Add a connector operation as an agent tool and audit the tool inventory

The rep also needs to send ad-hoc email — not just the templated confirmation baked into the return-authorization flow. A connector-as-tool exposes a single connector operation as a first-class tool the agent can pick. In this exercise, you attach the Outlook Send an email operation, then step back and audit the full tool inventory — the return and refund flows, the MCP tool from the prior exercise, and the connector-as-tool from this exercise — with a multi-tool test.

You will complete the following tasks:

  • Attach the Outlook Send an email connector operation as a tool.
  • Audit the tool inventory and tune the workflow tool descriptions so the agent can distinguish them from the new connector tool.
  • Run a multi-tool test through the agent's Preview tab.

This exercise should take approximately 25 minutes to complete.

Before you start

This exercise builds directly on the previous exercise in this lab. Complete Exercise 2 — Add an MCP server as an agent tool first. The Work IQ (preview) MCP tool should be registered and tested, with both seed calendar events (Returns policy update and BLD-100 motor defect confirmed) on the tenant account's calendar.

[!NOTE] Task 3 uses Copilot Credits. A single multi-tool prompt can trigger 3–4 tool invocations. Run once.

Task 1 — Add the Outlook connector action as a tool

Attach the Outlook Send an email operation as a connector-based tool. A connector-as-tool exposes a single, well-defined operation with a description you control — which is exactly what you want for a lower-frequency, agent-picked action like ad-hoc email that shouldn't overlap with the templated confirmation from the return workflow.

  1. On the agent's Build tab, in the components panel, select + next to Tools.

  2. Select Connectors.

  3. Find and select Office 365 Outlook, then choose the Send an email action.

    [!NOTE] In some regions the action label reads Send an email (V2); both invoke the same underlying operation.

  4. Select + Add.

  5. Select Office 365 Outlook from Tools.

  6. Configure the tool:

    Field Value
    Tool name Send ad-hoc email
    Description for AI Send a one-off email to a customer. Use only when the request is outside the scope of a return or refund workflow — do not use to send return confirmations (those are sent by Create return authorization).

  7. Select Done below the tool configuration.

  8. Select Save.

Task 2 — Audit the tool inventory

Audit the tools and skills now attached to the agent. Reviewing the full inventory as one picture — especially how the workflow descriptions differ from the connector tool's description you just added — is what gives the orchestrator clean signals to pick the right tool for each shape of rep request in Task 3.

  1. In the Tools section of the components panel, confirm the tool inventory:

    • Create return authorization (workflow-as-tool)
    • Approve refund request (workflow-as-tool)
    • Two List rows from selected environment tools for Orders and Customer Records (connector-as-tool)
    • Work IQ (preview) (MCP-as-tool)
    • Send ad-hoc email (connector-as-tool)

  2. In the Skills section, confirm both skills from the first lab still appear: product-troubleshooting and faq-lookup.

  3. Open Create return authorization and Approve refund request in turn and reread the description on each. Notice how each names a specific structured outcome (write a return record and send a confirmation email; evaluate a refund threshold and route for approval) — that specificity is what tells the orchestrator to pick the workflow instead of the more open-ended Send ad-hoc email tool when the rep request matches the workflow's shape.

Task 3 — Multi-tool test in Preview

Run a single multi-tool prompt end-to-end. One well-shaped prompt is enough to exercise the full inventory — knowledge lookup, MCP retrieval, workflow invocation, and connector operation — in the same conversational turn.

[!NOTE] This task uses Copilot Credits. A single prompt may trigger 3–4 tool calls.

  1. Select the Preview tab.

  2. Enter the following prompt and select Send:

    Priya on order 9876 wants to return a defective BLD-100 blender — she says the motor keeps shutting off. Check my calendar for anything relevant to this SKU or our refund policy, then create the return authorization and email her a summary at <your-tenant-email>.

    Replace <your-tenant-email> with the email address of the tenant account you're using for the lab.

  3. If a Permission Required prompt appears for Work IQ (Preview), select Approve.

  4. Expected behavior:

    • Agent looks up order 9876 with the Orders tool.
    • Agent calls Work IQ (preview) to retrieve the BLD-100 motor defect confirmed calendar event, and either in the same turn or a follow-up turn, the Returns policy update event.
    • Agent calls Create return authorization to authorize the return.
    • Agent calls Send ad-hoc email to send Priya the summary.

    If the agent skips Send ad-hoc email and relies on the workflow's built-in confirmation email, note the deviation. Exercise 3 in Lab 4 revisits the product-troubleshooting skill to give the agent stronger tool-selection guidance. If the agent skips the Work IQ check, tighten the instructions you added in Exercise 2, Task 3 so they more directly match prompts about product defects and policy dates.

You've now built the full tool inventory for the rep-facing agent — two workflow-as-tools, one MCP-as-tool over workplace context, and one connector-as-tool for ad-hoc email — and confirmed the orchestrator can pick the right tool for each shape of rep request.