Policy Agent (Topic-Based Grounding) for Copilot Studio

Summary

A Custom Engine Agent (CEA) built in Microsoft Copilot Studio that uses a topic-based folder structure in SharePoint for deterministic, precise policy responses. Each agent topic (Finance, HR, IT & Security, Legal & Compliance, Operations & Administration) is mapped to its own SharePoint knowledge source, so the agent routes the user's query to the correct department folder.

Demo

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e6c3d7d3-015e-4f67-ac9e-2f5d4a6c8294

Problem Statement

Organizations with policies spread across multiple departments need precise, targeted responses. Common challenges:

• Generic responses that don't address specific departmental policies
• Difficulty routing queries to the right knowledge source
• Lack of precision when policies overlap across departments
• Need for deterministic behavior in policy lookups

Solution Overview

A Custom Engine Agent (CEA) in Copilot Studio with topic-based SharePoint folder mapping:

Architecture

                    ┌─────────────────────────┐
                    │      User Query         │
                    │  "What's the expense    │
                    │   claim process?"       │
                    └───────────┬─────────────┘
                                │
                    ┌───────────▼─────────────┐
                    │   Custom Engine Agent   │
                    │   (Topic Classifier)    │
                    └───────────┬─────────────┘
                                │
              ┌─────────────────┼─────────────────┐
              │                 │                 │
    ┌─────────▼─────┐  ┌───────▼───────┐  ┌─────▼─────────┐
    │  HR Topic     │  │ Finance Topic │  │  IT Topic     │
    │               │  │               │  │               │
    │  SharePoint   │  │  SharePoint   │  │  SharePoint   │
    │  /HR Folder   │  │  /Finance     │  │  /IT Folder   │
    └───────────────┘  └───────┬───────┘  └───────────────┘
                               │
                    ┌──────────▼──────────┐
                    │  Targeted Response  │
                    │  from Finance       │
                    │  Policy Documents   │
                    └─────────────────────┘

Technical Details

The agent ships with five built-in topics, each linked to its own SharePoint folder:

• Finance
• HR
• IT & Security
• Legal & Compliance
• Operations & Administration

Sample Prompts

• "What's the code of conduct policy for new employees?"
• "Explain the step-by-step process for submitting expense claims"
• "What are the IT security guidelines for remote work?"
• "How do I request time off according to HR policy?"

Business Value

Contributors

• Keshav Keshari

Version history

Prerequisites

• Microsoft 365 tenant with Copilot Studio license
• A SharePoint site with policy documents organized into one folder per topic (see SharePoint setup)
• Microsoft Power Platform CLI (pac)
• (Optional) VS Code Copilot Studio extension for source-control editing

SharePoint setup

Create one folder per policy domain on your SharePoint site:

/Policies
  ├── /Finance
  │   ├── expense-policy.docx
  │   └── travel-reimbursement.docx
  ├── /HR
  │   ├── code-of-conduct.docx
  │   └── leave-policy.docx
  ├── /IT-Security
  │   ├── security-guidelines.docx
  │   └── acceptable-use.docx
  ├── /Legal-Compliance
  └── /Operations-Administration

Minimal path to awesome

Import this sample into your Copilot Studio environment using the Power Platform CLI.

• Ensure you are authenticated with pac auth:

  pac auth create --environment <your-env-id>
  pac auth who
  

• From this sample folder, package the unpacked solution into a zip:

  cd samples/mcs-PolicyAgentTopics
  
  # Package up the solution. The SRC folder is what gets packed.
  pac solution pack --zipfile PolicyAgentTopics.zip --folder ./src
  

• Import into your chosen environment (omit --environment to use the default):

  pac env list
  pac solution import --path ./PolicyAgentTopics.zip --environment <your-env-id> --publish-changes --activate-plugins
  

• After import, in Copilot Studio:

  1. Open the Policy Agent (Topic-based) in your solution.
  2. For each topic (Finance, HR, IT Security, Legal Compliance, Operations Administration), edit the linked SharePoint knowledge source and point it at the corresponding folder on your SharePoint site.
  3. Publish to your channel of choice (Microsoft Teams, M365 Copilot).

Features

This sample extends Copilot Studio with an agent that:

• Uses topic-based deterministic routing — each agent topic owns its own SharePoint knowledge source.
• Includes five built-in topics, each mapped to its own SharePoint folder (Finance, HR, IT & Security, Legal & Compliance, Operations & Administration).
• Returns precise, department-scoped answers without cross-contamination from other domains.
• Easy to extend — adding a new policy domain is just adding a topic + a SharePoint folder.

Folder structure

mcs-PolicyAgentTopics/
├── PolicyAgentTopics.cdsproj      # MSBuild project (optional, for dotnet build / pipelines)
├── README.md
├── assets/
│   └── demo.mp4
└── src/                           # Produced by `pac solution unpack`
    ├── Other/
    │   ├── Solution.xml
    │   └── Customizations.xml
    ├── bots/
    │   └── cred8_agent_Ai98b3/    # Agent definition + topic & knowledge configuration
    └── botcomponents/             # 5 topic-scoped knowledge sources + 13 topic components

Related resources

• Copilot Studio documentation
• Create topics in Copilot Studio
• Move copilots between environments (Copilot Studio ALM)
• Power Platform CLI pac solution reference
• VS Code Copilot Studio extension

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