AgentCamp Lagos 2026 — Build Guide

Overview

What You're Building

A fully working approval system — no code, no developer dependency. Users chat with a bot, a flow routes their request to the right approver, and everyone gets an email.

👤 User
Chats with bot

→

🤖 Copilot Studio
Collects details

→

⚡ Power Automate
Routes + approves

→

✅ Approvals
Email: Approve/Reject

→

📋 SharePoint
Audit log

📋

What the bot collects

These are the 5 variables Copilot Studio asks for

▾

Variable	Type	Bot question
RequestType	Choice	What type of request is this?
RequestTitle	String	Give your request a short title
Description	String	Describe your request in detail
RequesterName	String	What's your full name?
RequesterEmail	String	What's your email address?

⚡

What the flow does

Step-by-step inside Power Automate

▾

1
Triggered by HTTP POST from Copilot Studio
2
Parses the JSON body to extract variables
3
Switch on RequestType → sets the right approver email
4
Logs the request to a SharePoint list
5
Start and wait for an approval → sends adaptive card email to approver
6
Condition: if Approved → send approval email to requester, else send rejection email
7
Updates SharePoint item with outcome and approver comments

⏱

45-Minute Plan

How to pace this build live

▾

5
Problem + Architecture — slides only
5
Show completed system — quick demo of the end state so they know where they're headed
20
Build Power Automate flow — live, with audience following along
10
Build Copilot Studio bot — connect to the flow
5
Test + Q&A — run it end to end

💡 Pro tip Have a pre-built fallback environment ready. If live build hits an issue, switch to the complete version and explain what you'd have built.

Step 1

Create the SharePoint List

This is your audit log — every request and outcome gets stored here automatically. Takes about 5 minutes to set up.

📝

Create the list

In any SharePoint site you have access to

▾

1
Go to your SharePoint site → click + New → List
2
Choose Blank list
3
Name it exactly: Approval Requests
4
Click Create

📊

Add these columns

In the list, go to + Add column for each one below

▾

Note: The Title column already exists by default — rename it to RequestTitle. All others you add manually.

Column Name	Type	Notes
RequestTitle	Single line of text	Rename the default Title column
RequestType	Single line of text	IT, HR, Finance, Procurement, Other
RequesterName	Single line of text
RequesterEmail	Single line of text
Description	Multiple lines of text	Plain text, not rich text
ApproverEmail	Single line of text	Set by the flow's Switch logic
Status	Single line of text	Pending / Approved / Rejected
ApproverComments	Multiple lines of text	From the approver's response
RequestDate	Date and Time

💡 Demo tip Pre-populate 1–2 rows so the list doesn't look empty when you switch to the SharePoint tab during demo.

✅

Setup checklist

Tick these off before moving on

▾

SharePoint list "Approval Requests" created

All 9 columns added with correct types

Copied the full SharePoint site URL (you'll need it in the flow)

Step 2 — Power Automate

Create the Flow

Build this inside a Solution so it can be deployed across environments. Takes about 5 minutes to scaffold.

🗂

Create a Solution first

Always build inside a Solution — it's how you deploy properly

▾

1
Go to make.powerautomate.com
2
Click Solutions in the left nav
3
Click + New solution
4
Name: ApprovalSystem — Publisher: your name — click Create
5
Open the solution → click + New → Automation → Cloud flow → Instant

⚠️ Important: Name the flow ApprovalRequestFlow. Do NOT choose "Automated" — choose "Instant" so you can use HTTP trigger.

🌐

Set the trigger: When an HTTP request is received

Paste this JSON schema to auto-detect all your variables

▾

1
In the flow designer, change the trigger to When an HTTP request is received
2
Click Use sample payload to generate schema
3
Paste the JSON below → click Done
4
Save the flow — the HTTP POST URL will appear. Copy it — you'll need it in Copilot Studio.

{
  "RequestType": "IT Request",
  "RequestTitle": "Laptop replacement",
  "Description": "My laptop screen is broken",
  "RequesterName": "John Doe",
  "RequesterEmail": "john@company.com"
}

📌

Add 2 Initialize Variable actions

These hold the approver's details — set inside the Switch

▾

1
Click + New step → search Initialize Variable
2
Name: varApproverEmail — Type: String — Value: leave blank
3
Add another Initialize Variable: varApproverName — Type: String

Why at the top? Variables must be initialized before the Switch. Inside each Switch case you'll use Set Variable (not Initialize) to assign values.

Step 3 — Power Automate

Build the Approval Logic

This is the core of the flow — Switch routing, Approvals connector, and outcome emails. This is where the magic happens.

🔀

Add a Switch action

Routes to the right approver based on RequestType

▾

1
Click + New step → search Switch (Control)
2
In the On field → click the dynamic content icon → select RequestType from the HTTP body
3
Click + Add Case for each request type below

// Case: "IT Request"
varApproverEmail  = "it-approver@company.com"
varApproverName   = "IT Manager"

// Case: "HR Request"
varApproverEmail  = "hr-approver@company.com"
varApproverName   = "HR Manager"

// Case: "Finance Request"
varApproverEmail  = "finance-approver@company.com"
varApproverName   = "Finance Manager"

// Case: "Procurement"
varApproverEmail  = "procurement@company.com"
varApproverName   = "Procurement Lead"

// Default (catch-all)
varApproverEmail  = "admin@company.com"
varApproverName   = "Admin"

💡 For the demo Use your own email for all approver values so you can approve/reject in real time during the workshop.

📋

Log to SharePoint

Create an item in your Approval Requests list

▾

1
After the Switch, add Create item (SharePoint)
2
Site: select your SharePoint site — List: Approval Requests
3
Map fields using dynamic content from the HTTP body + variables:

Column	Value (dynamic content)
RequestTitle	`RequestTitle` from body
RequestType	`RequestType` from body
RequesterName	`RequesterName` from body
RequesterEmail	`RequesterEmail` from body
Description	`Description` from body
ApproverEmail	`varApproverEmail`
Status	Type: `Pending` (hardcoded)
RequestDate	`utcNow()`

✅

Start and wait for an approval

This is the Approvals connector — sends an email with Approve/Reject buttons

▾

1
Add Start and wait for an approval (Approvals connector)
2
Approval type: Approve/Reject — First to respond
3
Title: Approval Request: + RequestTitle
4
Assigned to: varApproverEmail

// Paste into the Details field:
You have a new approval request.

Type:        @{triggerBody()?['RequestType']}
Title:       @{triggerBody()?['RequestTitle']}
Requested by: @{triggerBody()?['RequesterName']}
Description: @{triggerBody()?['Description']}

Please approve or reject using the buttons below.

📧

Add outcome emails + update SharePoint

Condition on the approval outcome

▾

1
Add a Condition action after the approval step
2
Left value: Outcome (from Approvals) — Operator: is equal to — Right value: Approve
3
If Yes branch: Send email to RequesterEmail — Subject: ✅ Your request has been approved
4
If No branch: Send email to RequesterEmail — Subject: ❌ Your request was not approved
5
In both branches also add Update item (SharePoint) — update Status and ApproverComments

Hi @{triggerBody()?['RequesterName']},

Your request "@{triggerBody()?['RequestTitle']}" has been approved.

Approver comments: @{body('Start_and_wait_for_an_approval')?['responses'][0]?['comments']}

Thanks,
Approval System

⚠️ Update item note: To get the SharePoint item ID for the Update item action, store the output of your Create item step. Use ID from the Create item dynamic content.

Step 4 — Copilot Studio

Build the Bot

This is what the user talks to. It asks 5 questions, stores the answers, then fires the Power Automate flow you just built.

🤖

Create the Copilot

Set up a new agent in Copilot Studio

▾

1
Go to copilotstudio.microsoft.com
2
Click + Create → New agent
3
Name: Approval Request Bot
4
Description: Helps employees submit approval requests
5
Skip the AI instructions for now — click Create

💬

Create the topic

This is the conversation flow that collects user details

▾

1
In your agent, click Topics → + Add topic → From blank
2
Name the topic: Submit Approval Request
3
Add trigger phrases (at least 5):

submit a request
I need approval
raise a request
request approval
I want to submit something
help me with an approval

❓

Add the 5 question nodes

Each question stores the answer in a variable

▾

How to add a question: In the topic canvas, click + → Ask a question. Set the question text and the variable name below it.

#	Question text	Input type	Variable name
1	What type of request is this?	Multiple choice IT Request, HR Request, Finance Request, Procurement, Other	RequestType
2	Give your request a short title or subject	User's entire response	RequestTitle
3	Please describe your request in detail	User's entire response	Description
4	What is your full name?	User's entire response	RequesterName
5	What is your email address? (You'll receive a notification with the outcome)	User's entire response	RequesterEmail

⚡

Call the Power Automate flow

Connect the bot to the flow you built

▾

1
After the 5th question, click + → Call an action → Create a flow — this opens Power Automate
2
OR if your flow already exists: Call an action → Power Automate flows → select ApprovalRequestFlow
3
Map each input:

Flow input	Bot variable
RequestType	`Topic.RequestType`
RequestTitle	`Topic.RequestTitle`
Description	`Topic.Description`
RequesterName	`Topic.RequesterName`
RequesterEmail	`Topic.RequesterEmail`

⚠️ Important: For the Power Automate connector in Copilot Studio to work, the flow must use the Copilot Studio — Run a flow from Copilot trigger, not the HTTP trigger. You may need a second version of the flow with this trigger for the bot integration. The HTTP trigger version is still used for direct testing.

💬

Add confirmation message

Tell the user their request was submitted

▾

1
After the flow call, add a Message node
2
Paste this message:

✅ Your request has been submitted successfully!

Summary:
• Type: {Topic.RequestType}
• Title: {Topic.RequestTitle}
• Submitted by: {Topic.RequesterName}

Your approver has been notified. You'll receive an email at
{Topic.RequesterEmail} once a decision is made.

Thank you!

3. Click Save → then Publish the agent.

Step 5 — Final

Test End-to-End

Run the full system. If anything breaks, use the troubleshooting checklist below.

🧪

Test the flow first

Use the built-in test panel before connecting the bot

▾

1
In Power Automate, open ApprovalRequestFlow → click Test (top right) → Manually
2
Paste this test payload:

{
  "RequestType": "IT Request",
  "RequestTitle": "Test: Laptop replacement",
  "Description": "Testing the approval system",
  "RequesterName": "Mayowa Ogbeide",
  "RequesterEmail": "your-email@here.com"
}

3
Check your inbox — you should receive an approval email with Approve/Reject buttons
4
Click Approve → check that the requester email arrives and SharePoint updates

🤖

Test the bot

Use the Copilot Studio test panel

▾

1
In Copilot Studio, open your agent → click Test (top right)
2
Type: I need approval
3
Answer all 5 questions the bot asks
4
Confirm the confirmation message appears
5
Check your inbox for the approval request email

🔧

Troubleshooting

Most common issues and how to fix them

▾

!
Flow not triggering from bot: Make sure you're using the Run a flow from Copilot trigger in the flow, not HTTP trigger. Create a separate flow copy for the bot.
!
SharePoint "item not found" on update: Make sure you're using the ID output from Create item — not a hardcoded value.
!
Approval email not arriving: Check the Approvals connector is authenticated under your own account. Go to Flow → Connections.
!
Switch not matching: Ensure the Case values match exactly what the bot sends — same capitalisation, same spacing. "IT Request" ≠ "it request".
!
400 error on HTTP trigger: Double-check the JSON body matches the schema. Never use hardcoded IDs or UUIDs in the flow body.

🏁

Final pre-demo checklist

Run through this the morning of AgentCamp

▾

Flow test run passes end-to-end (approval email received + SP updated)

Bot test run works in Copilot Studio test panel

Your email is the approver for all Switch cases (so you can demo approving live)

SharePoint list has 1–2 pre-existing rows for visual effect

Fallback environment (pre-built complete system) is ready and tested

Slides deck open, speaker card has your photo

Browser tabs pre-opened: PA, Copilot Studio, SharePoint, Inbox

🎯 You're ready. You're presenting a real production pattern — Switch-based routing, Approvals connector, audit logging — the same architecture you've used on actual client projects. Own it.