Expose a line-of-business system inside the Copilot canvas

Step 1: Pick a narrow, high-frequency taskSharePoint

Pull usage data from the underlying system (ticket volume by type, form submission counts) to find the single interaction people do most often — checking inventory on an item, submitting a PTO request, looking up a ticket status — and scope the first component to exactly that one action.

Trying to surface an entire system's functionality in one build multiplies the testing and permission work in steps 3-4 for marginal benefit.

Step 2: Build the SharePoint Copilot App componentSharePoint

Have a developer build the SPFx-based component that connects to the underlying system's API and renders as an interactive card inside the Copilot conversation, following Microsoft's SharePoint Copilot Apps pattern.

Prompt idea:

Show me the current inventory level for SKU 4471-B and let me submit a restock request directly from here if it's below 20 units.

Step 3: Test the interaction inside an actual conversationCopilot

Confirm the component renders correctly, the data it displays is live (not cached from build time), and any action a user takes (like submitting a request) actually reaches the underlying system.

Step 4: Roll out to the intended audience with the right permissionsSharePoint

Publish the component scoped to the audience who should have access, matching whatever permission model the underlying line-of-business system already enforces — don't let the Copilot surface become a way around existing access controls.

Check the work

• Confirm displayed data (inventory counts, ticket status) matches the source system in real time, not a stale cache.
• Verify an action taken through the component (a submitted request, an update) actually lands in the underlying system by checking there directly.
• Test with a user account that has restricted permissions in the source system to confirm the component respects that restriction.

Source: Microsoft, "Going Beyond Text in Microsoft 365 Copilot: Introducing SharePoint Copilot Apps" (2026)