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Ask questions from knowledge articles

Note

This tool is available by default on the following MCP servers: Dynamics 365 Customer Service. The tools and examples in this documentation illustrate current capabilities. Tool names, descriptions, parameters, response formats, and available functionality can change over time.
When you build agents, integrations, or orchestration logic, don't hard-code dependencies on specific tool names, parameter structures, tool metadata, or response schemas. Instead, design your solution to discover and use available tools at runtime.
As the platform evolves, Microsoft might add, remove, rename, or modify tools and tool metadata. Designing against capabilities rather than specific tool identifiers helps maintain compatibility across service updates.

Use this capability when you want the assistant to help with ask questions from knowledge articles from chat.

What it does

Searches published knowledge articles and answers informational, procedural, or troubleshooting questions with citations.

Try prompts like

  • "How do I reset a customer password?"
  • "What is the process for escalating a billing case?"
  • "Troubleshoot error code 0x80040216"
  • "Walk me through creating a knowledge article"

What you see in chat

The assistant returns a text answer synthesized from published knowledge articles, with citations when matching articles are available.

Helpful tips

  • Ask one clear question at a time for the best match.
  • Include product names, error text, or the process you are working on.
  • Ask follow-up questions in the same chat when you want to refine the answer.

What happens next

  • "Ask for more detail on one cited step"
  • "Open the cited knowledge article if you need the full source"
  • "Ask a follow-up question using the same context"

Does this change data?

No. Asking a knowledge question doesn't change data.

What you can do from the app-in-chat component

From the knowledge answer component in chat, you can:

  • Read the AI-generated answer with inline citations linking to source articles
  • Select a citation to open the referenced knowledge article
  • Expand source article summaries without leaving chat
  • Use follow-up prompts to refine the answer or ask about a related topic

Prerequisites

This tool requires the following:

  • Ask a question capability in the Copilot help pane

Learn more in Configure knowledge management, and Enable features in Copilot pane.

Tool summary

Property Value
User-facing name Query Knowledge Agent
Internal tool name answer_knowledge_question
Purpose Searches the org's published knowledge articles and synthesizes a natural-language answer with citations for informational, procedural, or 'how do I...' questions

Tool behavior

Searches the organization's published knowledge articles and synthesizes a natural-language answer with citations for informational, procedural, or 'how do I...' questions. Returns a text answer with citations from matching articles. Use when the user asks a question that is likely answered by the knowledge base. For browsing or listing articles visually, use search_knowledge_articles.

Annotations

Annotation Value Meaning
readOnlyHint true This tool doesn't modify data.
destructiveHint Not set Not applicable.
idempotentHint Not set Not applicable.
openWorldHint Not set Uses default (queries Dataverse).

Input concepts

Question

Input Description Required
question question (required). The natural-language question to answer. Yes

Conversation history

Input Description Required
messages messages (optional). Prior conversation turns for multi-turn context. Pass the full history from previous answer_knowledge_question responses to maintain continuity. No

Language

Input Description Required
language language (optional). BCP 47 language code for the response (for example, en-us). Defaults to en-us. No

Response and UI behavior

Response type

Text-only

No interactive component is rendered. Returns a synthesized text answer drawn from published knowledge articles, with citations when matching articles are found.

Routing notes

Use answer_knowledge_question when:

  • The user asks an informational, procedural, or troubleshooting question that is likely answered in the knowledge base
  • The user asks 'how do I...', 'what is...', 'explain...', or similar question-style prompts

Don't use answer_knowledge_question when:

  • The user wants to browse or list articles - route to search_knowledge_articles
  • The user wants to view a specific article - route to get_knowledge_article
  • The user wants to create an article - route to draft_knowledge_article or harvest_knowledge_article
Tool Relationship
search_knowledge_articles Lists and browses articles visually. Use for browse/inspect intent; use answer_knowledge_question for question/answer intent
get_knowledge_article Retrieves full detail for a single article by KA-number or GUID
draft_knowledge_article Creates a new draft article

Data mutation classification

Read-only. Doesn't create or modify any records.

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