Declarative Agent: Unlock Adaptive Cards for Smarter Interactions

Key insights

• Declarative agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot now support Adaptive Cards, allowing developers to create visually rich and interactive responses instead of plain text. This upgrade makes the user experience more engaging and context-aware.


• Adaptive Cards use a JSON schema for designing UI cards, so developers can build layouts with text, images, buttons, and inputs without writing traditional UI code. These cards display API data directly inside agent experiences.


• The process to enhance a declarative agent includes: creating an Adaptive Card template, validating its appearance with tools such as Visual Studio Code’s Adaptive Card Previewer, configuring the agent’s API plugin to use the card template, and deploying it within Microsoft 365 Copilot for testing.


• Benefits of Adaptive Cards: They improve readability with formatted content, ensure consistent styling across different Microsoft 365 hosts (like Teams or Outlook), allow direct user interaction through actions on the card, and make UI development faster by using a declarative approach.


• The new features introduced in early 2025 include advanced support for custom UI rendering within declarative agents—this is not available in standard Copilot Studio. Developers now have more control over how data from APIs is presented visually through direct integration with API plugins.


• To start building these enhanced agents, developers need access to a Microsoft 365 tenant with Copilot enabled, Visual Studio Code (with Teams Toolkit and Adaptive Card Previewer), Azure Functions Tools, and Node.js v18.

Introduction to Adaptive Cards in Declarative Agents

Microsoft recently showcased a significant enhancement to the Microsoft 365 Copilot platform through the integration of Adaptive Cards within declarative agents. During the Copilot Developer Camp, Bob German, a Microsoft engineer, demonstrated how developers can now leverage Adaptive Cards to create visually rich, interactive responses inside Copilot. This update marks a shift from traditional text-based outputs to dynamic, card-based presentations, offering users a more engaging and context-aware experience.

The demonstration highlighted the process of extending a declarative Copilot agent by adding API plugins, updating endpoint configurations, and utilizing Adaptive Cards for improved output. As a result, organizations and developers can now craft tailored user interfaces that meet specific business needs while maintaining the simplicity of declarative programming.

Understanding Declarative Agents and Adaptive Cards

Declarative agents are specialized components within Microsoft 365 Copilot that execute defined actions, queries, and responses based on a declarative approach. Unlike imperative programming, developers describe what should happen rather than how to perform each step. This approach simplifies customization and extension, making it easier for teams to adapt solutions as requirements evolve.

Adaptive Cards, on the other hand, are an open, cross-platform card format designed to present information in a visually appealing and interactive manner. By utilizing a JSON schema, developers can define layouts, images, buttons, and other UI elements without having to write complex UI code. The integration of Adaptive Cards with declarative agents now allows for seamless visual representation of API data, enhancing the overall user experience inside Microsoft 365 applications.

How Developers Can Implement Adaptive Cards

The process of incorporating Adaptive Cards into declarative agents involves several key steps. Initially, developers create Adaptive Card templates using the provided JSON schema, specifying the desired layout and data bindings. These templates are then tested locally with tools such as the Adaptive Card Previewer in Visual Studio Code to ensure correct rendering and interactivity.

Subsequently, API plugins are configured to utilize these templates, transforming raw API responses into structured card formats. Once integrated, the enhanced agents are deployed to Microsoft 365 Copilot, where their functionality can be validated in real-world scenarios. This streamlined process reduces the need for extensive UI coding, yet still requires careful attention to template accuracy and plugin configuration to ensure a smooth user experience.

Benefits and Tradeoffs of Visual Enhancements

One of the most significant benefits of using Adaptive Cards in declarative agents is the improved visual experience. Cards support rich elements like images, formatted text, and interactive buttons, making information easier to digest and act upon compared to plain text. Additionally, since Adaptive Cards automatically adopt the styling of the host application, users enjoy a consistent look and feel across Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and Copilot.

However, developers must balance these advantages with certain tradeoffs. While the declarative, code-free nature of Adaptive Cards speeds up development, it may limit fine-grained customization compared to traditional UI frameworks. Furthermore, ensuring backward compatibility as the Adaptive Card schema evolves requires ongoing attention. Interactive elements add value but also introduce complexity in data handling and user interaction flows.

Recent Innovations and Developer Opportunities

As of early 2025, the integration of Adaptive Cards within declarative agents brings advanced customization options not previously available in standard Copilot Studio. Developers now have greater control over how data is presented, enabling more personalized and functional agent experiences. The direct connection between API plugins and Adaptive Card templates eliminates the need for intermediary coding layers, simplifying the development process.

Yet, with these new capabilities come fresh challenges. Developers must stay updated on Microsoft’s evolving toolsets and ensure their environments—such as Visual Studio Code, Azure Functions, and Node.js—are properly configured. They also need to manage the balance between rapid deployment and the need for robust, user-friendly interfaces. Despite these hurdles, the potential for creating impactful, visually engaging agents in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem has never been greater.

Conclusion

The introduction of Adaptive Cards to declarative agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot represents a major step forward in enterprise productivity and user engagement. By allowing developers to design interactive, visually rich interfaces with minimal code, Microsoft continues to lower the barrier to innovation. However, as with any powerful technology, success depends on understanding both the opportunities and the challenges involved in adoption, ensuring that new features are leveraged thoughtfully and effectively.

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