{"id":3927,"date":"2025-01-15T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoft-copilot\/blog\/?post_type=copilot&p=3927"},"modified":"2026-03-05T13:40:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:40:54","slug":"enabling-agents-in-microsoft-365-copilot-chat","status":"publish","type":"copilot","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoft-copilot\/blog\/copilot-studio\/enabling-agents-in-microsoft-365-copilot-chat\/","title":{"rendered":"Enabling agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We announced a set of changes to features outlined in this blog and announced additional new features\u2014read the full update<\/a>. The announcement includes (a) renaming of “autonomous actions” to “agent actions,” (b) lowered rates for agent actions and tenant graph grounding for messages, and (c) the addition of text and generative AI tools (for deep reasoning) and flow actions (for Agent flows) rate card items. While not all changes are reflected in this blog, the rate table below now reflects the new pricing. You can also find the updated pricing in the rate card in the “features and billing<\/a>” Learn article.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our ambition is to empower every employee with a Copilot and to transform every business process with agents. Today, we’re continuing to deliver on that ambition with Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. Copilot Chat enables your entire workforce\u2014from customer service representatives to marketing leads to frontline technicians\u2014to start using Copilot and agents today. Read the full announcement here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agents play a significant role in how organizations are transforming their business process with AI. Soon agents created in Copilot Studio agent builder and Copilot Studio will be available right from within Copilot Chat<\/a>. Let\u2019s review how you can pay for agents with Copilot Studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Learn more about Microsoft Copilot Studio<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Getting started with agent consumption <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Agents play a significant role in how organizations are transforming their business process with AI. Soon agents created in Microsoft Copilot Studio agent builder and Copilot Studio will be available right from within Copilot Chat<\/a>. Let\u2019s review how you can pay for agents with Copilot Studio<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usage of agents is measured in \u201cmessages\u201d and total cost is calculated based on the sum of messages used by your organization. You can purchase messages though the Copilot Studio meter in Microsoft Azure<\/a>, a pay-as-you-go option, for $0.01\/message, or via pre-paid message packs priced at $200 for 25,000 messages\/month.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Microsoft Power Platform admin center is used to set up billing and assign message capacity to Copilot Chat and individual agents. Agent message usage varies with an agent\u2019s complexity, frequency, and the use of specific features. These features have been categorized into five groups, including three new ones introduced today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copilot Studio feature<\/strong> <\/td>Consumption rate<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Web grounded answers<\/td>0 messages<\/td><\/tr>
Classic answers <\/td>1 message <\/td><\/tr>
Generative answers1<\/sup> <\/td>2 messages <\/td><\/tr>
Tenant graph grounding for messages1<\/sup><\/td>10 messages <\/td><\/tr>
Agent actions1,2<\/sup><\/td>5 messages<\/td><\/tr>
Text & generative AI Tools (Basic | message rate per 10 responses)<\/td>1 message<\/td><\/tr>
Text & generative AI Tools (Standard | message rate per 10 responses)<\/td>15 messages<\/td><\/tr>
Text & generative AI Tools (Premium | message rate per 10 responses) For deep reasoning prompts<\/em><\/td>100 messages<\/td><\/tr>
Flow actions (Message rate per 100 flow actions)<\/td>13 messages <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Classic and generative answers <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Answers are how agents communicate with users and are core to the prompt and response interaction model. Answers are charged for every agent response, not for user prompts. As makers build agents, they can define conversational topics, create branching logic flows, and apply generative AI to create responses based on knowledge sources. To support this range of capabilities, we provide two options: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Classic answers<\/strong>, used for predefined responses that are manually authored by agent makers. These are static, do not change unless manually updated, and are typically used when precise responses are required. Classic answers cost one message. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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    1. Generative answers<\/strong>, used for dynamically generated responses based on knowledge sources and context. These provide more flexible and natural interactions because they build on a conversation\u2019s context and available knowledge. Generative answers cost two messages. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Note that users licensed with Microsoft 365 Copilot can use classic and generative answers at no cost as part of their per user license. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Tenant Graph grounding for messages <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Tenant Graph grounding for messages<\/a> <\/strong>provides high quality grounding for agents with relevant information from Microsoft Graph, including files stored in SharePoint and external data synched via Graph connectors. It does not include personal Graph data such as emails and chats. Tenant Graph grounding for messages costs 10 messages for each knowledge retrieval. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      This paid capability is optional and you can decide whether to turn it \u2018on\u2019 or \u2018off\u2019 in Copilot Studio. If this capability is enabled, each time an agent responds with a generative answer, it will utilize knowledge from the tenant Graph and tenant Graph grounding for messages will be billed. This will roll out in phases\u2014existing agents that enabled this feature during preview, along with new agents built in Copilot Studio, will be billed starting on February 1, 2025; and new agents built in Copilot Studio agent builder using this feature will be billed starting today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Note that users licensed with Microsoft 365 Copilot<\/a> can use tenant Graph grounding for messages at no cost as part of their per user license. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      Download the Microsoft 365 Copilot app<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

      Autonomous actions enter paid preview <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Autonomous agents understand your work, act on your behalf, and can automate complex business processes. We\u2019ve seen significant interest in these capabilities since public preview launched in November 2024, and starting February 1, 2025<\/strong>, we are transitioning to a paid preview program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      To enable autonomous agents, we are introducing the concept of autonomous actions<\/strong>. Autonomous actions are generatively orchestrated triggers, topics, data connectors, and workflows and are visible in the activity map displayed in generative orchestration mode. Autonomous actions cost 5 messages per action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Calculating agent cost  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Agent costs are calculated based on the capabilities from the table above. Here are a few example cost calculations: <\/p>\n\n\n\n