Agent Assets Library
Common Use Cases
- Contract and policy summaries: a skill that summarizes selected documents in the same structure every time
- Folder organization: a skill that sorts files into an agreed folder structure by client, year, or document type
- List updates: a skill that reads or updates SharePoint list items as part of a repeatable routine
- Status reports: a skill that turns list or library content into a weekly summary in a fixed format
- Document review checklists: a skill that checks selected files against the same review questions each time
- Team-wide prompts: one well-written instruction set that every site member can reuse instead of retyping prompts
Benefits
- Reusable workflows: a multi-step request is written once and run on demand by anyone with access to the site
- Consistent output: the same steps, inputs, and outputs are applied every time the skill runs
- No code required: skills are plain Markdown files created by describing the workflow in the Copilot chat
- Standard SharePoint governance: permissions, retention, sensitivity labels, and auditing apply like any other file
- Transparent definitions: the underlying SKILL.md file can be opened and reviewed at any time
- Searchable: SKILL.md files are indexed by SharePoint search and results are permission trimmed
How It Works
- Product-managed library: the library is created and managed by the product with no manual setup and appears in Site Contents
- Fixed folder path: each skill is saved as /Agent Assets/Skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md, one folder per skill
- Created through chat: a user describes the workflow in the Copilot in SharePoint panel, reviews the draft skill, and confirms the save
- Upload option: a prepared SKILL.md file can also be added directly to the library
- Automatic loading: Copilot in SharePoint loads the right skill based on the prompt, or a skill can be called by name
- Skill indicator card: the chat shows a card confirming which skill was loaded for the request
Key Considerations
- Site-scoped: skills live in one site’s library and are not shared tenant-wide by default
- Inherited permissions: Edit rights create, change, or delete skills and View rights run them, so Members can edit SKILL.md files out-of-the-box
- Restricting authors: break permission inheritance on the Agent Assets library to limit who can create or change skills
- No admin toggle: there are no separate admin controls to turn skills on or off
- User security context: a skill runs as the person invoking it, so results differ by what each user can access
- Preview status: the capability is part of the preview version of Copilot in SharePoint and may change
Limits and Nuances
- No external systems: skills cannot connect to outside systems or run custom code
- No new access: a skill can only perform actions the user already has permission to do
- Cannot be deleted: the library is created and managed by the product and cannot be removed from the site
- Built-in skills are separate: Microsoft-provided skills are listed with /skills in chat but are not stored or editable in the library
- Format must stay intact: direct edits to SKILL.md can break a skill if the Markdown structure is changed
- Search indexing lag: a new skill does not appear in search-based rollups until SharePoint search crawls it
Common Questions About the Agent Assets Library
What is the Agent Assets library in SharePoint?
The Agent Assets library is a special document library that holds the skills used by Copilot in SharePoint on a site. Each skill is a Markdown file named SKILL.md stored in its own folder under /Agent Assets/Skills/. The library is created and managed by the product, appears in Site Contents, and follows the same permissions, retention, sensitivity labels, and auditing as any other SharePoint library.
What is a skill in Copilot in SharePoint?
A skill is a saved set of instructions that tells Copilot in SharePoint how to carry out a repeatable workflow. It can summarize content, organize files and folders, work with SharePoint lists, and chain these built-in capabilities into a sequence of steps. Instead of retyping a long prompt, a user asks a question that matches the skill’s purpose, or calls the skill by name, and Copilot loads it automatically.
Who can create and run skills?
By default, the Agent Assets library inherits permissions from the site. Anyone with Edit permissions, which includes site Members, can create, change, or delete a skill, and anyone with View permissions can run one. Organizations that want tighter control can break permission inheritance on the Agent Assets library so that only a small group of authors can manage skills while everyone else can still use them.
What is the difference between built-in skills and site skills?
Built-in skills are provided and maintained by Microsoft as part of Copilot in SharePoint. They help manage the skill lifecycle, such as creating, checking, and improving skills, and they can be listed by typing /skills in the chat. They are not stored in the site’s Agent Assets library and cannot be edited. Site skills are the ones users create, and each one appears as a SKILL.md file in the library.
Why can a skill not connect to other systems?
Skills are deliberately limited to what Copilot in SharePoint can already do. They cannot connect to external systems or execute custom code, and they cannot perform any action the user does not already have permission to perform. This design keeps skills inside the existing SharePoint security model, so a skill never expands access or introduces a capability the site did not already offer.
When should an organization set up the Agent Assets library?
The library makes sense once a team keeps repeating the same Copilot requests, such as summarizing contracts or filing documents into a set folder structure. The value depends on planning which sites get skills, who is allowed to author them, and how they are named and reviewed. Greg Zelfond, the consultant behind LookBook 365, treats skills as part of a site’s out-of-the-box governance plan, setting up the library, author permissions, and a starter set of skills so teams get consistent results from day one.