Copilot Studio SharePoint knowledge not working in Teams channels

(0) Share

Report

Posted on by SS-14071457-0

Hi All,

We are looking for clarification regarding the use of a Copilot Studio agent that uses SharePoint as a knowledge source when deployed to Microsoft Teams.

Our scenario is as follows:

We created a Copilot Studio agent.
The agent is grounded on a SharePoint knowledge source.
The agent works correctly in the Copilot Studio Test Pane and in a 1:1 chat.
We added the same agent to a Microsoft Teams channel (and also tested in a Teams group chat).
When users ask questions, the agent fails to retrieve information from SharePoint and returns errors such as:
- Missing or invalid userAccessInformation
- User impersonation not supported

We found the Microsoft Learn article "Add SharePoint as a knowledge source", which states:

"These changes are now available for Teams 1:1 chats between the user and the agent. They're not yet available for group chats or channel messages."

However, we would like to understand this limitation in more detail.

Could you please clarify the following:

Is it officially unsupported for a Copilot Studio agent to retrieve information from an authenticated SharePoint knowledge source when the agent is used in a Teams group chat or Teams channel?
Are the errors Missing or invalid userAccessInformation and User impersonation not supported the expected behavior resulting from this limitation?
Is this limitation due to the inability to impersonate the Teams user during SharePoint knowledge retrieval?
Is there any supported configuration or workaround that allows a Copilot Studio agent in a Teams channel to query SharePoint knowledge while respecting each user's permissions?
Is this feature currently on the Microsoft roadmap, or is there an estimated timeline for supporting authenticated SharePoint knowledge retrieval in Teams group chats and channel conversations?

We would appreciate confirmation of the current supported behavior, as we want to ensure our solution aligns with Microsoft's recommended architecture.

Thank you.

Categories:

Building Copilot Studio chatbots in Microsoft Teams

I have the same question (0)

All responses (2)

Answers (0)

Sort by

Suggested answer

sannavajjala87 728 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

Like
a
(0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!
Hi,

Based on the current documented behavior and our testing, what you are seeing is expected.
Current Supported Behavior
A Copilot Studio agent that uses SharePoint as a knowledge source with Microsoft authentication is currently supported in:

Copilot Studio Test Pane

Microsoft Teams 1:1 chats with the agent

However, SharePoint knowledge retrieval in Teams group chats and channel conversations is not currently supported. When the agent relies on authenticated SharePoint access, it must retrieve content in the context of the user interacting with the agent. This user-context retrieval is currently available in supported experiences such as 1:1 chats, but not in Teams group chat or channel scenarios.
Responses to Your Questions

Is it officially unsupported for a Copilot Studio agent to retrieve information from an authenticated SharePoint knowledge source when used in a Teams group chat or Teams channel?

Yes. Authenticated SharePoint knowledge retrieval is currently supported in Teams 1:1 conversations but is not currently available in Teams group chats or channel conversations.

Are the errors Missing or invalid userAccessInformation and User impersonation not supported expected behavior?

Yes. While Microsoft does not specifically document these exact error messages as the official expected output, they are consistent with the current limitation. When the required user context cannot be established for SharePoint retrieval, requests may fail with authentication- or impersonation-related errors.

Is this limitation due to the inability to impersonate the Teams user during SharePoint knowledge retrieval?

Based on the documented architecture, SharePoint knowledge retrieval is performed using the permissions of the user interacting with the agent. The observed behavior indicates that the necessary user context is not currently supported in Teams group chats and channel conversations, resulting in the retrieval failure.

Is there any supported configuration or workaround that allows a Copilot Studio agent in a Teams channel to query SharePoint knowledge while respecting each user's permissions?

At this time, we are not aware of a Microsoft-supported configuration that enables authenticated SharePoint knowledge retrieval with per-user security trimming in Teams channels or group chats. The recommended approach is to use the agent in supported experiences such as Teams 1:1 chats.

Is this feature on the Microsoft roadmap or is there an estimated timeline for support?

We are not aware of any publicly communicated timeline for supporting authenticated SharePoint knowledge retrieval in Teams group chats or channel conversations. Microsoft may introduce support in a future release, but no ETA has been published at this time.

Summary
The behavior you observed is consistent with the current platform limitations. If your agent relies on SharePoint knowledge sources that require user-based permission checks, the recommended and supported experience today is to use the agent in a Teams 1:1 conversation rather than a Teams group chat or channel.
Thank you.

Was this reply helpful? Yes No
SS-14071457-0 2 on at

Like
a
(0)

Report
Copy link

Link copied!

Hi,

Thank you for clarifying that point.
If we can't use the agent in Teams channels, what would you recommend as the best workaround? The channel contains posts, shared documents, and other resources that we'd like the agent to access. Is there a recommended approach to make this information available to the agent while still allowing users to interact with it from the channel?

Thanks!

Was this reply helpful? Yes No