Build reusable behavior with skills

Instructions define what the agent is. Skills define reusable behavior — a named, self-contained set of instructions the orchestrator can choose to apply when a situation matches. Attaching skills lets you keep the base instructions stable and package specific behaviors as independent components.

In this exercise, you extend the Customer Support Rep Assistant with two skills: one that walks reps through a triage tree for common product problems, and one that answers policy questions from a provided FAQ.

You will complete the following tasks:

  • Author the product-troubleshooting skill from blank.
  • Upload the faq-lookup skill from a provided SKILL.md file.
  • Test both skills in Preview.

This exercise should take approximately 20 minutes to complete.

Before you start

To complete this exercise, you need:

[!NOTE] Task 3 uses Copilot Credits.

Task 1 — Author the product-troubleshooting skill from blank

Author a skill directly in Copilot Studio to enable your agent to triage a customer's product problem into a category and next step.

  1. On the agent's Build tab, in the components panel, select Skills.

  2. In Add skill, select Create from blank.

  3. Fill in the following values:

    Field Value
    Name product-troubleshooting
    Description Walks customer support reps through a short triage tree for common product problems (setup, connectivity, hardware, billing, account access) so they can narrow the customer's issue to a category and next step.

  4. In the Instructions area for the skill, paste the following:

    # Product troubleshooting

Walks a customer support rep through a short triage tree for common product problems (setup, connectivity, hardware, billing, account access) so the rep can narrow the customer's issue to a category and one concrete next step.

## When to activate

The rep says the customer is having a problem with a product and needs help identifying what's wrong.

## Behavior

1. Ask the rep for the product category (device, subscription, or accessory) if you don't already know it.
2. Ask one clarifying question at a time. Never ask more than one question in a turn.
3. Narrow the problem to one of: setup, connectivity, hardware, billing, or account access.
4. Recommend one concrete next step for the rep. For example, walk the customer through restarting the device, check the order record for a shipping delay, or escalate to hardware support if the device won't power on.
5. If the triage points to something the rep needs external context for (an order lookup, a warranty check, an escalation), state that clearly and stop — do not fabricate the answer.

## Boundaries

- Do not quote specific warranty periods, prices, or SLAs.
- Do not resolve the ticket — this skill hands the rep to the next step, whatever it is.
- Do not respond to the customer directly.
- For general policy questions with no product problem behind them (return windows, warranty length, shipping timelines, order-status meanings), defer to the `faq-lookup` skill.

  5. Select Create.

    The skill appears in the Skills section of the components panel.

Task 2 — Upload the faq-lookup skill

Add the second skill by uploading a pre-built SKILL.md file. Uploading lets you reuse skills that have already been authored and version-controlled outside Copilot Studio.

  1. Select the Skills section of the components panel. In the Add skill dialog, select Upload a skill.

  2. Drag and drop the faq-lookup.SKILL.md file you downloaded earlier onto the upload area (or select the area to browse to the file).

  3. Confirm faq-lookup appears in the Skills list alongside product-troubleshooting.

  4. Select Save.

Task 3 — Test both skills in Preview

Validate that the orchestrator selects the right skill for each situation. Two rep-framed prompts — one policy-shaped, one troubleshooting-shaped — are enough to see each skill activate independently.

[!NOTE] This task uses Copilot Credits.

  1. Select the Preview tab.

  2. Enter the following prompt and select Send:

    Customer's asking how long they have to return an unopened item.

    Confirm the response comes from the faq-lookup skill (it references the Returns and refunds FAQ content or explicitly cites the skill).

  3. Enter the following prompt and select Send:

    Customer says their device won't turn on. Walk me through what to ask.

    Confirm the response comes from the product-troubleshooting skill — it asks one clarifying question and doesn't diagnose blind.

Each response should stay rep-framed and inside the skill's boundaries.

You have now extended the agent with two reusable skills — product-troubleshooting and faq-lookup — giving it structured behavior it can reach for whenever the rep's prompt matches either skill's purpose.