· 6 min read

Just ask AI in SharePoint to list it’s own Tools and Capabilities

Exploring the tools that AI in SharePoint (formally Knowledge Agents) support gives you a sense of the capabilities and actions the feature can perform.

Exploring the tools that AI in SharePoint (formally Knowledge Agents) support gives you a sense of the capabilities and actions the feature can perform.

Introduction

You may have noticed, there have been a few blogs lately on the subjects of AI in SharePoint and Cowork - yes, I am actively researching the capabilities of these features especially the extensibility points, as that is where I can add value either through a community contribution opportunity or knowledge sharing.

Keeping up with my sharing of knowledge, I have found in my exploration of the AI capabilities of these products and features that quite often, if you are not sure about something just ask the feature.

I recently posted about on the Tools and Capabilities of Cowork and it dawned on me, what about other AI Services such as AI in SharePoint (formally Knowledge Agents), and yes, that too can list out its capabilities - all I had to do is just ask.

Why is this useful?

Well, good question, when you are trying to prompt to explore the capabilities of a product much like seeing buttons on a ribbon, you see what the full range of features are, so you can then decide which of the features would be useful to your workflow.

It’s different in chat interfaces as they do not offer this up, you cannot see its full range of capabilities as they are not apparently until you start to ask questions and unless you know what to ask, its difficult to gauge your options.

If you are building skills, having a reference is particularly useful, as these would allow you to selectively and specifically choose which tools to use and which points in your workflows to perform that action. Of course, there are other methods, e.g. you can ask SharePoint to build the skill for you.

So what capabilities did SharePoint reveal?

Within a Document Library (context matters), ask the question:

Prompt “what tools are available in your toolset?” - toolset is what SharePoint referred to during a conversation.

Response:

Image of SharePoint describing its tools

Here are all the tools available to me:

Lists & Libraries

  • discover_sharepoint_lists — Find all lists/libraries on a site
  • create_or_update_list — Create or update lists/libraries (columns, views, settings)
  • delete_list — Delete a list or library
  • get_list_schema — Get field definitions, types, and metadata for a list
  • get_restoreable_lists — View deleted lists in the recycle bin
  • restore_list — Restore a deleted list from the recycle bin

List Items

  • create_list_items — Add new items to a list
  • update_list_items — Update a specific item by ID
  • update_batch_list_items — Bulk update items matching a CAML filter
  • delete_list_item — Delete one or more items
  • get_list_item_metadata — Retrieve item IDs/metadata (prep for CRUD)
  • list_item_versions — View version history for items

Views

  • get_views_of_list — List all views on a list
  • get_view_definition — Get detailed view configuration (CAML, fields, filters)
  • preview_view_changes — Preview view changes before saving
  • delete_view — Delete views
  • apply_view_formatting — Apply custom JSON formatting to a view
  • apply_column_formatting — Apply custom JSON formatting to a column

Fields (Columns)

  • delete_field — Delete columns from a list
  • get_user_info — Resolve person names/emails for User fields
  • get_lookup_info — Resolve lookup field values
  • get_datetime_info — Format dates or get current date/time
  • get_location_info — Resolve locations for Location fields
  • get_taxonomy_info — Resolve managed metadata terms
  • get_term_sets — Browse term store hierarchy

Rules & Automation

  • create_or_update_rule — Create/update email notification rules
  • get_rules — View existing rules
  • delete_rule — Delete rules
  • open_rules_management_panel — Open the rules UI for non-email actions
  • get_quicksteps — View quicksteps on a list
  • delete_quickstep — Delete a quickstep

Approvals

  • configure_approvals — Enable/disable modern approvals
  • get_approval_enabled — Check if approvals are enabled
  • create_approval_request — Submit an item for approval
  • get_approval_request — View approval status/details
  • resolve_approval_request — Approve, reject, or cancel

Forms

  • create_form — Create a new form on a list

Navigation & Discovery

  • navigate_to_url — Navigate to a SharePoint page
  • get_current_list_or_library — Get current list/library context

Files & Content

  • fetch_file — Retrieve/analyze file content
  • compare_file_versions — Compare Word document versions
  • suggest_new_columns — Analyze a library and suggest metadata columns
  • template_finder — Search for templates

Search & Q&A

  • search_enterprise_files — Enterprise-wide search
  • qna_on_list — Ask questions about list/library content
  • org_chart — Org chart and people lookup

Skills & Context

  • create_skill — Create/update a reusable skill file
  • load_skill — Load a skill into the conversation
  • set_context_file — Create/update the SHAREPOINT.md site context file

SharePoint Home Page Context

I found that repeating the same prompt in a different context such as the SharePoint site homepage revealed a different list with some similar tools.

Tools shown within Copilot from the Homepage as this appears to have a different list depending on context

Lists & Libraries

  • create_or_update_list — Create new lists/libraries, add columns, modify views
  • discover_sharepoint_lists — Find all lists and libraries on a site
  • delete_list — Remove lists or libraries
  • restore_list — Recover deleted lists from the recycle bin
  • get_restoreable_lists — View deleted lists available for recovery
  • get_list_schema — View columns, field types, and metadata
  • get_current_list_or_library — Get the current list/library context from the page

List Items

  • create_list_items — Add new entries to a list
  • update_list_items — Modify a specific item by ID
  • update_batch_list_items — Bulk update items matching a CAML filter
  • delete_list_item — Remove one or more items
  • get_list_item_metadata — Retrieve item IDs and details for operations
  • list_item_versions — View version history of list items

Views

  • preview_view_changes — Test filters, sorts, and grouping before saving
  • get_views_of_list — List all views on a list
  • get_view_definition — Inspect a view’s configuration
  • delete_view — Remove views

Formatting

  • apply_column_formatting — Conditional colors, icons, and styles on columns
  • apply_view_formatting — Style rows, cards, gallery tiles, or board layouts

Automation & Rules

  • create_or_update_rule — Set up email notification rules
  • get_rules — View existing rules
  • delete_rule — Remove rules
  • get_quicksteps — View quick step actions
  • delete_quickstep — Remove quick steps

Approvals

  • configure_approvals — Enable/disable modern approvals
  • create_approval_request — Submit items for approval
  • get_approval_enabled — Check if approvals are enabled
  • get_approval_request — View approval status/details
  • resolve_approval_request — Approve, reject, or cancel requests

Forms

  • create_form — Build data collection forms on lists

Pages

  • create_or_edit_page — Create blank pages, news posts, copies, or edit pages

Fields (Columns)

  • delete_field — Remove columns from a list

Search & Q&A

  • search_enterprise_files — Search across SharePoint and OneDrive
  • qna_on_list — Ask analytical questions about list/library data
  • fetch_file — Summarize or analyze file content
  • compare_file_versions — Summarize changes in Word documents

Data Resolution Helpers

  • get_user_info — Resolve people for person fields
  • get_lookup_info — Resolve lookup field values
  • get_taxonomy_info — Resolve managed metadata terms
  • get_location_info — Resolve location field values
  • get_datetime_info — Format date/time values
  • get_term_sets — Browse term store hierarchy
  • navigate_to_url — Navigate to a list, library, or page

Other

  • org_chart — Look up reporting relationships and team structures
  • template_finder — Search for templates
  • create_skill — Create or update reusable skills
  • load_skill — Load a skill into the conversation
  • set_context_file — Create/update the SHAREPOINT.md site context file

Conclusion

This kind of blew my mind, how simple it was to get this information. Now, I’m sure this will change often growing more capabiliies and features, so with the prompt you can recheck at key points or near times of announcement cycles.

For me, this is a great way to build skills using tools that I can call upon and be sure that a certain type of configuration is supported.

This is quite a long list and there is the possibility that SharePoint response wasn’t entirely accurate, so I will check back and see if anything from above didn’t work.

Resources

The following resources could be useful for you to learn further:

Enjoy!

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