What is Microsoft Foundry Canvas?
Microsoft Foundry Canvas is a GitHub Copilot App extension that you use to design, configure, test and deploy Foundry hosted agents from a side panel. It pairs a visual canvas with the Copilot chat session, so you can browse your Foundry project resources, assemble an agent and hand off each step to Copilot without leaving your editor.
The canvas is for developers who want a guided, visual way to build hosted agents while keeping the flexibility of a Copilot-driven, code-based workflow. Items marked (preview) in the Microsoft article are in public preview; that preview is provided without a service-level agreement and Microsoft doesn’t recommend it for production workloads.
Core Features
Start an agent in seconds: Inspire me scaffolds a working hosted agent from a generated idea, or you begin from a Hello world sample prompt, with no boilerplate to write yourself.
Build from your own project resources: The canvas surfaces the deployed models, Foundry toolboxes and tools, skills and guardrails that already exist in your Foundry project and adds them to the agent.
Stay grounded in your project: The canvas signs you in to Azure, finds your subscriptions and Foundry projects, and keeps your selection so every choice targets the right project.
Keep Copilot in the loop: Each choice becomes a ready-to-run prompt for Copilot, which writes and edits the agent code in your workspace.
Test and ship: Inspect Locally runs the agent locally in the embedded Agent Inspector, and Deploy to Foundry publishes it to Foundry Agent Service. Both run the underlying Azure Developer CLI commands.
Typical Use Cases
Prototyping new agents: A first working hosted agent emerges without manually setting up the project scaffolding.
Reusing existing building blocks: Models, toolboxes, skills and guardrails already present in the project are added by selection.
Local debugging: The embedded Agent Inspector enables fast iteration, with errors going straight back to Copilot.
Direct publishing: The path from idea to deployed agent stays within one surface.
Benefits
- A guided, visual path to a hosted agent while keeping full control of the generated code
- Direct access to the resources that actually exist in your Foundry project
- Consistent binding to subscription, project and endpoint across every step
- Local testing and troubleshooting without switching tools
- The ability to drop back to the terminal at any point, since actions run Azure Developer CLI commands
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory supports you in setting up agent development workflows on Microsoft Foundry: project structure, provisioning of toolboxes, skills and guardrails, integration into existing CI/CD processes, and training for your teams.
Contact us for a no-obligation consultation on Microsoft Foundry Canvas and agent development on Azure.
Typical Use Cases
Technical Specifications
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Microsoft Foundry Canvas?
Microsoft Foundry Canvas is a GitHub Copilot App extension that you use to design, configure, test and deploy Foundry hosted agents from a side panel. It pairs a visual canvas with the Copilot chat session, so you can browse your Foundry project resources, assemble an agent and hand off each step to Copilot without leaving your editor.
Is Foundry Canvas generally available?
The documentation notes that items marked (preview) in the article are currently in public preview. The preview is provided without a service-level agreement and Microsoft doesn't recommend it for production workloads.
How is the canvas installed?
In the GitHub Copilot App, open Settings > Plugins, search for microsoft-foundry and select Install.
Does the canvas write the code itself?
No. The canvas surfaces what is available in your Foundry project and turns each choice into a ready-to-run prompt for Copilot. Copilot then performs the file edits and command runs in your workspace. You stay in control of the generated code the whole time.
How are agents tested and published?
Inspect Locally runs the agent locally and opens the embedded Agent Inspector; any errors can be sent back to Copilot as fix requests. Deploy to Foundry publishes the finished agent to Foundry Agent Service. Both actions run the underlying Azure Developer CLI commands.
Note: All product information on this page has been compiled with care, but is provided without guarantee and may be outdated or incomplete. Cloud services evolve rapidly — features, pricing, SLAs, and availability change frequently. Authoritative and up-to-date information can only be found on the official product page of Azure (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by Azure.
