Copilot Studio Agent Flow Tool Does Not Accept File Input and Requests Record Type Instead

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Posted on by AK-25030612-0

I have created an agent in Microsoft Copilot Studio and built an agent flow that is designed to take a file input from the user.

When I test the flow directly, the file input works as expected and I am able to upload and process the file successfully.

However, after adding the same flow as a tool to the agent and testing it through the agent conversation, the behavior changes:

When the flow is triggered by the agent, it no longer accepts file input

Instead, it prompts for a record type input

Because of this:

The user is unable to upload a file during agent execution

The flow fails unless a record reference is manually provided

This inconsistency between flow testing and agent tool execution is causing confusion, as the flow works correctly in isolation but not when invoked by the agent.

Expected behavior:

The agent should be able to accept a user file input or provide a supported way to pass the uploaded file to the flow during execution.

Actual behavior:

When invoked as an agent tool, the flow requires a record-type input instead of a file and does not allow file upload.

Please advise whether this is:

Expected behavior by design for Copilot Studio agents, or

A supported configuration is missing to allow file input when a flow is used as an agent tool

Categories:

Autonomous agents

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frago 226 on at

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Copilot Studio tools cannot accept file uploads.When a flow is used as a tool, it expects a Record, not a File. So the flow fails because no file record is passed.This is e

Fastest fix

Collect the file in the agent topic

Question node → Identify: File
Enable Include file metadata
Save to variable (e.g. userFile)

Change flow input

Input type: Record (not File)
Pass the file to the tool (Power Fx)

{
name: Topic.userFile.Name,
contentBytes: Topic.userFile.Content
}

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deepakmehta13a 369 on at

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Hi,

This behavior is expected by design when using Power Automate flows as tools in Copilot Studio agents, and it often causes confusion because the same flow behaves differently when tested independently versus when invoked from an agent.

When you test the flow directly in Power Automate, the trigger supports file-type inputs (such as file upload controls). However, once the flow is added as a tool in Copilot Studio, the platform converts the flow inputs into a structured schema (record/object-based input). Because of this transformation, file upload inputs are not supported in the same way, and the agent cannot directly prompt the user to upload a file during tool execution.

This is why:

The flow input appears as a record instead of a file

The agent cannot accept file uploads

The flow fails unless a structured input is passed

To resolve this, the flow needs to be slightly redesigned to align with how Copilot Studio handles inputs:

Instead of using a file input type, define inputs such as:

fileName (string)

contentBytes (string/base64

In the agent, ensure that:

The file is either captured and converted into contentBytes, or

The file is first stored (e.g., SharePoint/Dataverse) and only a file reference (URL or ID) is passed to the flo

Inside the flow:

Use the passed contentBytes or file reference to reconstruct or process the fil

This pattern is currently the recommended and supported approach when working with files in Copilot Studio tool scenarios.

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