Copilot and Cowork: asking questions about your projects¶
Language: English · Italiano · Français · Deutsch Manual index: README
ProjectIQ data can be read from Microsoft Copilot: in the Copilot pane of the app, in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat and in Copilot Cowork through the Business apps (preview) plugin. People ask in their own words ("how is project PRJ-000123 going?", "which hours do I have to approve?") and get answers built from the same records they see in the app, with the same permissions.
This first release is read-only: Copilot finds, explains and summarises data, but it does not create, change, submit or approve anything. Every action stays on the buttons of the app.
For interactive cards in Microsoft 365 Copilot (portfolio, project, timeline, resource load, purchasing) and to log, submit and approve hours from Copilot after an explicit confirmation, use the Portfolio Agent.
These Microsoft features are in preview: names, screens and behaviour may change.
How it works¶
flowchart LR
U[User in Copilot Cowork,<br/>Copilot Chat or the app] --> W["Business apps (preview)<br/>Work IQ, with the user's identity"]
W --> SM[Semantic model of the<br/>ProjectIQ app]
W --> BS[Business skills<br/>op365_*]
W --> D[(Dataverse:<br/>ProjectIQ tables)]
SM -. reads .-> M[Table and column descriptions,<br/>relationships, public views, forms]
G[Glossary<br/>commessa, RdA, DDT...] --> SM| Part | What it does | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Semantic model | Tells Copilot what the tables, columns and relationships mean | Created by Dataverse for the app when Microsoft Copilot is on; it reads the descriptions of tables and columns, the relationships, the public views and the form names of the solution |
| Glossary | Maps business words (commessa, RdA, DDT, fattura passiva...) to the tables | Loaded by an administrator with a script, see Semantic model glossary |
| Business skills | Step-by-step instructions for the common questions | Delivered in the solution, see Business skills |
| Permissions | What each person can see | The usual security roles, project access teams and column security of ProjectIQ |
What you can ask¶
| Topic | Example questions | Business skill |
|---|---|---|
| Project status | "How is project PRJ-000123 going?", "Which projects are over budget?" | ProjectIQ - Project status |
| Hours to approve | "Which hours do I have to approve?" | ProjectIQ - Hours to approve |
| Missing hours | "Who has not entered their hours yesterday?" | ProjectIQ - Missing hours |
| Purchasing | "Where is the purchase request for the scaffolding?", "Which orders are late?", "Which supplier invoices are to review?" | ProjectIQ - Purchasing status |
| Supplier compliance | "Which suppliers have an expired DURC?", "Can we order from Rossi Srl?" | ProjectIQ - Supplier compliance |
| Resource load | "Who is overloaded next month?" | ProjectIQ - Resource load |
Questions outside these topics also work: Copilot uses the semantic model to find the right tables. When the answer needs an action (approve, submit, send, receive), Copilot tells you which screen of the app to use.
Set up (administrators)¶
The steps are done once per environment, by the people with the right admin role.
flowchart TD
A[1. Microsoft 365 admin center:<br/>Business Applications data<br/>in Work IQ available to Copilot] --> B[2. Power Platform admin center:<br/>Work IQ on for the environment]
B --> C[3. Solution installed:<br/>Copilot on in the app, skills]
C --> D[4. Wait for the semantic model<br/>up to 2 hours]
D --> E[5. Semantic model: exclude tables,<br/>add the glossary, regenerate]
E --> F[6. Share the business skills]
F --> G[7. Microsoft 365 admin center:<br/>install the Business apps plugin]
G --> H[8. Each user connects<br/>the plugin in Cowork]| Step | Who | Where | What |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft 365 admin center → Copilot → Settings → Business Applications data in Work IQ available to Copilot | All users, or the Entra groups of the ProjectIQ users |
| 2 | Power Platform admin | Power Platform admin center → environment → Work IQ | On. Also check that Dataverse search is On or Default |
| 3 | IT | Solution import (see dev environment) | The solution turns on Microsoft Copilot in model-driven apps for the ProjectIQ app, adds the business skills and puts the tables in scope in the Dataverse search index: without it Copilot knows the tables but finds no records |
| 4 | – | – | The first generation of the semantic model takes up to two hours |
| 5 | System Administrator | Power Apps → Semantic model | See Tune the semantic model |
| 6 | System Administrator | Power Apps → Business skills (preview) | See Business skills |
| 7 | Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft 365 admin center → Agents → Tools → Plugins → Business apps (preview) → Install | All users or Specific users and groups |
| 8 | Each user | Copilot → Cowork → Customize → Business apps (preview) → Show more → Connect next to Business apps (preview) | Sign in and approve the request in the Authenticator app |
Write actions through Work IQ are blocked by default by tenant policy. Keep them blocked: ProjectIQ is read-only from Copilot in this release.
Licences¶
Each person needs the Power Apps Premium licence used for ProjectIQ and a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. Semantic indexing uses extra Dataverse capacity.
Tune the semantic model¶
The semantic model of the app is named M365_Primary_model_op365_OpenProject365 (as seen in Dev; Microsoft also documents M365_Secondary_model_<app>). Dataverse regenerates it every 12 hours; changes to descriptions, views and the glossary are picked up at the next regeneration, or at once with a manual regeneration.
- Sign in to Power Apps, select the environment, then More → Discover all → Semantic model.
- Open the model of the ProjectIQ app.
- Select Configuration and clear Include in semantic model for these tables, then select Save and sync:
| Table | Why it is excluded |
|---|---|
| Resource Cost | Hourly costs: sensitive, and not needed to answer questions. Also kept out of the Dataverse search index |
| Settings | Company configuration (single row) |
| Baseline Node | Values saved in a baseline: they duplicate the WBS and confuse "current" questions |
| WBS Dependency | Gantt links: noise for business questions |
- Leave Sample table rows off (default): answers come from live data, not from samples.
- Add the glossary, see the next section.
- Select Regenerate.
The semantic model is not moved by solutions: repeat these steps in every environment (Dev, Test, production), and after a copy or move of an environment turn Work IQ off and on again.
Semantic model glossary¶
The glossary adds business words that Dataverse cannot infer from the metadata. The full list is kept in the repository in copilot/glossary.md, with the Italian, French and German synonyms.
- Run
python3 tools/dataverse/workiq.py glossaryagainst the environment (the same connection settings as the other Dataverse scripts). It creates or updates one entry per row of the list, with the synonyms in the Definition; running it again changes only the entries that differ. - In the semantic model, open Glossary to check the entries, then select Regenerate.
| Term | Italiano | Français | Deutsch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project | commessa, progetto | projet, affaire | Projekt, Auftrag |
| Time entry | registrazione ore, rapportino, timesheet | saisie de temps, feuille de temps | Zeiteintrag, Stundenzettel |
| Purchase request | richiesta di acquisto, RdA | demande d'achat, DA | Bestellanforderung, BANF |
| RFQ | richiesta di offerta, RdO | demande de prix, appel d'offres | Angebotsanfrage, Ausschreibung |
| Purchase order | ordine di acquisto, OdA | commande d'achat, bon de commande | Bestellung |
| Goods receipt | ricevimento merci, DDT | réception de marchandises, bon de livraison | Wareneingang, Lieferschein |
| Supplier invoice | fattura fornitore, fattura passiva | facture fournisseur | Lieferantenrechnung, Eingangsrechnung |
| Supplier document | documento fornitore, DURC | document fournisseur, attestation | Lieferantendokument, Nachweis |
Business skills¶
Business skills are instructions that tell Copilot how to answer a type of question: which tables to read, how to compute the figures, what to flag. They are part of the ProjectIQ solution (unique names starting with op365_), so they are installed and updated with it. Their text is kept in the repository in copilot/skills/.
| Skill | Reads | Points the user to |
|---|---|---|
| ProjectIQ - Project status | Project, WBS nodes, baseline, open purchases | – |
| ProjectIQ - Hours to approve | Submitted time entries of the user's projects | Projects → Time → Approvals |
| ProjectIQ - Missing hours | Resources, absences, time entries | – (the Daily time reminder flow already notifies people) |
| ProjectIQ - Purchasing status | Purchase requests, RFQs, purchase orders, goods receipts, supplier invoices | The buttons of the purchasing forms |
| ProjectIQ - Supplier compliance | Suppliers and supplier documents | The supplier form, or the supplier portal |
| ProjectIQ - Resource load | Resources, allocations, absences | Projects → Planning → Resource Load |
All skills are read-only: they never create or change records.
To make them available to everyone:
- In Power Apps select More → Business skills (preview).
- Check that the six
ProjectIQ - ...skills are listed and active. They are installed as Organization skills (viewable by everyone in the environment). - If a skill is not visible to a user, select it → Share → Anyone can view.
Do not edit the skills in production: changes are made in the repository and delivered with the solution.
Security and privacy¶
- Copilot works with the identity of the user: it sees only the records and columns the user can see in the app (security roles and project access teams, see Administration).
- Columns protected by the OP365 Cost Visibility profile (hourly costs, time entry Cost, material costs, supplier Spend, see Cost visibility) stay hidden for users without that profile. The skills say so instead of guessing.
- Copilot does not change data. Every change still goes through the app, its validation rules and its plugins.
Limits¶
- Preview features: answers may be incomplete; always check important figures in the app.
- No actions from Copilot in this release: submitting, approving, sending, awarding, receiving and cancelling stay in the app.
- The semantic model, its table settings and the glossary are configured per environment.
- Answers depend on the quality of the descriptions in the solution: when a question is misunderstood, report it so the description or the glossary can be improved.