledge
- Configure the agent's conversation experience
- Preview and refine an agent
- Exercise - Create a benefits information agent
- Module assessment
- Summary
Design reusable behavior with skills in Microsoft Copilot Studio
- Introduction
- Position skills in the GitHub Copilot component model
- Add skills to your agent
- Compose and package a skill for reuse
- Reference authored skills and plan reuse
- Module assessment
- Summary