Introducing: Extending Copilot Chat with Your App's Documentation (2025 release wave 2)
Copilot Chat in Business Central can answer questions about installed add-on apps using the app's public online documentation, found through Bing search. The video covers the help property in app.json and the documentation requirements partners must meet: public access, Bing indexing, and a shallow site structure.
- Introduction and overview of Copilot app integration
- Demo: Copilot answering questions about the Fabricam app
- How Copilot finds and uses app documentation
- Prerequisites: help property in app.json and public documentation
- Documentation requirements: indexing, site structure, and redirects
- Format and testing recommendations for documentation
- Next steps and future evolution of the feature
- Closing remarks
Overview
The video, from the 2025 release wave 2 series, shows Copilot answering questions about an installed project management app (Fabricam). Answers on functionality, configuration and troubleshooting are grounded in the app’s help documentation.
It then explains how this works and what partners must do. The app.json file needs a help property pointing to online documentation. Copilot turns the user’s question into search terms and uses Bing to search that site. The video also gives recommendations on site structure, content format and testing, and says the concept will evolve further to support customers better.
Key points
- Add a help property to app.json that points to the app’s online documentation. Partners are accountable for what is at the end of that link.
- The documentation site must be public, with no authentication or password wall, and must be indexed by Bing.
- Copilot searches the help URL and up to two levels below it, so avoid deep URL structures.
- Do not use redirects to different domains or URL shorteners, because they will not work or can confuse Copilot.
- Copilot works mainly with page text. It ignores illustrations and icons, but can read text in Excel and PDF files hosted on the site.
- New or updated sites can take a few days to be indexed by Bing. Bing Webmaster Tools can help with indexing and speed up discovery.
- Test your documentation by asking Copilot questions about your app.
Features
| Feature | Status | At |
|---|---|---|
| Copilot Chat with app documentation | status not stated, demoed | 0:43 |
| Help property in app.json | status not stated | 4:31 |
| Bing search integration with Copilot | status not stated | 3:19 |
| Bing Webmaster Tools integration | status not stated | 5:07 |
| Documentation site structure requirements | status not stated | 5:34 |
| Documentation format support | status not stated | 5:56 |
AL objects mentioned
As heard in the captions. A name that matches one object page by exact type and name links to it; the others stay as named.
Quotes
- 0:43 “Copilot and Business Central can now answer questions based on the apps that are installed on that environment”
- 2:48 “every response that Copilot gave me here is grounded in the documentation that accompanies the Fabricam app that I have installed”
- 4:31 “you need to make sure that your app.json file has a help property pointing to your online documentation”
- 4:42 “your site needs to be accessible uh with Microsoft Bing. It needs to be indexed by Bing. Um which means the site has to”
- 5:34 “copilot will search what’s at the URL you defined in that help property and up to two levels down”
- 5:56 “Copilot works primarily with text and that means it’s going to ignore any illustrations, any icons that you have on your help site. Um,”
- 7:35 “we’re looking forward to evolving this concept even further to provide much better support for our customers in the future”
Disclaimers in the video
- 7:35 coming-later: we’re looking forward to evolving this concept even further to provide much better support for our customers in the future
Presenters (as heard): Mike.