brand-template-enforcer

[giscus[bot]]

brand-template-enforcer

Ensure every generated PowerPoint deck or Word document starts from the correct bundled or SharePoint-hosted brand template.

https://microsoft.github.io/cat-agent-skills/skills/brand-template-enforcer/

[pascouGECH]

Hi Simon, thanks for your contribution!! I'm struggling to get a consistent output with your skill, what best practices should the .pptx follow?

[Simon Owen (SimonOwenDigital)]

Hey pascouGECH - I've tried a number of approaches

• I initially tried specifying some branding and design standards in a MD file... It seemed ok... however when I looked back at some earlier decks I created using it I found that the design drifted due to the non-deterministic way the instructions were interpreted which was a bit annoying!

• I got the most consistent outcomes when I actually created, and then referenced a .potx template file. Since then it's been awesome! The design was enforced by the template, the structure was enforced by the md file (as I was creating a number of different module decks on different topics that I wanted to follow a common structure)

I hope that helps :)

[github-actions[bot]]

📣 Looks like the Brand Template Enforcer needs a little enforcement of its own—time for the author to step into the spotlight!

Simon Owen (@SimonOwenDigital) — you're the author of Brand Template Enforcer, and someone just poked your skill. 👀 Mind swinging by to take a look?

[d-uhlig]

The skill is actually working very well. - Thanks
The template is being discovered correctly, the manifest is being evaluated, and the PowerPoint template is being loaded. The behavior shown in the preview indicates that the skill execution has started successfully.
The only issue is that Copilot is currently exposing internal execution details that should remain hidden from the end user, for example:

template discovery steps
template inspection steps
debugging output
exception handling messages
internal tool execution details

To address this, I updated the skill with an explicit Response Behavior section that instructs Copilot to execute all template processing silently and only return the final branded deliverable.
Ideally, Copilot should automatically treat these workflow instructions as internal implementation details and never surface them in the conversation. The user should simply receive the finished presentation, document, or status message rather than seeing template-processing or debugging information.
From my perspective, the template selection and branding workflow itself is functioning correctly. What we are observing is primarily a presentation issue in the preview experience rather than a failure of the skill logic.

[Simon Owen (SimonOwenDigital)]

Thanks for the suggestion! That's a much tidier approach from a UX perspective.

I've been used to seeing behind the curtain and watching what Cowork was doing so I could correct it or intervene if I disagreed with it. I didn't realise I was an Agent Micro Manager! Hahaha!

Your suggestion is nicer for most users though, I agree

[d-uhlig]

Hi all,
I ran into an issue with the Brand Template Enforcer and wanted to check whether others have seen the same behavior.
My goal was to store the official PowerPoint and Word templates in SharePoint and reference them through a Copilot Studio Knowledge Source.
However, in my tests the Knowledge Source only seems to expose the document content for retrieval and grounding, not the actual Office binary file itself. As a result, the agent can read information from the template but cannot reliably use the original .pptx or .dotx file as a document template. This is consistent with how SharePoint knowledge sources are described in Copilot Studio documentation, which focuses on surfacing content rather than providing the original file binary at runtime. [learn.microsoft.com], [learn.microsoft.com]
When I package the template directly inside the skill as an asset, everything works as expected because the agent has access to the actual file.
So my question is:

Has anyone successfully used a SharePoint-hosted PowerPoint or Word template as a true binary template source for Brand Template Enforcer, rather than only as a knowledge source?

If yes:

How are you making the binary file available to the agent?
Are you using a different retrieval mechanism than standard SharePoint Knowledge Sources?
Is there a recommended pattern for keeping large template files in SharePoint while still allowing template-based document generation?

I would be interested to know whether there is an official or recommended approach that I am missing.
Thanks!

[Doug (CATDAB)]

I've had good success with the templates stored in SharePoint. However they need to be pptx or docx, and not true template files. The skill will grab the template file from knowledge and use it to generate the content you want.

[Doug (CATDAB)]

d-uhlig
Did you toggle on the "End User Preview" in the Preview Tab? This will show you what end users will see vs the maker view and from my experience it shows minimal internal thinking. If it is still too much let me know what you are seeing and I can update the skill accordingly.

[d-uhlig]

Thanks, this is very helpful.

I think I found the root cause of my issue.
I was originally using true template files (.dotx and .potx) and expected the agent to retrieve and use them directly from SharePoint knowledge sources. Based on your feedback and further testing, it seems the behavior is much more reliable when using regular .docx and .pptx files instead. In my environment, Word templates bundled as skill assets worked consistently, while SharePoint-hosted template files did not behave as expected.

Regarding the preview: yes, I had End User Preview enabled. The internal reasoning visibility is actually much better now after a few adjustments.

The remaining challenge I am seeing is less about reasoning exposure and more about document fidelity:

• preserving native Word styles
• using real Word numbering instead of typed numbering
• preserving list indentation
• avoiding manual bullet characters
• maintaining complex template formatting

I'm currently using the Brand Template Enforcer together with several custom skills and trying to achieve highly consistent customer-facing deliverables.

Thanks again for the clarification. It probably explains why my asset-based templates behaved differently from the SharePoint-hosted template files.