Copilot connectors will soon change records in outside apps
Reviewed by Helen Jones
Microsoft’s Copilot connectors documentation now says federated connectors, which pull live data from outside Microsoft 365 without indexing it, will support write actions from early October 2026. A Microsoft 365 admin notice dated 21 September 2026 says create, update, and delete tools in third-party services roll out worldwide from early October through late October. Those actions run as the signed-in user, using that person’s existing permissions. By default, Copilot must ask for explicit confirmation before it creates, updates, or deletes a record. Admins can review which read and write tools a connector exposes and turn the connector off. Write support still depends on each connector publisher. Copilot Researcher stays read-only, and custom federated connectors are documented as starting with read-only tools.
Until now, Copilot Chat with federated connectors was a retrieval path. It could surface a Jira ticket, HubSpot record, or Notion page in the moment, but the system of record stayed untouched unless someone left Copilot and edited it by hand. That kept the main risk at the usual Copilot level: a weak summary, a missed field, or a draft you still had to check. From October, the same chat can change the live record if the publisher exposes a write tool and the user confirms. Confirmation is a click, not a review checklist. Teams that already struggle with generic Copilot drafts will now also face accidental updates, inconsistent ticket comments, and managers asking who authorised a change that never left chat.
Analysis
Treat this as a trap to avoid until IT names which connectors can write, not as a new daily workflow. Ask your admin which federated connectors will expose create, update, or delete tools in October, then keep Researcher or read-only chat for anything you would not happily click Confirm on.
Source note
Pulse published by Collab365 Spaces, reviewed by Helen Jones on . Cite as "Copilot connectors will soon change records in outside apps", Collab365 Spaces. 2 sources referenced.