PERPLEXITY SAYS ME
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard—originally created by Anthropic and now adopted by Microsoft—that defines how AI assistants like Copilot securely connect to external tools, data sources, and business systems.[awesome-copilot.github][thecopilotstack][grazitti]
What MCP is
- A protocol, not a product: MCP specifies a common “language” so any MCP‑compatible AI client (Copilot, Claude, etc.) can talk to any MCP server without custom integrations for each pair.[thecopilotstack][grazitti]
- Servers expose capabilities: An MCP server describes what it can do (tools/functions, data resources, sometimes prompts). Copilot can then discover and call those tools during a chat.[awesome-copilot.github][thecopilotstack]
- Secure, governed access: MCP works with your existing permissions and authentication (often OAuth), so actions respect the same access controls you already have in the target system.[monday][learn.microsoft]
How MCP is used in Copilot
In the Microsoft ecosystem, MCP is mainly used through Copilot Studio, Microsoft 365 Copilot agents, and GitHub Copilot:
1. Copilot Studio (custom agents)
- You can attach an MCP server to a declarative agent so it inherits that server’s tools (actions) and resources (data).[explainx]
- Once connected and with generative orchestration enabled, the agent can call those tools dynamically as the user chats.[explainx]
- Microsoft provides built‑in MCP servers for systems like Dynamics 365 ERP, Sales, and Customer Service, and you can also connect your own remote MCP servers.[grazitti][learn.microsoft][learn.microsoft]
2. Microsoft 365 Copilot (agents & connectors)
- MCP servers can be added as plugins to declarative agents using the Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit (e.g., connecting GitHub, Jira, internal APIs).[learn.microsoft]
- These agents then appear in Copilot Chat and related apps; when you ask a question, Copilot may invoke MCP tools behind the scenes to fetch live data or perform actions.[learn.microsoft][usecarly]
- Use cases include real‑time queries into project boards, ticket systems, documentation, or internal services without copying data into Microsoft 365.[monday][usecarly]
3. GitHub Copilot (CLI and code review)
- Copilot CLI and cloud agents can be configured with MCP servers to access external tools (issue trackers, docs, service catalogs).[thecopilotstack][awesome-copilot.github]
- In Copilot code review, MCP is supported in read‑only mode so reviews can pull context from Jira, docs, etc., but cannot modify those systems.[blog.yeyupiaoling]
Typical setup pattern
At a high level, using MCP with Copilot looks like:
- Run or subscribe to an MCP server (e.g., GitHub’s MCP server, a Dynamics 365 CX MCP server, or your own).[learn.microsoft][learn.microsoft]
- Register the server in Copilot Studio / Agents Toolkit (via the MCP onboarding wizard or a custom connector).[learn.microsoft][usecarly]
- Configure authentication (usually OAuth with client ID/secret and scopes).[thecopilotstack][learn.microsoft]
- Add the MCP server to an agent as an action/plugin.[learn.microsoft]
- Use the agent in Copilot Chat (or related surfaces); Copilot will call MCP tools when needed.[learn.microsoft][usecarly]
REFERENCES
Extend your agent with Model Context Protocol – Microsoft Copilot Studio | Microsoft Learn
learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot-studio/agent-extend-action-mcp
Connect your agent to an existing Model Context Protocol (MCP) server – Microsoft Copilot Studio | Microsoft Learn
learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot-studio/mcp-add-existing-server-to-agent