030 | M365 Copilot Declarative Agents Level Up: MCP Apps, Embedded Knowledge & Coding Skills

In this episode, Andrew and Julie dive into the latest updates to the declarative agent developer experience in Microsoft 365 Copilot. Andrew walks through what's shipped since Ignite 2025 — including the GA of MCP apps support (which lets agents respond with interactive UI widgets instead of just text), embedded knowledge that packages up to 20 files directly into an agent, and the new AI coding assistant skills under the Work IQ banner that help Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and Codex better understand declarative agent projects. Along the way, they swap stories about using Claude Code to modernize an older SharePoint Framework session, weigh in on where MCP apps could take line-of-business solutions, and share picks covering the Artemis II mission and the 2026 World Nature Photography Awards.

🔗 LINKS
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🔗 Webinar: Supercharge Your Microsoft 365 Dev Workflow with Claude Code (May 21, 2026)
🔗 Webinar: Microsoft 365 Copilot Developer's Guide to Declarative Agents (April 15, 2026)
🔗 Workshop: Build Declarative Agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot
🔗 What's New for Microsoft 365 Copilot Declarative Agents — April 2026

🎁 Picks
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Andrew's Pick(s)
🔗 NASA: Moon Base Architecture User's Guide (PDF)
🔗 Hank Green: Explaining the Most Important Artemis II Photos

Julie's Pick(s):
🔗 2026 World Nature Photography Awards Winners (Popular Science)
🔗 World Nature Photography Awards — Official Store

📚 CHAPTERS
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• (00:00) - Introduction

(00:34) - Conference prep & upcoming events (02:10) - Julie's Claude Code win modernizing an SPFx session (05:43) - Andrew's Teams walkie-talkie sync solution (06:26) - Artemis II mission excitement (07:26) - DECLARATIVE AGENTS: DEV EXPERIENCE UPDATES (08:36) - Baseline: what shipped at Ignite 2025 (11:09) - MCP Apps support goes GA (22:19) - Embedded knowledge for agents (29:48) - AI coding assistant skills (Work IQ) (38:52) - AC'S & JULIE'S PICKS

🎙️ PODCAST
🔗 https://codedeploygo.live, LinkedIn, Bluesky

🎙️ HOSTS
Julie Turner
Andrew Connell: LinkedIn, YouTube, Bluesky, Newsletter

SPONSORS
Sympraxis (by Julie Turner) 🔗 Ask Sympraxis 🔗 YouTube
Voitanos (by Andrew Connell) 🔗 LinkedIn 🔗 Bluesky

Music Credit: Ken Bagley