Copilot Studio caps every agent at 500 knowledge sources across all types, as at 11 October 2026. An uploaded file tops out at 512 MB, with 500 files allowed per agent. A fully integrated SharePoint source allows 25 site URLs per agent under generative orchestration, or four per generative-answers node under classic orchestration. Dataverse allows two sources with 15 tables each under classic orchestration and has no stated cap under generative, though the 500-source ceiling for the whole agent still applies. Checked by Balu at Kove (kove.nz). For what an agent costs to run, see Copilot Studio pricing in NZ, or book a free 30-minute call if you are deciding what to build the agent on.
What Microsoft actually caps
Every number below comes from Microsoft's own quotas page and its knowledge sources summary, both current as at 11 October 2026.
| Limit | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge sources per agent | 500 across all types | Copilot Studio quotas and limits |
| Uploaded file size | 512 MB per file | Copilot Studio quotas and limits |
| Uploaded files per agent | 500 files | Copilot Studio quotas and limits |
| Uploaded file (direct upload) | 512 MB per file, 500 files per agent | Copilot Studio quotas and limits, read 11 October 2026 |
| SharePoint, fully integrated source, file processed for answers | 200 MB with a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence in the same tenant and tenant graph grounding on; 7 MB without. Word, PowerPoint and PDF only | Copilot Studio quotas and limits, read 11 October 2026 |
| SharePoint files added as uploaded knowledge | 512 MB per file, 1,000 files, 50 folders and 10 subfolder levels per source, refreshed every 4 to 6 hours | Copilot Studio quotas and limits, read 11 October 2026 |
| SharePoint site URLs | 25 per agent (generative), 4 per generative-answers node (classic) | Copilot Studio quotas and limits (25); Knowledge sources summary (4 per node, classic) |
| Dataverse knowledge sources | 2 sources, 15 tables each (classic); unlimited (generative) | Knowledge sources summary |
| Public website search sources | 25 sites (generative), 4 (classic) | Knowledge sources summary |
The 500-source ceiling is enforced at publish time: add a 501st source of any type and the agent refuses to publish until something's removed.
Supported file types, and what won't upload
Files uploaded directly as a knowledge source support a wide range of formats: Word (doc, docx), Excel (xls, xlsx), PowerPoint (ppt, pptx), PDF, plain text (txt, md, log), HTML, CSV, XML, OpenDocument (odt, ods, odp), EPUB, RTF, Apple iWork (pages, key, numbers), JSON, YAML and LaTeX. Image, video, executable and audio files can't be used as uploaded documents on their own; an image only counts as knowledge when it's embedded inside a PDF with descriptive alt-text attached.
Uploaded files are stored in Dataverse, so the practical ceiling for a given environment is whichever comes first: the 500-file, 512 MB-per-file limit Copilot Studio enforces, or the Dataverse file storage allocation the environment has left. If you build in the Copilot Studio plan bundled with Microsoft 365 for Teams, you are on a Dataverse for Teams environment with a flat 2 GB per team that cannot be topped up, so you hit the storage wall long before 500 files. That plan also stays on classic orchestration and publishes to Teams only. Standalone Copilot Studio draws on your tenant's Dataverse capacity instead.
What it means for a firm under 20 staff
A firm under 20 staff building its first agent will not get near 500 knowledge sources; most internal agents run on a handful. The limit that actually bites is narrower and easier to trip: pointing an agent at more than 25 separate SharePoint sites, or more than four per generative-answers node under classic orchestration, because someone added one URL per department instead of scoping the source to a shared library. Scoping a SharePoint knowledge source to a library rather than a whole site keeps you well under either ceiling and keeps the agent's blast radius smaller at the same time.
The other practical trap is a single oversized file: a combined policy manual exported as one 600 MB PDF fails outright, while the same content split into a handful of files under 512 MB each uploads cleanly.
The workaround when you need more
Switch from classic to generative orchestration first. It raises or removes several of the tighter classic caps, and the scope changes too: SharePoint goes from four URLs per generative-answers node to 25 URLs for the whole agent, Dataverse goes from two sources to no stated cap, and public website search goes from four sites to 25. Files already uploaded to the agent don't count against the 25-source generative search limit at all. The overall 500-source ceiling still applies.
If the content genuinely needs to span more than 25 SharePoint sites, consolidating into one shared library, or registering a hub site, may help, but a hub's navigation is not proof the agent will retrieve from every associated site. Before I recommend it I test with a few known documents from each site, asked by people with different permissions, and I check that each person only gets what they can open. For structured data outgrowing file uploads, moving it into Dataverse tables removes the file-count and file-size ceilings entirely under generative orchestration. Raising these caps doesn't change what an agent costs to run per question, which is worked through in Copilot Studio capacity: what 25,000 Copilot Credits buys.
Common questions
How many knowledge sources can one Copilot Studio agent have?
500 across all types combined, as at 11 October 2026. Within that ceiling, a public website search source is capped at 25 sites under generative orchestration or four under classic orchestration, and the fully integrated SharePoint source is capped at 25 site URLs under generative orchestration or four per generative-answers node under classic orchestration.
What's the maximum file size for an uploaded knowledge source?
512 MB per file, with a ceiling of 500 uploaded files per agent. The 512 MB limit applies to files you upload, or add as files from SharePoint. For the fully integrated SharePoint source, generative answers only use files up to 200 MB if you have a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence in the same tenant and tenant graph grounding switched on, or up to 7 MB without one.
Can Dataverse tables be used as a knowledge source?
Yes. Up to two Dataverse knowledge sources per agent with up to 15 tables each under classic orchestration; generative orchestration removes that cap entirely. Tables need to be standard or activity tables, and the maker needs read permission on each one.
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