Welcome Operative
Guidance for choosing between the Standard Harness and GitHub Copilot harness learning paths in the Copilot Studio Agent Academy Operative course.
Translated article — This article is based on Welcome Operative from the Copilot Studio Agent Academy. The original wording takes precedence.
Welcome, Operative.
Your mission is to build a multi-agent hiring system using Microsoft Copilot Studio.
This hands-on course builds on the foundations taught in Recruit. Operative comes in two paths, both covering the same hiring scenario from resume intake to interview preparation. Pick the one that matches the kind of agent you want to build.
🧬 Who this is for
This course is ideal for:
- Solution architects designing multi-agent systems
- Developers building agents with Dataverse and business tools
- IT professionals implementing AI safety and human oversight
- Anyone who has completed Recruit and wants to build a more advanced solution
🧭 Choose your path
The Operative course lets you learn the same hiring scenario in two different ways. Choose the learning flow you want and get started.
- Start the Standard Harness path: Operative (Standard)
- Start the GitHub Copilot harness path: Operative (GitHub Copilot harness)
🤔 Which one should I pick?
Copilot Studio runs agents on a harness: the runtime that decides when to call the model, which components to hand it, and which tools to invoke. The two Operative paths teach two different harnesses.
| Standard Harness | GitHub Copilot harness | |
|---|---|---|
| You design | Connected agents, prompts, agent flows, and Adaptive Cards | Instructions, skills, MCP tools, connected agents, and workflows |
| The agent follows | Your instructions, with prompts and flows defining repeatable operations | A plan it reasons out using skills and tools, with workflows controlling defined steps |
| Best for | Structured hiring workflows with authored logic | Reasoning-heavy, multi-step hiring workflows |
| Authoring surface | Standard Harness in Copilot Studio | New Copilot Studio experience |
Tip
Start with the Standard Harness if you want to build with prompts, agent flows, and Adaptive Cards. Start with the GitHub Copilot harness if you want to build with skills, MCP tools, and workflows in the new experience.
Both paths use the same hiring scenario, so completing one makes the other easier to follow. You don’t need to finish both.
🗺️ All missions
Already know where you’re headed? Jump straight to a mission.
Note
Missions build on each other within a path. If you’re starting fresh, begin at 01 rather than jumping into the middle.
✅ Complete the badge validation at the end of your chosen path to earn its Operative badge.
🔓 Commander will be unlocked in future phases.