AI Assistants
Power Platform ToolBox can expose your installed tools to supported AI assistants through its built-in MCP server. That means an assistant can discover the tools you already use in PPTB and run them on your behalf, either with a visible UI or as part of an automated flow.
Overview
This feature is aimed at people who want to combine PPTB with an AI assistant such as Claude Desktop or Visual Studio Code.
PPTB includes built-in buttons for both clients so you can connect them without manually assembling the integration details. This guide stays high-level and focuses on what the feature enables, not on client-specific setup steps.
Two Ways to Run Tools
PPTB supports two styles of assistant-driven tool execution:
| Run style | What it feels like | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Interactive tool run | The tool opens its normal UI and the assistant works with that interactive experience | Pickers, review screens, confirmation steps, anything where a person should stay in the loop |
| Automated tool run | The tool completes the task without opening its UI | Background actions, repeatable workflows, CI jobs, or agent-driven orchestrations |
The assistant chooses the run style based on what the tool supports and what the task requires.
Interactive Tool Runs
In an interactive tool run, the assistant launches the tool the same way a person would, with the tool interface visible inside PPTB.
This is useful when the task needs:
- a user to review data before continuing
- a picker or form that depends on human choice
- an existing tool that has not added an automated runtime yet
From the user's perspective, this is the safest and most familiar path because the tool still behaves like a normal PPTB experience.
Automated Tool Runs
In an automated tool run, the assistant calls a tool that has been prepared to work without its regular UI.
This is useful when the task needs:
- repeatable background execution
- integration into larger agent workflows
- unattended processing
- a direct JSON result that the assistant can reason over immediately
Not every tool supports automated runs. Tool authors must explicitly add that runtime.
What Assistants Can Do
Once connected, an assistant can work with the tools you have installed in PPTB to:
- discover what tools are available
- understand what inputs a tool expects
- launch a tool with pre-filled arguments
- wait for a result when the tool is designed to return one
- combine multiple tool calls into a larger workflow
In practice, this makes PPTB tools usable as building blocks inside assistant-driven tasks instead of only as standalone desktop experiences.
What to Expect
The exact experience depends on the tool:
- Some tools are informational and return data directly.
- Some tools ask for user interaction and are better suited to interactive runs.
- Some tools may support both styles, letting the assistant choose the right approach.
If a tool is not exposed for assistant use, it will not appear in the assistant's list of available tools.
Security and Access
PPTB does not automatically make every installed tool available for every kind of agent workflow.
- Tool authors control whether a tool is invokable by assistants.
- Automated runs can use caller-provided authentication or a saved PPTB connection when supported by the tool and runtime.
- Input and output payloads follow each tool's declared contract, which helps keep assistant calls predictable.
If you are evaluating a tool for assistant use, look for documentation that explains whether it supports interactive runs, automated runs, or both.