Alert Relay Documentation
Alert Relay helps you replace classic SharePoint Alerts with modern Power Automate flows and give Copilot Studio agents structured information about SharePoint changes and version history.
Use Alert Relay to:
- generate ready-to-use HTML for SharePoint alert emails
- see previous and current values for changed SharePoint fields
- retrieve the version history of a SharePoint item, file, or page
- build flow conditions based on what changed
- help an agent answer questions about SharePoint changes and earlier versions
Alert Relay supports SharePoint lists, document libraries, and Site Pages libraries. It uses the delegated Microsoft 365 identity associated with the configured Alert Relay connection and does not grant that identity additional SharePoint permissions.
Choose where to start
- See what's new in Alert Relay v1.1 for the new Version History action, renamed actions, improved version decisions, and other changes.
- Use Alert Relay in Power Automate to create notifications, apply flow logic, or process version history.
- Use Alert Relay in Copilot Studio to add SharePoint change and version-history capabilities to an agent.
Use Alert Relay in Power Automate
In Power Automate, Alert Relay actions can retrieve SharePoint change information for later steps in a cloud flow.
If you are new to Alert Relay, start with Create your first Alert Relay email. You will build a flow that starts with a SharePoint trigger and sends an email showing what changed.
You can also use Alert Relay to:
- apply conditions based on previous and current field values
- create your own email, Teams message, approval, or other response
- retrieve selected fields from several SharePoint versions
- control the version or point in time used as a comparison baseline
- filter minor or draft version events before running a detailed action
Power Automate guides
- Create your first Alert Relay email
- Get Item or File Changes as Alert HTML
- Get Detailed Item or File Changes
- Get Item or File Version History
- Working with minor versions
- Choose a comparison baseline
- Parse SharePoint version information
Use Alert Relay in Copilot Studio
In Copilot Studio, you can add an Alert Relay action to an agent as a tool. The agent can then use that tool to retrieve structured SharePoint information when it is relevant to a user's request.
Start with Use Alert Relay in Copilot Studio to add the connector, configure an action as a tool, and test it with a conversation.
For example, an agent could help a user:
- identify what changed in a SharePoint item, file, or page
- explain the previous and current values of important fields
- retrieve selected entries from SharePoint version history
- answer questions about who changed an item and when it changed
Alert Relay tools retrieve information by using the configured connection. The agent can only access SharePoint content available to the identity used by that connection.
The structured actions are generally the most useful agent tools:
- Use Get Detailed Item or File Changes to explain how an item, file, or page changed.
- Use Get Item or File Version History to answer questions about several historical versions.
- Use Get Item or File Changes as Alert HTML when the agent or a connected process specifically needs ready-to-use notification HTML.
- Use Parse SharePoint Version Information for advanced version or trigger-token decisions rather than general user questions.
Choose the right action
Get Item or File Changes as Alert HTML
Choose this action when you want Alert Relay to generate a suggested email subject and ready-to-use HTML showing what changed.
Get Detailed Item or File Changes
Choose this action when a flow or agent needs structured previous and current values for individual SharePoint fields.
Get Item or File Version History
Choose this action when a flow or agent needs several historical versions of a SharePoint item, file, or page rather than one before-and-after comparison.
Parse SharePoint Version Information
Choose this helper action when you need to inspect a SharePoint trigger token or decide whether a visible major or minor version should be processed.