// Microsoft 365 Copilot · Governance
A governance-first naming convention for Microsoft 365 Copilot agents. The name is the one field in every inventory, every audit log, and every @mention box. Get it right at intake, or pay for it at every audit after.
The problem
You licensed Copilot Studio. Makers started building agents. A few hundred agents in, the export is a wall of New Agent and cr8a3_copilot1. You cannot tell a read-only helper from a finance agent touching confidential data.
And the part that hurts: the schema name locks at creation. No rename fixes it. The convention has to be right the first time, and the only place to make it right is intake, before the agent exists.
# agent_registry_export.csv New Agent owner? zone? data? cr8a3_copilot1 owner? zone? data? Copilot final (2) owner? zone? data? Status Helper owner? zone? data? hr_bot owner? zone? data? Untitled agent owner? zone? data? …3,994 more rows you cannot filter ──────────────────────────────── SORT: impossible AUDIT: blind
The fix
Every agent carries two names, never one: an immutable schema name an auditor sorts on, and an editable display name people @mention, bound through the description. Validate the schema name at intake with one regex, and the unsortable export becomes one you filter by prefix in a single pass.
# the canonical validator — run at intake ^(cociti|copart|copro)_(fin|hre|sal|mkt|leg| eng|ito|prc|cus|ops)([a-z]{3,12})(\d{3})$ PASS copart_engdoccoord001 copart · eng · doccoord · 001
# before → after New Agent → copart_finvarrpt001 Finance Variance Reporter hr_bot → cociti_hreonbrief001 HR Onboarding Brief Helper Copilot final → copro_custriage001 Customer Service Triage ──────────────────────────────── SORT: by prefix AUDIT: in one filter
What's inside
Governance-first, no filler. Every rule traces to an operational consequence and carries its enforcement point. It ships both paths:
Working files, not screenshots. Every rule in the book has a matching artifact.
In the download
The book in three formats, read anywhere.
Each as a styled PDF and editable Markdown.
Re-delivered when the platform shifts.
Who it's for
Why it's different
FAQ
No. Every worked example uses the fictional org Contoso and universal departments (Finance, HR, Procurement, Legal). You map it onto your own org without translation.
The convention governs the two names and the binding description both surfaces carry, so it applies wherever agents are created and inventoried. The enforcement points reference the intake form and CoE gate, which you wire to your own maker surface.
No. Chapter 9 and the retrofit worksheet sort what is locked (the schema name) from what is still editable, then give you a five-step phased playbook so you fix the highest-risk agents first without boiling the ocean.
A ZIP with the book as PDF, EPUB, and browser-readable HTML, plus the five toolkit artifacts as styled PDFs and editable Markdown. Free updates re-deliver through Gumroad when anything material shifts.
// Govern the name
The complete convention, both paths, and the five-piece toolkit. One ZIP, free updates, team use included.
Instant download · PDF · EPUB · HTML · toolkit