Copilot Managed Runtime puts AI-built apps inside the Microsoft 365 tenant
The launch post, written by David Blyth, Microsoft's vice president and general manager for Managed Apps and Agents, starts from a familiar problem. Generating working code is getting easy. The work that comes after is still hard: provisioning and securing cloud resources, setting up identity, applying organizational policy, building a deployment process and running the app for its whole life. Microsoft says doing all of that separately on every app-building platform produces a different governance model for each one.
The runtime came out alongside a much bigger Copilot overhaul. The Official Microsoft Blog calls it hosting infrastructure that lets code run safely right inside your company's Microsoft 365 environment. It's governed by IT but easy for everyone else: share an app with teammates, connect it to live data and access it from anywhere. Independent coverage matches that description. VentureBeat describes a Microsoft-operated platform that hosts applications within the organization's Microsoft 365 boundary, and Techzine reports the same public-preview status.
This isn't a completely new service. Microsoft says the runtime already runs the apps people build in Copilot Cowork, Copilot Code and Copilot Studio. What's new is that it now has a name, a public SDK, and a way in for outside tools. The Official Microsoft Blog says this same foundation enables apps built in Cowork, Code and Copilot Studio, and we're opening it up to third-party and pro-code developers, too. Copilot Managed Runtime is now in preview and will also be accessible inside Code.
Those three authoring tools have different availability, and that decides who can reach the runtime today. Microsoft's September 10 post on app building said Copilot Cowork builds apps through a new /app skill offered through the Microsoft Frontier program, and that app building inside Copilot Studio would roll out in public preview the following week. The new Copilot Code experience is rolling out to Frontier at the end of the month, with broad availability in the coming weeks. It will be in preview for Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro subscribers later this year.
Entra, connector policies and Git are built into the Copilot Managed Runtime host
Microsoft divides the platform into two parts: the host, which runs the apps, and the SDK, which connects code to the host. The host combines cloud hosting, identity, governed data access and lifecycle management. Microsoft describes the split of responsibility in one line: Microsoft operates the platform, the customer organization sets the boundaries, and the customer stays in control.
Identity comes from Microsoft Entra, which handles authorized access and sharing. Organizational policies control which connectors, data sources and network endpoints an app can use, and auditing is on Microsoft's list of host capabilities. VentureBeat summarizes the arrangement this way: Entra supplies identity services, while administrators determine the permitted data connections and endpoints. Git tracks source code and versions.
Microsoft lists these capabilities for apps deployed to the host:
- Apps use Microsoft Entra identity and sharing.
- Apps run in Microsoft-hosted runtime environments.
- Organizational policies cover connectors, data access, approved endpoints and auditing.
- Deployment, versioning and lifecycle controls come with the platform.
- IT gets a central inventory, monitoring, usage visibility and control.
Versioning is the most concrete operational feature here. Microsoft says teams can preview and improve a new version while users keep working on the current one. The September 10 post uses similar language, describing Git-backed source control, deployment stages and version isolation so the next version can be developed without disrupting the live app. Neither post explains how a promotion works, how to roll back, or who approves a release.
The host also includes Microsoft's connectors and Work IQ, Microsoft's organizational-context layer, to make it easier to reach work data. The September 10 post gives examples: an onboarding app that reads progress from a business data source and updates onboarding records, and a field-service app that pulls technical context from a third-party system and writes results back. Neither announcement lists which connectors or Work IQ capabilities are available in this preview.
The Copilot Managed Runtime SDK and CLI open the host to Lovable, Claude Code and GitHub Copilot
The SDK is the piece that makes this a platform and not just a Copilot feature. Microsoft says the SDK and its command-line interface cover the whole development lifecycle, beyond packaging a finished app. Developers can scaffold and configure a project, declare the data connections it needs, generate typed TypeScript services for working with connectors, run and preview the app locally, and then deploy and version it with the same toolchain. VentureBeat's summary: Developers can use the SDK and command-line tools to set up projects, preview changes and deploy updates, with the existing application remaining available during development.
At runtime, Microsoft says the SDK APIs act as a secure bridge between the app and services the host exposes, including governed enterprise data access, identity and Copilot work context. So an app doesn't hold its own credentials for enterprise systems. It asks the host, and the host applies the tenant's policies. That is how Microsoft describes the design. The announcement doesn't publish an isolation architecture or a threat model that would let anyone check it independently.
Microsoft's public managed-apps repository on GitHub shows what developers can actually use now. The tooling ships as three npm packages: @microsoft/managed-apps (the SDK), @microsoft/managed-apps-cli (the CLI) and @microsoft/managed-apps-vite-plugin (a plugin for the Vite build tool). The repository has one first-party template so far, a React, TypeScript and Vite 8 starter. It also includes a plugin with skills, agents and hooks for AI coding agents, and the plugin supports Claude Code and GitHub Copilot. The project is MIT-licensed, and public bug reports go through GitHub Issues.
The repository also carries a warning prospective adopters should take seriously. It says the runtime is in public preview and that APIs, templates and tooling may change before general availability. Anything built on the SDK today is built on an interface that can still change.
Lovable is the third-party example Microsoft chose to highlight. In a partner quote in the launch post, Lan Roche, Lovable's head of global partnerships, says an app made with Lovable can now run inside a customer's Microsoft tenant with the same sign-in, policies and app inventory as everything else. That's a partner endorsement. Neither company has published a compatibility specification showing which Lovable features carry over.
Microsoft's intended workflow runs across tools. A business team builds a launch-management app in Copilot Cowork against approved planning data, a developer pulls down the Git-backed code and keeps working on it with ordinary web technologies, and neither has to fork the project or set up a separate runtime and governance stack. Microsoft presents this as an illustrative scenario. The announcement doesn't describe any actual customer deployment.
The Microsoft 365 admin center Apps page becomes the control point for AI-built apps
For IT, the most important change is administrative. Apps hosted on Copilot Managed Runtime show up in a new Apps experience in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Administrators see a central inventory there and can review access, usage, health and policy. Microsoft says administrators can enable or disable apps and review the default policies from the same page.
The value is in how widely the inventory applies. Microsoft says the same model covers every app no matter which tool built it, whether that's Copilot Cowork, Copilot Code, Copilot Studio or an SDK-compatible third-party tool, so IT doesn't need a separate governance playbook for each one. VentureBeat confirms that administrators receive a consolidated application inventory with information about access, activity, health and policy.
Microsoft calls the approach "open build, managed run": builders can use whatever tool fits them, and the runtime supplies one layer for deployment, security, monitoring and lifecycle. This follows a pattern Microsoft has used before. The company's platform history already includes consolidating control over low-code apps into a single admin surface, and Blyth's background is in Copilot Studio, Power Automate and Microsoft 365. What's different here is that the apps in the inventory are full-stack, Git-backed web code and not low-code artifacts.
Keep in mind what the inventory covers. It governs apps hosted on Copilot Managed Runtime. An app built with an AI coding tool and deployed somewhere else, such as a developer's own cloud subscription, isn't in this inventory just because it exists. Consolidation only works if the runtime becomes the path teams actually choose.
The September 10 post adds one detail about users: published, shared apps can be found and used at managedapps.cloud.microsoft.com. That gives administrators a specific address to expect in user traffic and support tickets.
Copilot Managed Runtime pricing, licensing and compliance scope are still open questions
The launch post is detailed about architecture and says almost nothing about commercial or compliance terms. It doesn't state prices, licensing prerequisites, which admin roles can manage the Apps page, which users are eligible, regional availability, data residency, service-level commitments or compliance certifications. The only billing statement across the two Microsoft posts is in the September 10 announcement, which says app building and running follow the usage-based billing model.
That point about usage-based billing fits the rest of the day's news. WindowsForum's own coverage of the broader overhaul reported that Microsoft is using the redesign to move Copilot from a per-seat assistant to a platform that builds apps, runs agents and bills by usage. Copilot Managed Runtime and the Agent 365 cost controls are the pieces that determine whether IT can keep that manageable. If app hosting is metered, an inventory that shows usage and health does more than support governance. It's also where cost surprises would first show up.
The compliance wording also needs careful reading. The GitHub README says hosted apps automatically inherit organizational governance, security and compliance controls from the moment they're created. That means the tenant's existing policies apply to these apps. It doesn't mean every generated app meets a particular regulatory requirement, and Microsoft hasn't published anything saying which frameworks the runtime covers. Organizations with data-residency or certification obligations should get those answers in writing before any regulated data goes into a preview app.
What this means for you
Tenant administrators should look at the Microsoft 365 admin center Apps page now, before apps start showing up there. Copilot Cowork and Copilot Studio are already live entry points, and Copilot Code will be available to Frontier participants soon, so a few builders can start publishing apps quickly. Developers can try the SDK and CLI today. Anything that would be painful to rewrite should wait until Microsoft commits to stable APIs.
Before you allow broad use, answer three questions from the controls Microsoft actually provides. First, which connectors and endpoints do the default policies allow, and do those match your existing data-loss and connector rules? Second, who in your organization can reach the Frontier program or Copilot Studio app building, and so can create hosted apps? Third, how will usage-based charges be monitored once apps are running? Microsoft's documentation doesn't yet answer the last one in detail.
- Copilot Managed Runtime is in public preview as of September 25, 2026, and Microsoft's own repository warns that APIs, templates and tooling may change before general availability.
- Apps from Copilot Cowork, Copilot Code, Copilot Studio and SDK-compatible third-party tools appear in the Apps experience in the Microsoft 365 admin center, where administrators can enable or disable them and review default policies.
- Identity runs through Microsoft Entra, and organizational policies control which connectors, data sources and endpoints hosted apps can reach.
- Developers get three npm packages (
@microsoft/managed-apps,@microsoft/managed-apps-cliand@microsoft/managed-apps-vite-plugin), a React, TypeScript and Vite 8 template, and an agent plugin for Claude Code and GitHub Copilot. - Microsoft hasn't published pricing beyond saying app building and running are usage-based, and it hasn't stated licensing prerequisites, regional availability or compliance certifications.
- Apps deployed outside the runtime don't appear in the inventory, so the governance benefit depends on steering builders toward the managed path.
Copilot Managed Runtime is Microsoft's response to a problem its own AI tools are creating: more people producing more software than IT can review one app at a time. The architecture is reasonable. It uses one host, tenant identity and policy, Git-backed code and a single admin inventory, and the public SDK lets Lovable, Claude Code and GitHub Copilot users deploy into the same governed path as Microsoft's own tools. What's missing are the commercial and compliance details that turn a preview into something you can rely on in production. WindowsForum's coverage of the wider launch notes that more detail expected at Microsoft Ignite, November 17–20 in San Francisco and online. That's the next point where administrators should expect firmer answers on pricing, API stability and the policies the Apps page exposes.