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Contributing to Cowork Collective

Cowork Collective missions are standalone, hands-on labs focused on Copilot Cowork — a way to delegate work to Copilot so it takes action on your behalf across Microsoft 365.

For general tooling setup (markdown linting, spell checking, local preview), see CONTRIBUTING-GENERAL.md. For writing style rules, see WRITING_STYLE.md. For custom component reference, see CUSTOM-COMPONENTS.md.

Folder structure

docs/cowork-collective/
├── index.md                          ← Landing page (uses <missions /> component)
├── assets/                           ← Shared badge images for all missions
│   ├── BadgeBandit-badge.png
│   ├── Vacay-badge.png
│   └── ...
├── badge-check/
│   ├── index.md                      ← Mission content
│   └── assets/                       ← Mission-specific screenshots and data files
├── out-of-office-prep/
│   ├── index.md
│   └── assets/
└── ...

Naming conventions

  • Mission folders: kebab-case/ (no numbering — missions are standalone)
  • Main content file: always index.md
  • Mission-specific assets: assets/ subfolder inside the mission folder
  • Badge images: stored in the shared docs/cowork-collective/assets/ folder
  • All filenames lowercase with hyphens, no spaces

Required frontmatter

Every Cowork Collective mission requires the following YAML frontmatter:

---
tags:
  - automation
difficulty: 1
time: 20
description: >-
  Use Copilot Cowork to handle your entire out-of-office handoff — emails,
  meeting reschedules, and delegate setup — in one conversation.
section: cowork-collective
badge: ../assets/Vacay-badge.png
products:
  - microsoft-365-copilot
  - copilot-cowork
industries:
  - general
created-date: 2026-04-06
last-edited-date: 2026-04-06
---

Field reference

Field Type Required Description
tags string[] Yes Array of tag slugs from docs/.vitepress/data/tags.json.
difficulty number (1–5) Yes Difficulty level from 1 (beginner) to 5 (expert).
time number Yes Estimated completion time in minutes. Must be greater than 0.
description string Yes Mission description (minimum 10 characters). Used in mission cards.
section string Yes Must be cowork-collective. Identifies this mission as part of the Cowork Collective.
badge string Yes Relative path to the badge image in the shared assets folder (for example ../assets/Badge-name.png).
products string[] Yes Array of product slugs from docs/.vitepress/data/products.json. Typically includes microsoft-365-copilot and copilot-cowork.
industries string[] Yes Array of industry slugs from docs/.vitepress/data/industries.json.
created-date date Yes ISO date when the mission was first published.
last-edited-date date Yes ISO date of the most recent edit. Update this on every change.

Important

Cowork Collective missions require section: cowork-collective — this is what makes the mission appear on the Cowork Collective landing page. They do not use prev, next, short-description, or codename.

Frontmatter validation

Cowork Collective frontmatter is validated automatically by scripts/validate-frontmatter.mjs. The script checks:

  • difficulty is a number between 1 and 5
  • time is a number greater than 0
  • description is a string with at least 10 characters
  • created-date and last-edited-date are valid dates

Run the validation locally:

node scripts/validate-frontmatter.mjs

Mission content structure

Cowork Collective missions follow this layout:

# 🏢 Mission Title

<mission-meta />

![Badge image](../assets/Mission-badge.png){ width="300" }

Welcome, agent. Your mission...

[1-2 paragraphs introducing the mission and what it automates]

## 🔍 The Problem

Brief description of the real-world pain point this mission solves.

## 📋 What You'll Produce

By the end of this mission you will have:

- ✅ Outcome one
- ✅ Outcome two
- ✅ Outcome three

## ⚙️ Prerequisites

- Microsoft 365 license with Copilot
- Access to the [Frontier preview program](https://adoption.microsoft.com/en-us/copilot/frontier-program/)
- Another requirement

## 🤝 What is Copilot Cowork?

Brief explanation of Copilot Cowork and the capabilities relevant to this mission.

## 🎯 The Scenario

Narrative context setting up the business situation the learner will solve.

## 📁 Lab Assets

| File | What it contains |
|------|------------------|
| `sample-data.csv` | Description of the sample data |

## 🧪 Lab 1.1 - Discovery

1. Navigate to **[Microsoft 365 Copilot](https://m365.cloud.microsoft/chat)**
1. Enter the following prompt:

    ```text
    Your prompt text here. Be specific about what you want Copilot Cowork to do.
    ```

1. Review the proposed actions and select **Approve** for each step.

## 🧪 Lab 1.2 - Enhanced Execution

Further hands-on steps building on the first lab.

## 🏆 Mission Accomplished

Summary of what was achieved:

- ✅ Outcome one
- ✅ Outcome two

## 🏅 Claim Your Badge

![Badge](../assets/Mission-badge.png){ width="200" }

[Submit the completion form](https://forms.example.com)

## 📚 Related Content

- 📖 [Resource title](https://learn.microsoft.com/...)

<analytics-tag section="cowork-collective" mission="mission-slug" />

Key differences from other sections

Aspect Courses Special Ops Cowork Collective
Navigation Sequential (prev/next) Standalone Standalone
section field Not used Not used Required: cowork-collective
Focus Copilot Studio Varied tools Copilot Cowork
Codename Required Not used Not used
Folder naming NN-kebab-case/ kebab-case/ kebab-case/

Content patterns specific to Cowork Collective

Problem and scenario narrative

Every Cowork Collective mission starts by describing a real-world problem and a concrete scenario. This grounds the mission in a relatable business situation rather than abstract concepts.

Prompt blocks

Since Copilot Cowork is prompt-driven, missions include full prompt text in code blocks that learners can copy and paste:

1. Enter the following prompt:

    ```text
    Analyze the attached CSV file. Identify anyone who checked out after 11 PM
    more than once this month. Send me a summary email with their names,
    dates, and checkout times.
    ```

Approval flow documentation

Copilot Cowork proposes actions and waits for approval. Document each approval step:

1. Copilot Cowork will propose a plan. Review the steps.
1. Select **Approve** for each action you want to execute.
1. If an action looks incorrect, select **Reject** and refine your prompt.

Optional seeding labs

Some missions include an optional "seed your environment" lab for learners who don't have real data to work with. Mark these clearly:

## 🧪 Lab 1.1 - Seed Your M365 Environment

> [!NOTE]
> This lab is optional. If you already have relevant data in your Microsoft 365
> environment, skip to Lab 2.1.

Provide sample data tables, email templates, calendar events, or Planner tasks
that learners can create to have a working dataset.

Lab assets table

When the mission uses sample data files, list them in a table before the labs:

## 📁 Lab Assets

| File | What it contains |
|------|------------------|
| `badge_check.csv` | Building access records with check-in/check-out times |
| `team_roster.xlsx` | Department and contact details for security follow-up |

Place asset files in the mission's assets/ subfolder.

Adding a new Cowork Collective mission

  1. Create a folder: docs/cowork-collective/your-mission-name/

  2. Create index.md with the required frontmatter (don't forget section: cowork-collective).

  3. Create an assets/ subfolder for screenshots and data files.

  4. Add the badge image to the shared docs/cowork-collective/assets/ folder.

  5. Add any new tags, products, or industries to the corresponding JSON files in docs/.vitepress/data/.

  6. Run frontmatter validation:

    node scripts/validate-frontmatter.mjs

  7. Run npm run docs:dev and verify your mission appears on the Cowork Collective landing page and renders correctly.

  8. Run linting and spell check:

    markdownlint-cli2 "docs/cowork-collective/your-mission-name/**/*.md"
cspell "docs/cowork-collective/your-mission-name/**/*.md"