What it does
Apps in agents lets an agent bring app capabilities — form completion, data exploration, visualisation, or a request for human input — straight into the conversation, powered by the Power Apps MCP Server. Users act on an app without navigating to it.
Key facts
- Backed by the Power Apps MCP Server; app actions surface as tools the agent can call.
- Example: reading an Outlook email, ask Copilot to update a Power Apps record from the thread in place.
- Announced at Ignite 2025; tied to the new Power Apps and Copilot Chat direction.
- Runs where the user already is — Copilot Chat, Outlook, and other M365 surfaces.
- Governed under the same Power Platform environment and DLP controls as the underlying app.
When to use / skip
Use when you want users to complete an app task inside a conversation instead of context-switching — quick record updates, capturing input, showing data. Skip for heavy, multi-screen app workflows that genuinely need the full app UI.
Configuration decisions
- Which app capabilities to expose to the agent.
- Environment and DLP scope for the app being surfaced.
- How much the agent should do automatically vs prompt for confirmation.
Gotchas
- It's new and evolving — expect capability and naming changes over the coming releases.
- Data actions still run under Power Platform governance; a restrictive DLP policy will block the tool with little explanation to the user.
- In-conversation write-back needs a confirmation step or you'll get unintended edits.
Consultant notes
- This blurs the line between "app" and "agent" — useful, but it means Power Platform ALM and DLP now govern conversational surfaces too.
- Costs follow the Power Platform model (licences, capacity), not Copilot grounding — price it in that lane.
- Good demo material for stakeholders who want to see agents do work, not just answer questions.
Review as apps-in-agents moves from announcement to documented GA.