Sharing flows and using Copilot responsibly

Introduction to Power Automate

Anushika Agarwal

Cloud Data Engineer

Three sharing modes

Co-owner → full edit access

Compact view of Power Automate sharing affordances with a tight red highlight box around the Co-owner card showing Marco listed, set against the rest of the flow detail toolbar and side cards in context but unhighlighted

Three sharing modes

Co-owner → full edit access
Run-only → can trigger but not edit (instant flows only)

Compact view of Power Automate sharing affordances with tight red highlight boxes around the Co-owner card and the Run-only user card, with the toolbar Send a copy button still unhighlighted

Three sharing modes

Co-owner → full edit access
Run-only → can trigger but not edit (instant flows only)
Send a copy → independent duplicate, no connections

Compact view of Power Automate sharing affordances with tight red highlight boxes around all three sharing affordances: the toolbar Send a copy button, the Co-owner card, and the Run-only user card

How connections behave across the three modes

Co-owner → can use your embedded connections, can't modify credentials they didn't create
Run-only → owner chooses at share time: reuse your connections OR recipient provides their own
Send a copy → no connections at all; recipient builds their own from scratch

Power Automate Share dialog cropped tight (no left navigation), with a tight purple highlight box around the Co-owners section showing Marco as co-owner with marco@vantara.example, and a tight green highlight box around the Embedded connections + Connections in use panel showing the active Standard approvals connection card

If the creator leaves, embedded connections break → service account for production flows

Sharing in action

One flow, three ways out
Pick by what the recipient needs to do: edit / trigger / customize

Co-owner = collaborator
Run-only = button-presser
Send a copy = forking the recipe

Moving flows between environments

	Export Package	Solutions
Speed	Quick: click Export, get a `.zip`	More setup, proper packaging
Dependencies	None tracked; connectors re-authenticate on import	Tracks connection references, env variables, related components
Use when	Quick moves, prototypes, one-off transfers	Production deployments, multi-environment ALM

Rule of thumb: Export Package for one-offs, Solutions the moment a flow earns a place in production.

Copilot as a draft tool

Good at:

Scaffolding a flow structure quickly
Suggesting which connectors and actions to use
Explaining existing flows in plain English

Watch for:

Deprecated actions → older versions still working but unmaintained
Hardcoded values that should be dynamic
Missing error handling → almost never included
Wrong connectors → check every one

Remember: Treat every Copilot draft as a starting point. You're still the engineer.

The Copilot audit checklist

Clean modern illustration on white background of a clipboard labelled AUDIT with five checklist items, each with a checkbox, all five ticked with green checkmarks alongside a pen sketched to the right, representing a fully-completed pre-deploy audit checklist

✅ Correct trigger type?
✅ All connections authenticated?
✅ Required fields filled in?
✅ Actions in logical order?
✅ Error handling present?

The responsible flow lifecycle

Build (or generate with Copilot)
Audit against the checklist
Test manually with edge cases
Deploy the real trigger
Monitor run history regularly

Let's practice!

Introduction to Power Automate