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Copilot Studio – Azure SQL Knowledge Source Connected but Agent Cannot Retrieve Data

Sinisa Tatalovic 0 Reputation points
2025-12-02T16:06:52.6466667+00:00

Hello everyone,

I'm integrating an Azure SQL Database as a knowledge source in Copilot Studio, but despite the connection showing as successful and preview data being visible, the agent is unable to retrieve any data when queried. Below are the details and context of our setup.

Knowledge Source

  • Type: Azure SQL Database
  • Connection status: Successful – preview data is visible inside Copilot Studio.

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Permissions

  • User profile used to connect to Azure SQL server have admin permission on Azure and it's also the same account that created the database.

Although the data source is connected successfully and preview data displays correctly, when we query the agent with questions about the database (e.g., orders, products), the agent returns errors indicating it cannot reach or query the underlying data source.

To avoid hallucinations, we have also disabled the following settings:

Content generation

Web search

  • Other creativity-related features

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But the answer is made of information that are not stored inside the database, for test purpose we insert only 5 rows.

Addition Notes

We tested the same setup with another Azure SQL database (intended for production) and encountered the exact same issue.

The preview data proves the connection is valid, but runtime queries from the agent fail.

User's imageImage preview

Any idea?

Thank you!

Microsoft Copilot | Microsoft 365 Copilot | Development

1 answer

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  1. Sayali-MSFT 4,341 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-12-04T09:07:52.0533333+00:00

    Hello Sinisa Tatalovic,
    Copilot Studio’s preview mode only validates connections, while runtime relies on semantic grounding rather than live SQL queries, which causes limitations with the Azure SQL connector—especially since it cannot run dynamic conversational queries and may return fallback or inaccurate results. Published bots may also fail due to authentication, permission, or network issues, and large responses can trigger connector errors.
    The recommended approach is to use defined SQL actions, apply filters, verify Azure AD permissions and firewall settings, and use Power Automate or custom plugins when real-time SQL execution is required.
    Reference Document-
    1.https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/power-platform/copilot-studio/knowledge/enterprise-data
    2.https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/power-platform/copilot-studio/actions/connector-request-failure

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