WorkIQ Copilot Skill
Overview
WorkIQ (Public Preview) lets Copilot query Microsoft 365 data with natural language. It supports schedules, documents, Teams messages, email threads, follow-up tracking, stakeholder summaries, and more. Use this skill whenever a task needs live organizational intelligence beyond the local repository.
Supported Data & Sample Prompts
- Emails – “Summarize emails from Sarah about the budget.”
- Meetings – “What are my upcoming meetings this week?”
- Documents – “Find recent documents about Q4 planning.”
- Teams – “Summarize messages in the Engineering channel today.”
- People/Projects – “Who is working on Project Alpha?”
Getting Access
- Copilot CLI plugin (preferred)
- copilot - /plugin marketplace add github/copilot-plugins - /plugin install workiq@copilot-plugins - Restart Copilot CLI.
- Standalone CLI / MCP server
- npm install -g @microsoft/workiq (or npx -y @microsoft/workiq mcp). - Run workiq mcp to expose MCP tools if needed.
- Tenant consent
- First use prompts for Microsoft 365 admin consent (EULA + permissions). Non-admins must contact tenant admin to approve per the Tenant Administrator Enablement Guide.
Pre-flight Checklist
- Run
Get-Command workiqto ensure the binary is available. - Accept the EULA once via
workiq accept-eula. - Confirm the correct tenant (
-t <tenant-id>if different from defaultcommon). - Be ready to complete device login in the browser when prompted.
Core Workflow
- Clarify intent – agenda, action items, document lookup, people search, risk summary, etc.
- Craft precise prompt – include timeframe, source, or topic (e.g., “Summarize Teams posts in #eng for today”).
- Run command –
workiq ask --question "<prompt>"(use-qfor shorthand if desired). - Monitor execution – long answers may stream; wait for the response to finish before issuing additional requests.
- Summarize & redact – highlight insights, note conflicts/tasks, avoid pasting raw links unless required.
- Offer follow-ups – blocking time, drafting notes, deeper queries, etc.
Command Reference
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
workiq --help | Show global options. |
workiq version | Display installed version. |
workiq accept-eula | Accept license (first use). |
workiq ask | Interactive mode. |
workiq ask --question "..." | Ask a specific question (use -q shorthand if preferred). |
workiq ask -t <tenant> -q "..." | Target a specific tenant. |
workiq mcp | Start MCP stdio server (expose WorkIQ tools to other agents). |
Prompt Patterns
- Agenda: “What’s on my calendar tomorrow?”
- Action items: “Summarize follow-ups from today’s customer sync.”
- Documents: “List PowerPoints about Contoso FY26 roadmap.”
- Communications: “What did my manager say about the deadline?”
- Insights: “What blockers came up in the last three meetings?”
- Planning: “Suggest focus blocks for Tuesday afternoon.”
Response Guidelines
- Keep summaries concise (2–3 sentences) calling out load, priorities, blockers, and optional next steps.
- Refer to meetings/documents generically unless the user specifically needs links.
- Mention if WorkIQ can continue (e.g., “WorkIQ can show Thu–Sun if needed”).
- Map WorkIQ’s suggested actions to clear offers (block time, send follow-up, request recording, run deeper query).
Best Practices
- Prefer narrow prompts to reduce noise; run multiple queries if needed.
- Combine outputs logically (agenda + conflicts + action items) before responding.
- Respect privacy: do not expose attendee lists or confidential snippets unless explicitly requested.
- Log which commands were run so future steps can reference them (“Asked WorkIQ for agenda + conflicts”).
- Use MCP mode (
workiq mcp) when another agent/workflow needs direct tool access.
Troubleshooting
- Missing CLI – install via npm or ensure PATH is set; notify user if unavailable.
- Consent/auth errors – re-run command after admin grants permissions or after completing device login.
- Long/incomplete output – rerun with refined scope or ask for specific data slices (per day/project/person).
- Command hanging – cancel the running command in your terminal (for example, with Ctrl+C) or restart the Copilot CLI session, then retry; ensure browser login completed.
Follow-up Actions to Offer
- Block focus/overflow holds at suggested times.
- Draft reschedule/decline messages referencing WorkIQ guidance.
- Request recordings or summaries for overlapping sessions.
- Capture action items into task trackers.
- Run additional WorkIQ queries (by project, stakeholder, time range) for deeper analysis.