Title: Copilot Studio child agent fails to publish with InvalidPropertyPath errors even though it works in test
I’m running into a publish issue in Copilot Studio with a child agent that works during testing, but fails on publish with the following error:
[
{
"diagnosticResult": [
{
"$kind": "PropertyError",
"propertyName": "PropertyName",
"errorCode": "InvalidPropertyPath",
"errorMessage": "The specified property path for 'PropertyName' is invalid or does not exist in the target object."
},
{
"$kind": "PropertyError",
"propertyName": "PropertyName",
"errorCode": "InvalidPropertyPath",
"errorMessage": "The specified property path for 'PropertyName' is invalid or does not exist in the target object."
}
],
"componentDisplayName": "Bonus Depreciation Calculator",
"componentId": "a827d1aa-39f7-4c60-97d6-f521a58cd34f",
"diagnosticErrorCount": 2
}
]
Setup
I have a parent topic that:
- asks the user to choose a scope/type from a closed list
- branches based on that choice
- asks a different follow-up question in each branch
- calls a child agent
Parent topic behavior
The parent topic collects:
- a closed-list selection
- converts that selection to text
- asks one follow-up question in branch A
- asks a different follow-up question in branch
The child agent is then called with two string inputs:
ScopeTypeText
user_issue_text
Depending on the branch, user_issue_text is mapped from a different parent variable.
Child agent inputs/outputs
Current child agent inputs:
ScopeTypeText (String)
user_issue_text (String)
Current child agent outputs:
answerComplete (Boolean)
answerText (String)
Important behavior I’ve observed
- The child agent works in Copilot test chat
- The parent topic logic appears to work
- The issue only happens on publish
- Earlier, when I had 4 child inputs, I got 4
InvalidPropertyPath errors
- After reducing the child to 2 inputs, I now get 2
InvalidPropertyPath errors
That makes me think I may be getting roughly one publish error per active child input binding.
Things I’ve already tried
- deleting and recreating the child-agent node in the parent topic
- changing parent mappings from literal text to Power Fx / variable references
- simplifying the child from 4 inputs down to 2
- fixing output types so:
answerComplete = Boolean
answerText = String
- removing downstream output usage temporarily to isolate whether the issue was on the output side
- updating the child instructions to match the new variable names
- editing the child YAML directly
Current child YAML
kind: AgentDialog
inputs:
- kind: ManualTaskInput
propertyName: ScopeTypeText
value: Topic.ScopeTypeText
- kind: ManualTaskInput
propertyName: user_issue_text
value: Topic.user_issue_text
beginDialog:
kind: OnRedirect
id: main
inputType:
properties:
ScopeTypeText:
displayName: ScopeTypeText
description: Scope Type converted to text
type: String
user_issue_text:
displayName: user_issue_text
description: User issue text provided by the parent flow
type: String
outputType:
properties:
answerComplete:
displayName: answerComplete
description: Check if a completed response was provided, satisfying all conditions.
type: Boolean
answerText:
displayName: answerText
description: chatbot answer
type: String
My question
Has anyone seen InvalidPropertyPath errors like this caused by the child agent input schema itself, even when the parent topic looks correct and the agent works in test?
More specifically:
-
Is there something wrong with the ManualTaskInput / inputType structure above?
-
Should value: Topic.ScopeTypeText and value: Topic.user_issue_text be written differently in child YAML?
-
Is this a known issue where the Copilot Studio UI and the underlying YAML schema get out of sync for child agent inputs?
-
Is there a supported pattern for passing different parent branch variables into one child input without triggering publish errors?
Any guidance would be hugely appreciated.
