# Agent flow

> A rule-based automation in Copilot Studio that starts on a trigger and runs one or more actions, either on its own or as a tool an agent calls.

**Category:** Copilot

**An agent flow is deterministic: the same input produces the same output, every time.** That sets it apart from an agent's more open-ended reasoning. Every flow needs a [trigger](/glossary#trigger), the event that starts it, and at least one action, a task it performs. The designer also supports conditions, loops, child flows, human approval steps and AI actions that call a language model mid-flow.

A flow can run standalone, for example on a schedule, or be attached to an agent as a callable tool through the **"When an agent calls the flow"** trigger. That second pattern turns an agent that talks about your process into one that acts on it: the agent calls the flow, gets a live result back and uses it in its reply. Test runs in the designer do not use Copilot Credits; live runs do.

## At work

Every Monday at 8am, an agent flow reads the Open Client Items list in SharePoint, keeps only items marked In Progress or Overdue, and posts a short summary in the team's Teams channel.

## Often confused with

An agent. An [agent](/glossary#agent) reasons and answers in a conversation; an agent flow follows fixed steps and gives the same result for the same input. The two work together when an agent calls a flow as a tool.

## Related terms

- Trigger
- Copilot Studio
- Agent
- Copilot Credits

## See it in a lesson

[Copilot Studio: build and automate](/en/learn/copilot/advanced/copilot-studio)

## Further reading

- [Agent flows overview (Microsoft Learn)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot-studio/flows-overview): Triggers, actions, and attaching a flow to an agent as a tool.
- [What is Copilot Studio? (Microsoft Learn)](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot-studio/fundamentals-what-is-copilot-studio): Where agent flows sit among the other Copilot Studio building blocks.

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Last updated: 14/10/2026  
Source: Rollo Academy glossary