Copilot Studio: Dynamic Adaptive Cards

by HubSite 365 about Microsoft

Software Development Redmond, Washington

Citizen Developer Microsoft Copilot Studio Learning Selection

Copilot Studio AI creates dynamic Adaptive Cards for Power Platform metadata driven forms in Microsoft three sixty five

Key insights

Dynamic Adaptive Cards
Copilot Studio generates full card layouts at runtime so forms adjust their fields (text, date, choice sets) automatically based on incoming question metadata.
Copilot Studio AI prompts
AI prompts parse question data and instruct the Studio to build the card structure, letting makers create dynamic forms without hand-editing JSON.
Power Fx integration
Use Power Fx formulas to inject values, apply validation, and control conditional display inside the generated Adaptive Card JSON.
Interactive data capture
Users submit answers as JSON variables (captured via system activity or Studio outputs), enabling branching conversations and automated processing.
Adaptive Card JSON generation
Create cards with the Adaptive Card node or "Ask with Adaptive Card" action, add unique submit identifiers, and test interactions in Studio preview.
Benefits and use cases
This approach speeds up form updates, improves conversational UX, and supports embedding adaptive card conversations across apps and devices with SDK support.

Overview of the video

The recent YouTube demo presented by Microsoft explores how to build fully dynamic Adaptive Cards using an AI prompt inside Copilot Studio. In the video, presenter Darshan Magdum shows a live example where the card layout forms itself at runtime from incoming question metadata. Consequently, forms can adapt in real time and offer users interactive fields without the maker handcrafting every JSON element. As a result, teams can move faster when requirements change and data schemas evolve.

How the dynamic Adaptive Card process works

First, an AI prompt in Copilot Studio receives question data from an API or connector and interprets the metadata. Then the Studio uses that parsed data with Power Fx formulas to generate the Adaptive Card JSON dynamically, which the system renders for the end user. Finally, user responses are captured as JSON variables and passed back to the workflow, enabling conditional flows and follow-up questions. Thus, the whole flow links input, AI-driven layout, and response capture in a low-code environment.

Benefits and practical tradeoffs

This approach brings clear benefits: it removes manual JSON editing, accelerates form updates, and supports complex conversational paths through interactive inputs like date pickers and choice sets. Moreover, leveraging AI for layout decisions lowers the barrier for non-developers to produce useful, context-aware forms. However, there are tradeoffs: dynamic generation can complicate debugging and testing because the UI can vary each run, which makes reproducing issues harder. Therefore, teams must balance speed and flexibility against the need for predictable, testable interfaces.

Challenges and implementation considerations

One challenge lies in prompt engineering; prompts must be precise to produce consistent and valid Adaptive Card schemas, and poor prompts can generate malformed JSON or confusing layouts. Additionally, performance matters because creating cards at runtime adds processing steps that may affect latency for end users, especially at scale. Security and validation are also crucial: the system must validate incoming metadata and sanitize dynamic values to prevent injection or misuse. Consequently, builders should adopt robust testing, validation rules, and fallback options to handle unexpected or malformed inputs.

Best practices and testing strategies

To manage complexity, developers should combine AI prompts with deterministic checks in Power Fx that validate and normalize the generated schema before rendering. For instance, enforcing type checks and default layouts helps preserve usability when metadata arrives in an unexpected shape. Also, adding logging and versioning for prompt templates lets teams trace changes and roll back when new prompts introduce regressions. In addition, using preview features during development helps catch layout and accessibility issues early.

Longer-term outlook and platform implications

Looking ahead, Microsoft continues to expand support for embedding Adaptive Card interactions across native platforms, which suggests broader multimodal and mobile use cases. This progress means agents built with Copilot Studio could offer richer, interactive experiences inside Android, iOS, and Windows apps. Yet, cross-platform consistency remains a concern because each host app can render cards slightly differently, so designers will need to test across environments. Ultimately, the blend of AI prompts and adaptive UI generation represents a meaningful shift toward more responsive, data-driven user interfaces in low-code systems.

Conclusion

The YouTube demonstration illustrates how dynamic Adaptive Cards driven by AI prompts can streamline form creation within Copilot Studio, enabling runtime layout generation, interactive response capture, and easier iteration. Nevertheless, the technique requires careful prompt design, validation, and testing to manage tradeoffs between agility and stability. As organizations adopt these patterns, they should focus on solid validation, logging, and cross-platform testing to get the most value while keeping user experience reliable. In short, the demo highlights a practical path forward, but teams must weigh the benefits against the technical and operational challenges.