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Overview

Take a beginner from an empty VS Code workspace on Windows to a working Microsoft Copilot Studio agent. You author the agent locally as YAML using the microsoft/skills-for-copilot-studio plugin running inside GitHub Copilot CLI, push it to the Copilot Studio cloud, publish it from the portal, and test it. The workshop ends with one advanced lab that adds a public knowledge source to the same agent.

Lab information architecture

Lab	Title	Time	Level
00	Prerequisites	15 min	Beginner
01	Install Windows tooling	15 min	Beginner
02	Install the Copilot Studio VS Code extension	5 min	Beginner
03	Create your first blank agent in the portal	10 min	Beginner
04	Set up local workspace and launch Copilot CLI	10 min	Beginner
05	Install the skills-for-copilot-studio plugin	5 min	Beginner
06	Clone the agent into your workspace	10 min	Beginner
07	Author the Hello World topic	10 min	Beginner
08	Push and publish	10 min	Beginner
09	Test in the portal	5 min	Beginner
10	(Advanced) Add a knowledge source	15 min	Intermediate (optional)
Ref	Troubleshooting	n/a	n/a
Ref	Glossary	n/a	n/a
Ref	References	n/a	n/a

Architecture

flowchart LR
    A[Maker in VS Code] -->|"@copilot-studio:* commands"| B[GitHub Copilot CLI]
    B -->|loads plugin scripts| C[skills-for-copilot-studio plugin]
    C -->|spawns subprocess| D[Copilot Studio VS Code extension LSP binary]
    D -->|authenticated HTTPS| E[(Copilot Studio cloud)]
    E -->|YAML files on disk| F[Local workspace folder]
    F -->|VS Code editor| A
    E -->|test pane| G[Tested agent]

What you will build

• A blank Copilot Studio agent named HelloWorldAgent cloned into a local VS Code workspace.
• A topics/HelloWorld.topic.mcs.yml file that triggers on “hello” and replies with a greeting.
• The same agent re-published with a public Microsoft Learn knowledge source attached.

Tooling at a glance

• GitHub Copilot CLI (copilot) running in the VS Code integrated terminal.
• The microsoft/skills-for-copilot-studio plugin, providing four @copilot-studio:* sub-agents.
• The Copilot Studio VS Code extension, which ships the LanguageServerHost binary used for cloud sync.

Get started

Start at Lab 00 — Prerequisites.