Planner agent in Copilot: create a plan from a prompt

Short answer: Microsoft's support page says the Planner agent can answer questions, edit tasks and plans, and create tasks and plans. Proposed work appears in task cards that let you "review and approve content before it is created." Microsoft says users need an active Microsoft Copilot license, and IT admins can turn the agent off.

What Microsoft says it does

The page "What can you do with Planner Agent in Copilot?" names three scenarios: Q&A, editing tasks and plans, and creating tasks and plans. Q&A covers your private tasks, assigned tasks, flagged emails, shared basic plans, and goals. You can organize new work around goals and objectives.

Review before anything is created

Proposed work appears in task cards. You can approve them or edit inside the cards. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: read every card before you approve, since an approved card creates the work.

Edits are limited to six fields

Microsoft says: "Editing tasks in Planner Agent is currently limited to the following fields:" Name, Progress, Due date, Start date, Priority, and Plan name.

Create a plan from a prompt

Microsoft lists "Create plans from scratch" and "Generate plans from Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files" as things the agent does in Copilot chat. Its example prompts include "Create a marketing plan for the product launch." The agent shows the plan as task cards for you to approve.

Generate tasks from a goal in Planner

Inside Planner, Microsoft's page "Create a plan from scratch with Planner agent" gives this route.

Open Planner in Teams.
Select New plan in the top left.
Choose a Basic plan or a Premium plan.
Name the plan and choose the group.
Select Create.
In the Goals tab, under Add goal, describe the outcome you want.
Select Add files for better results, and choose documents.
Select Generate tasks. Microsoft says the agent "will create a set of tasks related to the plan goal and documentation."
Review the tasks. You can add, edit or remove tasks before you start.

Microsoft says task generation is available only for Premium plans. Exact names may differ on your screen.

Who can use it and how to open it

Microsoft says users need an active Microsoft Copilot license. It works only in tenants where IT admins have not disabled the agent in the admin center. Ask your admin if you cannot find it.
To add it: open Microsoft Copilot for work on the web or in Teams, select All agents, search for Planner, select Planner Agent, then Add.
You can also reach it in Copilot Chat by typing @Planner Agent.

No-Copilot route

Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: if you have no Copilot license, build the plan from a short list. Create the plan, add buckets for your phases, and add tasks. For the plan types, see "Planner Premium vs Basic for a small team".

What to avoid

Do not approve cards you have not read.
Do not expect to edit fields beyond the six Microsoft lists.
Do not look for Generate tasks on the Goals tab of a Basic plan. It is Premium only.

When to get help

You can build all of this yourself in Microsoft 365. If you would rather have it built and tested for your team, I do that. A tracker like this is a fixed price: $5,000 for one, built in 2 weeks. See "What a SharePoint tracker costs to build". Bring one example of the problem to a free call.

Tell me what's still manual

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FAQ

What does the Planner agent do?

Microsoft lists Q&A, editing tasks and plans, and creating tasks and plans.

Can I review what the Planner agent creates before it is saved?

Yes. Microsoft says task cards let you review and approve content before it is created.

Which fields can the Planner agent edit?

Microsoft lists Name, Progress, Due date, Start date, Priority, and Plan name.

Does the Planner agent work with Basic plans?

Yes for chat. Microsoft says it can create tasks in shared basic plans. Generating tasks from a goal on the Goals tab is Premium plans only.

Who can use the Planner agent?

Microsoft says users need an active Microsoft Copilot license, in a tenant where IT admins have not disabled the agent.