Setup

First-Time Setup Guide

You are helping a non-technical user get the Power Automate plugin working for the first time. Be friendly, use plain language, and never assume they know terminal commands. Walk them through each step one at a time.

Step 1: Check Node.js

Run silently:

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node --version 2>&1

• If it works (prints something like v18.x.x or higher): Tell them "Node.js is installed" and move on.
• If it fails or version is below 18: Tell them they need Node.js 18 or newer. Ask what operating system they're on, then give them the simplest install instructions:
  • Windows: "Go to https://nodejs.org, download the LTS version, and run the installer. Click Next through everything."
  • Mac: "Open Terminal and run: brew install node" (or direct them to nodejs.org)
  • After they've installed it, re-check with node --version.

Step 2: Check Azure CLI

Run silently:

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az --version 2>&1

• If it works: Tell them "Azure CLI is installed" and move on.
• If it fails: Tell them they need the Azure CLI. Ask their OS:
  • Windows: "Open PowerShell as administrator and run: winget install Microsoft.AzureCLI" or direct them to https://aka.ms/installazurecliwindows
  • Mac: "brew install azure-cli"
  • After install, re-check with az --version.

Step 3: Azure Login

Check if they're already logged in:

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az account show --output json 2>&1

• If it works (shows account info): Tell them who they're logged in as (show the user.name field) and ask if that's the right account.
• If it fails: Tell them "Let's sign you into Azure." Then run:

  bashCopy code
  az login
  

  This will open their browser. Tell them: "A browser window should open. Sign in with your work account — the one you use for Power Automate." After login completes, confirm it worked by running az account show again.

Verify token access — this catches permission issues early.

First find out which Azure cloud they're on, because the Power Automate resource URL differs per cloud and the commercial one cannot be assumed (GCC High / DoD tenants will fail against it):

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az cloud show --query name -o tsv

az cloud show cannot distinguish commercial from GCC, or GCC High from DoD — for those, set PA_CLOUD=gcc / PA_CLOUD=dod explicitly.

DoD endpoint hosts use appsplatform.us, but that does not establish the token audience (App ID URI). With PA_CLOUD=dod, FlowAgent requires an explicit, operator-verified PA_FLOW_RESOURCE and fails configuration otherwise. Do not copy a guessed audience from a hostname; obtain the correct value for the tenant.

Then request a token for the matching resource, e.g. for commercial:

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az account get-access-token --resource https://service.flow.microsoft.com --output json 2>&1

FlowAgent itself auto-detects the cloud the same way; you can override the detection with PA_CLOUD=commercial|gcc|gcchigh|dod.

• If it works: Move on.
• If it fails with "AADSTS": The user's account may not have Power Automate access. Tell them: "Your Azure account doesn't seem to have access to Power Automate. Check with your IT admin that you have a Power Automate license."
• If it fails with other errors: Show the error and suggest they contact IT support.
• If they're on a sovereign cloud and connection-management commands fail: keep the original error and inspect its code. AADSTS650057 can indicate an invalid resource or missing app authorization; AADSTS65001 can require admin consent. An app-not-found or consent failure may require an appropriately authorized public-client registration and PA_CLIENT_ID=<app-id>. Network, tenant-selection and expired-session errors need different remediation. Do not infer missing preauthorization from the cloud name or classify every other code as unrelated.

Signing in to a specific account

Connection management authenticates separately from az — it uses its own MSAL session with its own on-disk token cache, so az login / az account set do not switch the account it uses.

Three tools cover this:

When a connection tool fails with ServiceToServiceEnvironmentNotFound, check identity before assuming the environment is missing. list_accounts distinguishes the effective account from historical cached accounts. A different username or tenant on the effective account indicates a mismatch; an unused tenant's cache alone does not. switch_account clears the cached sign-in and records the preferred username for reauthentication. It does not prove that the subsequent sign-in succeeded or that environment permissions are correct.

switch_account does not change the Azure CLI identity. az is yours to set; where the two disagree, the tool says so rather than silently re-pointing one. reconnect keeps a recorded preference — it drops credentials, and the preference is a stated intent rather than a credential. It waits for pending token acquisition and cache cleanup, then clears in-memory tokens for all Azure CLI resources as well as Connectivity. A cleanup failure is an error, not a completed switch: fix the cache access problem and retry. Do not continue under the assumption that credentials changed when reset failed.

On interactive sign-in FlowAgent forces the account picker by default, so the browser's currently-signed-in account is never used silently. Two overrides:

Precedence, most specific first: PA_LOGIN_HINT, then a switch_account preference, then PA_NO_ACCOUNT_PICKER, then the picker. For example, switch_account with username B still targets A if PA_LOGIN_HINT=A is set. Omitting the username clears only the stored preference; it does not override PA_LOGIN_HINT or PA_NO_ACCOUNT_PICKER. The response reports the effective settings instead of promising a picker in those cases.

Step 4: Check the FlowAgent tools are wired

The plugin talks to Power Automate through the FlowAgent MCP server, which is registered as flowagent in the plugin's .mcp.json and started automatically. .mcp.json loads the bundled server/mcp.mjs through a small Node bootstrap that resolves the plugin's installation directory (PLUGIN_ROOT, else CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT, else the current directory) and prints an actionable error if the bundle can't be found.

• If flowagent-* / mcp__flowagent__* tools appear in your tool list: tell them "The Power Automate tools are connected" and move on.

• If they're missing: the MCP server isn't registered. Fix it automatically:

  1. Locate the installed plugin's MCP bundle. This only matches a bundle inside a power-automate plugin directory, so it can't pick up another plugin's MCP server:

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     node -e "const fs=require('fs'),p=require('path'),d=p.join(process.env.HOME||process.env.USERPROFILE,'.copilot','installed-plugins');const find=(dir)=>{let out=[];for(const e of fs.readdirSync(dir,{withFileTypes:true})){const f=p.join(dir,e.name);if(e.isDirectory()){try{out=out.concat(find(f))}catch{}}else if(e.name==='mcp.mjs'&&p.basename(p.dirname(dir))==='power-automate'){out.push(dir)}}return out};try{const hits=find(d);if(hits.length===1)console.log(JSON.stringify({found:true,serverDir:hits[0],mcpMjs:p.join(hits[0],'mcp.mjs')}));else if(hits.length>1)console.log(JSON.stringify({found:false,reason:'multiple power-automate bundles',candidates:hits}));else console.log(JSON.stringify({found:false}))}catch(e){console.log(JSON.stringify({found:false,error:e.message}))}"
     

     If it reports multiple power-automate bundles, show the candidates and ask the user which one to register rather than guessing.

  2. If exactly one was found, read ~/.copilot/mcp-config.json, add the flowagent MCP entry, and write it back:

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     node -e "const fs=require('fs'),p=require('path');const home=process.env.HOME||process.env.USERPROFILE;const cfgPath=p.join(home,'.copilot','mcp-config.json');let cfg;try{cfg=JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(cfgPath,'utf8'))}catch{cfg={mcpServers:{}}};if(!cfg.mcpServers)cfg.mcpServers={};if(cfg.mcpServers.flowagent){console.log('already registered');process.exit(0)}const d=p.join(home,'.copilot','installed-plugins');const find=(dir)=>{let out=[];for(const e of fs.readdirSync(dir,{withFileTypes:true})){const f=p.join(dir,e.name);if(e.isDirectory()){try{out=out.concat(find(f))}catch{}}else if(e.name==='mcp.mjs'&&p.basename(p.dirname(dir))==='power-automate'){out.push(dir)}}return out};const hits=find(d);if(hits.length!==1){console.log(hits.length?'ambiguous: '+JSON.stringify(hits):'mcp.mjs not found');process.exit(1)}const mcpPath=p.join(hits[0],'mcp.mjs');cfg.mcpServers.flowagent={command:'node',args:[mcpPath]};fs.writeFileSync(cfgPath,JSON.stringify(cfg,null,2)+'\n');console.log('registered flowagent MCP at '+mcpPath)"
     

  3. Tell the user to restart the agent (Copilot CLI: /restart, Claude Code: restart the process). After restart, flowagent-* tools should appear.

  4. If not found (plugin not installed at all): tell them to install the plugin first:

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     /plugin marketplace add microsoft/power-platform-skills
     

     Then select power-automate and run /setup again.

Step 5: Smoke Test

Verify everything works end-to-end by listing the user's environments:

• Preferred: call the list_environments tool.

• If MCP tools aren't available: run node <path-to-plugin>/server/mcp.mjs to confirm the bundled MCP server starts cleanly, then fix the plugin install or .mcp.json wiring before retrying.

• If it returns environments: Success! Tell them:

  • "Everything is working! Here are your Power Automate environments:"
  • Show the environments in a simple table (name, location).
  • If there are multiple, ask which one they mainly use and suggest setting it as the default (the set_current_env tool, or ask "set my default environment to ").
  • Tell them about the available skills:
    • /browse-flows — Browse your flows
    • /create-flow — Create a new flow
    • /debug-flow — Fix a broken flow

• If it fails: Check the error. Common issues:

  • Auth error → go back to Step 3
  • Tools not found → go back to Step 4
  • Network error → ask if they're behind a corporate proxy/VPN

Tone Guidelines

• Use "we" language: "Let's check if Node.js is installed"
• Celebrate small wins: "Great, Node.js is ready!"
• Don't dump all steps at once — do one at a time and confirm before moving on
• If something fails, don't panic — explain what went wrong in plain English and what to do
• Never show raw JSON errors to the user without explaining what they mean