Microsoft 365 Message Center Archive

MC1255409 - Lists as a knowledge source for agents in SharePoint and OneDrive

Message ID

MC1255409

View in Message Center

Service

SharePoint Online

Published

Mar 18, 2026

Tag

New feature
User impact

Summary

Microsoft Lists will be supported as a knowledge source for custom agents in SharePoint and OneDrive starting late March 2026. Agents can answer questions using list data, but only one list can be used per agent. Users need appropriate permissions and a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

More information

Introduction

We’re introducing support for Microsoft Lists as a knowledge source for custom agents in SharePoint and OneDrive. These custom agents can now ground responses in a list stored on a SharePoint site or in your OneDrive.

When this will happen:

General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out in late March 2026 and expect to complete rollout by early May 2026.

How this affects your organization:

Who is affected:

  • Site members (or people with edit permissions to the site) who create or edit custom agents in SharePoint and OneDrive.
  • A Microsoft 365 Copilot license or the pay-as-you-go meter connected to SharePoint agents is required to use this feature.

What will happen:

  • Users can configure a custom agent to use one Microsoft List as its knowledge source.
  • Agents can:
    • Answer questions using information stored in list items.
    • Reference list item metadata in responses.
    • Provide up-to-date responses based on list items the user has permission to access.
  • In SharePoint, users can create an agent directly from a list by selecting AI actions > Create an agent from the command bar.
  • While editing an agent, users can also select an individual list from the Sources tab, similar to selecting individual files.
  • Important limitations:
    • Agents currently support grounding on only one Microsoft List.
    • Grounding on multiple lists, or combining a list with other content (such as files or pages), is not supported.
    • If a list is added to an existing agent, all previous knowledge sources are removed, and the user is prompted to confirm before the change is applied.
    • Agents configured with a site as the knowledge source will continue to ground only on the site’s Document Libraries and Pages library.

What you can do to prepare:

No action is required to prepare for this change.

We recommend that you:

  • Inform users who create or manage agents about the new option to use Microsoft Lists as a knowledge source.
  • Update internal guidance or help desk documentation if you provide instructions for creating custom agents in SharePoint.

Learn more: Create an agent in SharePoint | Microsoft Support (will be updated at launch)

Compliance considerations:

Question Explanation
Does the change alter how existing customer data is processed, stored, or accessed? Custom agents can now ground responses directly in Microsoft List items, accessing structured list data based on the user’s existing permissions.
Does the change introduce or significantly modify AI/ML or agent capabilities that interact with customer data? The change adds Microsoft Lists as a supported grounding source for custom agents, enabling AI-generated responses based on list content.
Does the change provide end users a new way of interacting with generative AI? Users can ask agents questions and receive generative AI responses grounded in Microsoft List data.