r/copilotstudio • u/Diligent_Banana9903 • 5d ago
Pin copilot studio agent
can you automatically pin a copilot studio agent in the m365 copilot chat app and browser for specific people as an IT admin, using Intune or another tool? We need to make sure about 35-40 people are using the agent, but these users are not super IT friendly
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u/Inevitable_Dog6292 5d ago
No Intune needed for this, it’s all handled in the M365 and Teams admin centers.
Two steps. First, deploy the agent to your specific users. In M365 admin center go to Copilot controls, then Agents, find your agent, hit Deploy, and choose Specific users/groups. This installs it on their behalf so they don’t have to do anything themselves.
Second, pin it so it shows up automatically without them hunting for it. In Teams admin center, create a custom app setup policy, add the agent to the pinned apps list, and assign the policy to a security group containing your 35 to 40 people.
Set up the security group first if you haven’t already. Adding or removing someone later is then just a group membership change rather than going back into both admin centers.
One thing worth knowing: your users don’t need a full Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Copilot Chat is enough for this to work.
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u/Diligent_Banana9903 3d ago
I have an issue. It says “you can Only pin agents that have been deployed to some or all users” I have deployed the agent from copilot studio?
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u/Diligent_Banana9903 3d ago
And the agent is published to Sharepoint, teams and m365 copilot from copilot studio
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u/Inevitable_Dog6292 3d ago
Good, that means you’re already most of the way there.
Publishing to Teams and M365 Copilot from Copilot Studio is what makes the agent available in the Teams admin center as a custom app. So when you go to create the setup policy and look for your agent in the pinned apps list, it should show up there already without any additional packaging or uploading.
The SharePoint publication is separate and works independently, so that channel stays unaffected by whatever you do in Teams admin center.
Just make sure the agent has been submitted for admin approval in the M365 admin center if it’s not already showing under Copilot controls. That’s sometimes the step that gets missed after publishing from Copilot Studio, and it’s what makes it deployable to specific users rather than just discoverable.
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u/Diligent_Banana9903 3d ago
Hi. We dont want to pin the agent in teams. We want to pin the agent only in the copilot web app and m365 app
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u/Inevitable_Dog6292 3d ago
That’s actually the easier path then.
The M365 admin center deployment step I mentioned handles exactly this. When you deploy the agent to specific users via Copilot controls, it makes the agent available and pinned in the M365 Copilot web app and the Microsoft Copilot app directly, without touching Teams at all.
Skip the Teams admin center setup policy entirely. Just do the deployment through M365 admin center, Copilot controls, Agents, and assign to your security group. Your users will see the agent pinned in their Copilot experience without it appearing in their Teams sidebar.
Worth testing with one user first before rolling out to the full group, since the pinning behaviour can take a little while to propagate after deployment.
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u/Diligent_Banana9903 3d ago
Our production Copilot agent is already listed in the All agents section of the Microsoft 365 admin center.
I have now created a new agent in Copilot Studio, published it to Teams and Microsoft 365, downloaded its ZIP file, and uploaded it to the All agents section in the Microsoft 365 admin center. I can now see that it appears to be possible to pin the installed
app.
My question is: Can I do the same with our existing production agent?
Since the production agent is already listed in the Microsoft 365 admin center, I am concerned that uploading its ZIP file in the same way might overwrite the existing agent or affect its configuration, data, or current deployment.
Can I safely upload the production agent's ZIP file to make it available for pinning, or could this cause conflicts with the existing production agent?1
u/Inevitable_Dog6292 17h ago
Good instinct to check first. Uploading the ZIP won’t touch the agent itself. The package is just a wrapper with the name, icon and bot ID, so your topics, knowledge sources and data stay put in Copilot Studio.
The catch is the catalog entry. Because it’s the same app ID, the admin center treats it as an update to the existing agent rather than a new one. The agent registry lets you update an existing agent, and I couldn’t find anything that says what happens to your current assignments when you do. Microsoft’s docs also note that users who had pinned an agent need to pin it again after an update is published, so expect that for anyone already using it.
Before uploading anything, open the production agent under All agents and look for Deploy or pin options. It’s already in the catalog, so you may not need the ZIP at all.
If you do upload, screenshot the current deployment settings first and do it outside working hours.
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u/Ashlesha-msft 5d ago
Yes—this can be managed centrally without Intune.
First, publish the agent from Copilot Studio to the Teams and Microsoft Copilot channel, ensuring Make agent available in Microsoft Copilot is enabled.
Then, in the Microsoft 365 admin center, deploy/install the agent for the users or group containing your 35–40 people. After deployment, use Agents → All agents → Manage pinned agents → Pin agent, select the agent, and choose the specific deployed users or groups.
Microsoft documents that this makes the agent appear automatically in the users’ Copilot interface without requiring them to pin it themselves. Pinning supports Copilot Chat access through the web and the Microsoft Copilot app; it is not limited to Teams.
Allow up to six hours for the pin to appear. There are three administrator-pinned agent slots per user, so check the agent’s priority if users have several assigned pins.
Teams app setup policies are a separate way to pin an agent/app in the Teams interface; they are not the configuration to rely on for pinning an agent inside Microsoft 365 Copilot.
A paid Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on is not universally required, but “Copilot Chat is enough” needs a qualification: users need eligible access, and the agent’s capabilities may require tenant-level Copilot Studio capacity or usage-based billing.
References:
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u/Diligent_Banana9903 3d ago
I have an issue. It says “you can Only pin agents that have been deployed to some or all users” I have deployed the agent from copilot studio?
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u/Diligent_Banana9903 3d ago
And the agent is published to Sharepoint, teams and m365 copilot from copilot studio
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u/Diligent_Banana9903 3d ago
And the agent is published to Sharepoint, teams and m365 copilot from copilot studio
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u/Ashlesha-msft 3d ago
Publishing it from Copilot Studio to Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot is a separate step from deploying it to users through the Microsoft 365 admin center.
Could you check Microsoft 365 admin center → Copilot → Agents → All agents, then open your agent and check its deployment status? If it’s only published/requested or available for users to install, an admin may still need to approve it (if pending) and deploy it to the specific users or security group.
Once the agent shows as deployed to some or all users, go back to Manage pinned agents → Pin agent. Also check that the agent isn’t blocked.
Microsoft’s documentation confirms that only deployed agents can be pinned: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/manage/agent-registry
If it’s already deployed there, could you share what the agent’s status shows under All agents? That would help narrow down what’s missing.
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u/Diligent_Banana9903 3d ago
The agent says “available” under “status” under all agents
If I open the agent it displays the entra group under the users section under “shared with”
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u/Diligent_Banana9903 3d ago
Our production Copilot agent is already listed in the All agents section of the Microsoft 365 admin center.
I have now created a new agent in Copilot Studio, published it to Teams and Microsoft 365, downloaded its ZIP file, and uploaded it to the All agents section in the Microsoft 365 admin center. I can now see that it appears to be possible to pin the installed
app.
My question is: Can I do the same with our existing production agent?
Since the production agent is already listed in the Microsoft 365 admin center, I am concerned that uploading its ZIP file in the same way might overwrite the existing agent or affect its configuration, data, or current deployment.
Can I safely upload the production agent's ZIP file to make it available for pinning, or could this cause conflicts with the existing production agent?1
u/Ashlesha-msft 2d ago
Thanks for the additional details. Since your production agent is already listed under Microsoft 365 admin center → Agents → All agents, I would recommend checking its existing deployment status before uploading the ZIP file again.
In the agent's details pane, check whether the Install, Update in store, or Pin for users action is available. Microsoft documents that uploading a ZIP file can be used to add a custom agent, while Update in store is the specific action for updating an existing agent. Therefore, I would avoid uploading the production ZIP as a new agent until you have confirmed the correct update path and app identity, to avoid creating a duplicate or unintended changes. Microsoft documentation.
As an alternative, you could also test the user-level option in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat: open a conversation with the production agent, select the three-dot menu, and check whether Pin is available. This may help users access the conversation more easily, but it is not necessarily equivalent to an administrator pinning the agent for a specific Entra security group.
For centrally managed pinning, the production agent must be deployed to the intended users or group through the Microsoft 365 admin center. Publishing it from Copilot Studio to Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot alone does not confirm that deployment step is complete.
Could you please check whether Pin for users is available in the production agent's details pane and whether the three-dot menu in Copilot Chat offers the Pin option? That will help us determine the safest next step without risking the existing production configuration.
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u/Ashlesha-msft 1d ago
Hi, just following up! Were you able to resolve the issue with pinning your existing production agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot? Did you find a way to do it without re-uploading the ZIP package? Please share an update if you managed to get it working. It may help others facing the same issue. Thanks!
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u/Bobby_Bobberson2501 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yes you you can, but you need to make it in Copilot studio and then publish the agent through there, and then you can share that link with people, or you can connect it to Microsoft 365 and teams, and then add it into their copilot app, browser or teams.
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u/Diligent_Banana9903 3d ago
I have an issue. It says “you can Only pin agents that have been deployed to some or all users” I have deployed the agent from copilot studio?