SharePoint Agents are smart helpers that can simplify your daily work — quick answers from your data, summaries, support for recurring tasks. Between licensing, settings and the question "how do I actually create an agent" things can get confusing fast. Here is a clear guide — without losing you in the fine print.

Important framing: An earlier version of this article contained a time-limited trial reference (January–June 2025) and a Microsoft 365 Copilot price as of March 2025. Both are too specific and outdated. This article deliberately avoids concrete CHF figures and trial dates — the canonical source is always the current Microsoft Copilot pricing page.

Step 1: Check the prerequisites

SharePoint Agents are a cloud feature in Microsoft 365 — that is, SharePoint Online, not SharePoint Server on-premises. First check:

• Are you on Microsoft 365 with SharePoint Online?
• Are your sites and libraries reasonably structured? Agents only work with what they can find — and inherit the existing permissions.
• Are sensitivity labels and DLP policies maintained? If sensitive content is mislabeled, it ends up in agent answers.

Tenant hygiene first. This is not "nice to have" — it is the highest-leverage step.

Step 2: Clarify licensing

Microsoft licenses agents through several routes — exact prices and regional availability change, so here only the logic:

• With a Microsoft 365 Copilot license: If users have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, agent creation and usage are covered. Current prices on the Microsoft pricing page.
• Pay-as-you-go for non-licensed users: Microsoft offers a usage-based model billed via an Azure subscription and Microsoft Cost Management. Useful when only part of the workforce uses agents regularly.
• Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat: Microsoft makes a free Copilot Chat experience available for Microsoft 365 tenants; which agent scenarios are included depends on the specific license mix.

Tip: In the Microsoft 365 admin center under "Billing > Your Products" you can see which licenses are active. When in doubt, talk to us or to your Microsoft Partner — it saves time.

Step 3: Activation

• Copilot / agent capabilities for SharePoint: In the Microsoft 365 admin center check the assigned licenses; in the SharePoint admin center under "Settings > Microsoft 365 Copilot and AI", review the availability for sites.
• Pay-as-you-go: If this model is used, an Azure subscription is required; activation happens in the Azure portal.
• Site level: The site agent is available by default; site owners can disable or selectively enable it per site.

Step 4: Security and access

• Permissions: Agents strictly inherit existing site- and item-level permissions. If a user has no access, the agent will not surface that content.
• Restricted Access Control (RAC): Sensitive sites can be locked down specifically against Copilot/agent access.
• DLP via Microsoft Purview: Prevents classified content from being processed by agents.
• Approved agents: Site owners mark approved .agent files as "approved" so they appear in the site picker.

Step 5: Creating your first agent — the two paths

Here is the most important clarification compared to older versions of this article: Microsoft documents two creation paths.

Path A — directly in SharePoint (for most use cases):

• Every modern site has a Copilot icon in the top right with a ready-made site agent — usable immediately.
• With edit rights you can use "Create an agent" directly in the site or library to build your own. The result is an .agent file in the site that you can share.
• No separate tool, no code.

Path B — via Copilot Studio (for more complex scenarios):

• When an agent needs to combine content from multiple sites, use external connectors, have its own topics or custom actions, or be wired into Power Automate flows, Copilot Studio is the right tool.
• More capability, more setup, separate licensing logic.

Start with Path A. Move to Path B when the use case really requires it — not "just in case".

Bottom line: Start simple, but plan it cleanly

Getting started is much simpler than the licensing and configuration topic suggests. Tenant hygiene first, clarify the licensing logic, pick a small pilot — ideally the site agent or a FAQ agent in a single library. If you get stuck, get in touch: we know the pitfalls and regularly work with Swiss organizations on realistic, well-measured Copilot and agent pilots.