---
title: "How to migrate from Copilot Studio to FlowRunner"
description: "Export a Copilot Studio agent in a solution or as YAML, have FlowRunner Prompt to Flow rebuild it in your AI tool, then add your model key, connect accounts, and test."
url: https://flowrunner.ai/alternatives/copilot-studio/migrate
date_published: 2026-11-02
date_modified: 2026-11-03T09:28:56-08:00
---

[Alternatives](https://flowrunner.ai/alternatives) / [Copilot Studio](https://flowrunner.ai/alternatives/copilot-studio) / Migrate to FlowRunner

![Copilot Studio logo](https://flowrunner.ai/assets/alternatives/copilot-studio.svg)

# How to migrate from Copilot Studio to FlowRunner

Export a Copilot Studio agent in a solution or as YAML, have FlowRunner Prompt to Flow rebuild it in your AI tool, then add your model key, connect accounts, and test.

2026-11-02 Updated November 3, 2026 7 min

A Copilot Studio agent leaves Copilot Studio in a solution file, or as YAML through the VS Code extension. Those files hold the agent’s instructions, its topics, and its agent flows. [FlowRunner Prompt to Flow](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/build/prompt-to-flow.html) reads them in the AI tool you already use and builds the same agent as a FlowRunner flow: an AI Agent block with the same instructions, the tools it needs, and each agent flow as a flow the agent can call.

You migrate one agent at a time. What’s left for you is what no export carries: your model key, connected accounts, the knowledge documents, and testing before you switch.

If the agent calls Power Automate cloud flows that live outside its solution, migrate those first with [the Power Automate guide](https://flowrunner.ai/alternatives/power-automate/migrate), so the agent’s tools exist when you rebuild it.

## 1\. Export your agents from Copilot Studio

Agents leave only inside a custom unmanaged solution. The default solution can’t be exported. You need at least the System Customizer security role.

1.  Create a solution, choose **Add existing** > **Agent** > **Agent**, select the agents, and click **Add**.
2.  On the agent’s three dots, choose **Advanced** > **Add required objects**. That pulls in its topics, flows, and environment variables.
3.  In the solution explorer, select the solution and choose **Export solution**. Pick **Managed** or **Unmanaged**, and download the `.zip`.

The file holds the agent’s instructions, its topics, and the components you added: agent flows, environment variables, connection references, and custom connectors.

Some things aren’t in it:

-   **Connections and sign-in.** Connections and user authentication have to be set up again.
-   **Some knowledge.** Microsoft notes that custom topics and knowledge sources might not be included if they’re stored as separate resources or Dataverse tables. Keep the original documents.
-   **Comments, IDs, and channel details.** Topic and node comments don’t travel, and the icon and channel details may be empty.

Two exports fail outright. A topic name with a period in it blocks the export, so rename it first. An agent with more than 250 topics or 100 entities needs the classic export experience.

There’s a second route. The Copilot Studio extension for VS Code clones the agent as YAML files: `agent.mcs.yaml`, one file per topic under `topics/`, and each agent flow as `workflows/<name>/workflow.json`. Uploaded knowledge files aren’t downloaded automatically; you pick them in the **Remote Knowledge Files** window. For one topic, **More** > **Open code editor** shows its YAML, which you can copy.

Before you leave, save a handful of real questions from the agent’s test chat or its conversations, with the answers it gave. You’ll test with them in step 5.

## 2\. Connect FlowRunner Prompt to Flow to your AI tool

[FlowRunner Prompt to Flow](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/build/prompt-to-flow.html) is an MCP server you add to the AI tool you already use. You connect it once and sign in with your FlowRunner account. The server URL is the same for every tool: `https://app.flowrunner.ai/mcp`.

Claude (web and desktop)

1.  In Claude, open **Settings** > **Connectors**.
2.  Click **\+ Add**, then **Add custom connector**.
3.  Enter `FlowRunner` as the name and `https://app.flowrunner.ai/mcp` as the server URL. If Claude offers sign-in choices, pick **Sign in now** and **Register automatically**, and leave the client ID and secret empty.
4.  Click **Add**, then **Connect**, and approve the FlowRunner sign-in page that opens.
5.  In a chat, click **+** > **Connectors** and check that FlowRunner is on.

On Claude's Team or Enterprise plan, an Owner adds FlowRunner once for everyone under **Organization settings** > **Connectors**, with the same URL. Each member then finds it under **Settings** > **Connectors** and clicks **Connect**.

Claude Code

1.  In your project folder, add the server. Add `--scope user` to use it in every project.
    
    ```
    claude mcp add --transport http flowrunner https://app.flowrunner.ai/mcp
    ```
    
2.  Sign in, and approve the FlowRunner sign-in page that opens in your browser.
    
    ```
    claude mcp login flowrunner
    ```
    
3.  Check the connection with `claude mcp list`. The `flowrunner` line ends in `✔ Connected`.
    

ChatGPT

1.  On the web, open [ChatGPT Plugins](https://chatgpt.com/plugins). ChatGPT connects to MCP servers on chatgpt.com only.
2.  Click **Add**, then **Add custom MCP server**.
3.  Enter `FlowRunner` as the name and, under **Connection**, `https://app.flowrunner.ai/mcp` as the server URL.
4.  Choose **OAuth**, select **I understand and want to continue**, then **Create as a plugin**.
5.  Install the plugin and approve the FlowRunner sign-in page.
6.  In a chat, type `@` and pick FlowRunner.

Whether you can add a custom MCP server depends on your ChatGPT plan and, in a Business, Enterprise or Edu workspace, on your admin's settings.

Codex

1.  Add these lines to `~/.codex/config.toml`, creating the file if it doesn't exist.
    
    ```
    [mcp_servers.flowrunner]
    url = "https://app.flowrunner.ai/mcp"
    ```
    
2.  Sign in, and approve the FlowRunner sign-in page that opens in your browser.
    
    ```
    codex mcp login flowrunner
    ```
    
3.  Check the connection with `codex mcp list`. The `flowrunner` row shows `OAuth` in the **Auth** column.
    

Cursor

1.  Create `~/.cursor/mcp.json` to use FlowRunner in every project, or `.cursor/mcp.json` in a project folder for that project only. If the file already exists, add the `flowrunner` entry inside its `mcpServers`.
    
    ```
    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "flowrunner": { "url": "https://app.flowrunner.ai/mcp" }
      }
    }
    ```
    
2.  Open **Customize** in the sidebar, then **MCPs**, and follow the sign-in prompt for `flowrunner`.
    

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

1.  Open the Command Palette, run **MCP: Add Server**, choose **HTTP**, enter `https://app.flowrunner.ai/mcp`, and name it `flowrunner`.
2.  Open Copilot Chat in agent mode and ask "List my FlowRunner workspaces". The first time, VS Code asks you to sign in: allow it and approve the FlowRunner sign-in page.
3.  Copilot lists your workspaces. FlowRunner is connected.

On the FlowRunner sign-in page, check the account under **Logged in as**, tick **I recognize and trust this URL**, and click **Authorize**. If you don't have a FlowRunner account yet, the [Free plan](https://flowrunner.ai/pricing) needs no card, and every new account starts with 14 days of Professional. The [setup guide in the docs](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/build/prompt-to-flow.html) has every tool step by step.

## 3\. Convert one agent at a time

Start a new chat, paste this request, then paste or attach the agent’s files after it. From a solution `.zip`, unzip it first. From the VS Code extension, paste `agent.mcs.yaml`, the topic files, and any `workflow.json` files.

> Rebuild this Microsoft Copilot Studio agent as a FlowRunner flow. The files come from a Copilot Studio solution export (or the VS Code extension’s YAML files): the agent’s instructions, its topics with their trigger phrases and nodes, and any agent flows as workflow.json in Power Automate’s workflow definition format. Keep the agent’s instructions and the same behavior. Build each agent flow as its own FlowRunner flow the agent can call as a tool. Connections, sign-in settings, and knowledge files aren’t in the export. Before you build, tell me anything you can’t map one to one, and ask me about anything the files don’t say.

If the agent asks people for input or approval, add a second paragraph:

> This agent uses \[Request for information / a multistage approval\]. Build that as a step that reaches \[who\] on \[email / Slack / WhatsApp / phone\] with the details they need, and waits for their answer before the agent carries on. Run the agent on my own \[provider\] key.

Then add a line or two about what the files can’t say: where the knowledge documents live, and how people reach the agent today (Teams, a website, a schedule), so the AI can pick how the flow starts.

Answer its questions, and it builds the flow in your workspace. Topics that only steer the conversation usually fold into the agent’s instructions; topics that send work down different paths become branches, often an [AI Router](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/reference/ai-router.html) that routes by meaning. One agent per chat keeps the questions specific.

## 4\. Finish what the export can’t carry

Each conversion ends with a short list from the AI. Expect some of these:

-   **Add your model key.** FlowRunner runs every agent on your own key. Add it once in the workspace and every flow can use it.
-   **Connect your accounts.** Each app is connected once in [OAuth Connections](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/platform/oauth-connections.html) and shared across your flows.
-   **Attach the flow tools.** The AI tells you which flows to attach to the agent as tools. Open the AI Agent block, go to **Manage Capabilities** > **Flows**, and add each one. The flows need to be live.
-   **Add forms.** If an approval or an intake step should be a [Form](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/platform/forms.html), the AI tells you, and you build it in the flow editor.
-   **Load the knowledge.** Create a [Knowledge Base](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/reference/knowledge-bases-concept.html), upload the agent’s documents, and attach it to the agent.
-   **Register MCP servers.** If the agent used MCP servers, add each one under **Agent tools & Knowledge** > **MCP Servers** and attach its tools to the agent ([how](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/platform/mcp-servers.html)).
-   **Decide how the flow starts.** In Copilot Studio, people reached the agent in Teams, Microsoft 365 Copilot, or a website. In FlowRunner the flow can start from an API call from your app, a form, an incoming email, a Slack message, or a schedule.
-   **Start the flow,** if the AI left it stopped.

## 5\. Test, then switch over

Run the flow with the questions you saved in step 1 and compare the answers. With FlowRunner Prompt to Flow connected, you can ask your AI tool to run it, for example “Run my Benefits helper flow with: How many vacation days do I have left?” Each block’s inputs and outputs for every run are in the flow’s [run history](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/run/inspecting-a-run.html). When the answers match, point people and apps at the FlowRunner flow, watch a few days of runs, and turn the Copilot Studio agent off. Keep the solution file.

## How Copilot Studio maps to FlowRunner

| Copilot Studio | FlowRunner | What changes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Agent and its instructions | [AI Agent](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/reference/ai-agent.html) block with the same system prompt | The agent is a block inside a flow, and runs on your own model key |
| Topics | Agent instructions, or branches with an [AI Router](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/reference/ai-router.html) | Routing shows on the canvas instead of in trigger phrases |
| Agent flow (“When an agent calls the flow”) | A flow the agent calls as a tool ([flows as agent tools](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/reference/flows-as-agent-tools-concept.html)) | Same execution whether an agent, a schedule, or an API starts it |
| Respond to the agent | [Return Result](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/reference/return-result.html) | The agent waits for the flow and reads what it returns |
| Request for information, multistage approval | A step that asks by email, Slack, WhatsApp, phone, or a [Form](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/platform/forms.html), then waits at an [External Callback](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/reference/external-callback.html) | The person can be anyone, in their own channel |
| Knowledge sources | [Knowledge Base](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/reference/knowledge-bases-concept.html), or the SharePoint and OneDrive integrations as tools | You upload the documents again |
| Connectors and tools | Integration actions attached to the agent | 2,100+ integrations, all on every plan |
| MCP servers | [MCP Servers](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/platform/mcp-servers.html) registered in the workspace | Attached to the agent as tools |
| Connection references | Connections, set once per workspace | Connect each account again |
| Channels (Teams, website) | API call, form, email, Slack message, or [schedule](https://docs.flowrunner.ai/reference/flow-scheduling-concept.html) | You choose how the flow starts |
| Copilot Credits | Executions, one per complete run | Model tokens go on your provider’s bill |

## Quick wins on day one

-   **One meter.** Every run is one execution, however many tools the agent calls. Growth is $45 for 12,000 runs, $0.00375 a run, in place of separate credit rates for answers, actions, flow steps, and tokens.
-   **Your own model key.** Agents run on Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, or another supported provider, with no markup.
-   **Approvals in more channels.** Email, Slack, WhatsApp, phone, or a Form, to anyone, on every plan.
-   **Every integration on every plan,** including Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint, with unlimited users and workflows.
-   **Start on Free.** 100 executions a month, no card, any real email address, and 14 days of Professional on signup.

Want a hand with a bigger migration? [Contact us](https://flowrunner.ai/contact).

## Frequently asked questions

### How do I export a Copilot Studio agent?

Put the agent in a custom unmanaged solution, because the default solution can't be exported. Create a solution, choose Add existing > Agent, select the agent, and add it. Then use the agent's three dots > Advanced > Add required objects to pull in its topics, flows, and environment variables. In the solution explorer, select the solution, choose Export solution, and download the .zip. You need at least the System Customizer security role.

### What does a Copilot Studio export leave out?

Connections and user authentication, which you set up again. Comments on topics and nodes, the agent's internal IDs, and sometimes its icon and channel details. Microsoft also notes that some custom topics and knowledge sources might not be included if they're stored as separate resources or Dataverse tables, and uploaded knowledge files aren't downloaded automatically by the VS Code extension. Keep the original documents and add them to a FlowRunner Knowledge Base.

### Can FlowRunner import a Copilot Studio solution file?

FlowRunner has no importer for Copilot Studio files. FlowRunner Prompt to Flow, connected to the AI tool you already use, reads the files you paste in and builds the same agent as a FlowRunner flow from the same blocks the flow editor uses. You review what it couldn't map, answer its questions, and test.

### What happens to the Power Automate flows my agent calls?

Migrate them with the [Power Automate guide](https://flowrunner.ai/alternatives/power-automate/migrate) before you rebuild the agent, so each one exists as a FlowRunner flow the agent can call as a tool. Agent flows that live inside the agent's solution come across with the agent.

### Which model does the agent use after the migration?

The one you choose. FlowRunner runs every AI agent on your own key, with Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, or another supported provider, and you pay the provider directly with no FlowRunner markup. Add the key once in the workspace and every flow can use it.

### Do I need a paid plan to try the migration?

No. The Free plan includes every integration, AI agents on your own keys, and human-in-the-loop, with 100 executions a month and no card. Every new account also starts with 14 days of Professional.

## Keep reading

-   [Copilot Studio alternative: FlowRunner vs Copilot Studio](https://flowrunner.ai/alternatives/copilot-studio)
-   [FlowRunner vs Power Automate](https://flowrunner.ai/alternatives/power-automate)

[All alternatives](https://flowrunner.ai/alternatives)

By [Mark Piller](https://flowrunner.ai/about#mark-piller), Founder of FlowRunner [Editorial policy](https://flowrunner.ai/editorial-policy)

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