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Connecting the Synthesis MCP Server to Microsoft Copilot

Greg Moore
  • Updated

This article walks you through connecting the Synthesis MCP Server to Microsoft Copilot so you can search and retrieve your Synthesis content from inside Copilot. If you haven't set up the MCP Server in Synthesis yet, start with Getting started with the Synthesis MCP Server .

Connecting is a two-part process:

  1. An admin creates a Copilot agent in Copilot Studio and adds Synthesis as a tool.
  2. Each user connects and signs in individually.

Before you begin

You'll need:

  • Global administrator access in Synthesis, to copy your MCP Server URL
  • Access to Copilot Studio (copilotstudio.microsoft.com), to create and publish an agent

Use Copilot Studio, not the Microsoft 365 admin center. The connector gallery in the Microsoft 365 Copilot admin center has a built-in MCP option, but it expects a reference ID for authentication. The Synthesis MCP Server uses dynamic client registration instead, so that path won't complete a connection.

Copy your MCP Server URL

  1. In Synthesis, click the Settings cog, then select Settings under Configuration.
  2. Go to Integrations > Synthesis MCP Server.
  3. Under MCP Server URL, click the copy icon next to the URL.

Your URL will look something like https://yourintranet.domain.com/mcp.

Admins: Create an agent and add Synthesis in Copilot Studio

  1. Go to copilotstudio.microsoft.com, click Agents in the left-hand navigation, then click New agent.
  2. Name your agent the name of your intranet
  3. In the panel on the right side of the screen, find Tools and click the plus icon next to it.
  4. Click Add, next to the search field for tools.
  5. From the dropdown, select Model Context Protocol (MCP).
  6. In the Add MCP Server window, name the server the name of your intranet and provide a description for users.
  7. Paste the MCP Server URL you copied from Synthesis into the Server URL field.
  8. Set Authentication to OAuth 2.0. The configuration type should default to Dynamic (with Discovery) - if it doesn't, select it. Click Add.
  9. Copilot Studio takes ~30 seconds to a minute to reach the server. A Select a connection dialog then appears, with the connection listed as Not connected. Click that dropdown and choose Create New Connection.
  10. Give the connection a display name of your intranet name and click Create.
  11. When asked to allow Credential Manager access to your intranet, click Allow Access, then click Add on the Select a connection dialog.
  12. Your intranet should now appear under Tools in the agent's settings. Use the Preview or Evaluate tab to test it.
  13. Once it's working as expected, click Publish in the upper right corner.

Make the agent available in Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot

Publishing the agent makes it usable in Copilot Studio, but it doesn't automatically show up in Teams or Microsoft 365 Copilot. Turn on the Make available to 365 Copilot setting as well.

If your agent is published and working in Copilot Studio but users can't find it in Teams or Microsoft 365 Copilot, check this setting first.

Users: Connect and sign in

  1. Open the agent and send it a message asking it to search your intranet. If you haven't connected yet, the agent asks you to connect instead of answering your question - this is expected. Click the Open connection manager link in that message.
  2. On the connections page, find your intranet connector and click Connect.
  3. From the connection dropdown, select Create new connection.
  4. Click Create.
  5. When a browser window asks you to allow access, click Allow Access.
  6. Back in the connection dialog, click Submit.
  7. Confirm that your intranet connector now shows Connected.
  8. Return to the agent and send your message again. This time it should search your intranet and returns an answer.

Ask Synthesis a question

Once you're connected, you can ask the agent questions and have it search Synthesis for the answer. For example: "Ask [Intranet Name] what Revit add-ins we use."

A few tips:

  • Mention Synthesis in your prompt. Saying "Ask [Intranet Name]" or "look on [Intranet Name]" helps the agent use the connector instead of answering from its own general knowledge.
  • Ask for sources. The agent can list links back to the Synthesis content it used, so you can click through and verify the answer.
  • Search everything Synthesis Search can. The connector can search pages, posts, documents, video transcripts, and your Employee and Project Directories.

Troubleshooting

Users can't find the agent in Teams or Microsoft 365 Copilot

Make sure Make available to 365 Copilot is turned on for the agent in Copilot Studio. Publishing alone doesn't make the agent available outside Copilot Studio.

Access denied when signing in

If a user gets an access_denied result when connecting:

  • Check the MCP Access Mode. If it's set to Staging Mode, only global admins and the users on the access list can connect. Either add the user, or switch to Production Mode.
  • Check the account. Make sure the user is signing in with the same account that was added to the access list.

Do I need to create a new Azure / Entra application?

No. The MCP Server signs users in through the same Synthesis application that's already in your Enterprise Applications list. The first time a global administrator signs in through the MCP connection, they may see a one-time Microsoft consent screen. That's asking for permission on the existing Synthesis application, and it should only appear once.

Questions or feedback

If you run into trouble, contact support@knowledge-architecture.com.

We'd also love to hear what you're building - prompts and workflows you're using, examples of what's working, or short videos of friction points all help us improve the MCP Server.