Get started with agents in SharePoint

Agents in SharePoint, powered by AI, help users quickly find information and insights on SharePoint sites, pages, and document libraries. These agents access your organization's data the same way Copilot in other Microsoft 365 apps does, responding to users based on their access permissions to the data. This article discusses how admins can get started with agents in SharePoint, including setting up pay-as-you-go billing and managing Azure resources for agents.

Understand who can set up and use agents

Agents in SharePoint don't require activation. Once a user is assigned a Copilot license, or if your organization has the pay-as-you-go billing set up, these agents automatically become available to the user on eligible sites where they have permissions.

Action Requirements for the user
Create an agent - Assigned with a Copilot license.
- Ability to add new files to a SharePoint site.
Configure and interact with an agent - Assigned with a Copilot license or your organization has the pay-as-you-go billing set up for you.

Important

If your organization hasn't adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot, review the requirements and learn how to adopt it for your organization. Learn more.

Use agents with Copilot licenses

Users can use agents in SharePoint after being assigned a Copilot license. Use the Microsoft 365 Copilot setup guide in the Microsoft 365 admin center to assign the required licenses to users. For more information, see Assign licenses to users in the Microsoft 365 admin center and Microsoft 365 Copilot requirements. See more about controlling user access through licensing.

Use agents with pay-as-you-go billing

To use agents with pay-as-you-go billing, first set up SharePoint agents as a resource in Azure. That resource is used whenever a user without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license uses an agent in SharePoint. For more information, see Use agents with pay-as-you-go billing.

Comparison of Copilot licenses and pay-as-you-go billing

What does the user get with pay-as-you-go billing and a Copilot license? Here's a comparison:

Licensed for Microsoft 365 Copilot Pay-as-you-go Enabled What does the user get?
No No Cannot create or use agents.
No Yes All unlicensed users can use agents and are billed per pay-as-you-go billing.
Yes No - Licensed users can create and use agents.
- Unlicensed users can't create or use agents.

Monitor agent usage

Users with at least site visitor permissions can check the agent's file statistics, use search to find all agents for bulk actions, and see site usage. SharePoint admins can use the SharePoint Online Management Shell, Microsoft Purview audit log, Microsoft Cost Management, and SharePoint Advanced Management to monitor agent usage at the organization level. For more information, see Monitor agent usage in SharePoint.