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Power Platform Community / Forums / Copilot Studio - Model Context Protocol / Optional parameters in...
Copilot Studio - Model Context Protocol
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Optional parameters in Tool

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Posted on by dezrrm 10
Has anyone had any luck with having their Copilots check for optional parameters and present them to the user with questions?
It seems to skip optional parameters and anything with a default value as well.
I get the right results sometimes if I describe something in a topic and include and instruction like "Run this topic before calling the MCP server"
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  • dezrrm Profile Picture
    dezrrm 10 on at
    Optional parameters in Tool
    @Michael E. Gernaey sure, thanks.
    In our custom MCP tools, we have a few optional parameters, but the copilot never uses them
    Sample 1 will never ask if the user wants to add a Detailed description
    Perhaps zod attributes aren't understood the same way by CoPilot.

        Description: z
          .string()
          .optional()
          .describe("Detailed description of the task"),
        Account_Name: z
          .string()
          .describe(
            "Name of the account associated with the task (optional). Submit 'none' if user does not want an Account."
          ),
     
    I've resorted to saying it's optional in the description and it can handle that.  The MCP server has to make the adjustment to satisfy the API call to the data provider resulting from the request.
     
    Another attempt seems to work most of the time, but isn't completely reliable.  I setup a topic and tell it to call a tool after using the topic.
    (as a side note, I haven't been able to find any built-in capability to help with dates and times.  If making an event and the parameter is asked "What date is the event?"  The correct year isn't always added if the user just says "18th of August".  I know some of this is baked into the model's training, but doesn't make it any less maddening)
  • Michael E. Gernaey Profile Picture
    Michael E. Gernaey 47,111 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at
    Optional parameters in Tool
     
    Can you please share some pictures and explanation of the scenario please.

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