# Microsoft Copilot Managed Runtime Toolkit: New Repo, Plugin and Preview Limits

Microsoft has published a new home for its app templates and coding-agent plugin, with package changes and compatibility checks that developers should review before deploying.

By Paras Madan | 2026-11-05


Microsoft has published a new public repository for building business applications on Copilot Managed Runtime. The repository was created on November 4, and its [publication commit](https://github.com/microsoft/Copilot-Managed-Runtime/commit/2c95c82330815512e7cffa552cde086eaba5ca87) landed at 23:46 UTC. It gives developers a first-party starting point for app templates and a coding-agent plugin, with another tooling change arriving early on November 5.

The runtime itself has been in preview since Microsoft's [September 25 Copilot announcement](https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2026/09/25/introducing-the-new-copilot-with-home-code-and-autopilot/). The fresh development is the public toolkit and its new package identity. Teams evaluating it should keep that distinction clear when deciding what is ready to adopt.

## What the public toolkit contains

The repository includes a React, TypeScript and Vite 8 starter, alongside a plugin aimed at Claude Code and GitHub Copilot. It identifies three packages: the app SDK, @microsoft/cmr-apps; the command-line tool, @microsoft/cmr-cli, invoked as ms; and the Vite integration, @microsoft/cmr-apps-vite-plugin.

For developers, this makes the app's scaffolding and agent instructions inspectable. A team can review the template and proposed workflow before connecting it to organizational data. That is useful when a business application needs a repeatable development process rather than a one-off generated interface.

## Read the compatibility notes before installing

The [plugin README](https://github.com/microsoft/Copilot-Managed-Runtime/blob/main/plugins/copilot-managed-runtime/README.md) lists 22 skills spanning app creation, lifecycle operations and data connections. Local development uses the App Player with hot reload. The documented workflow calls for an explicit request before cloud deployment.

The new Copilot-Managed-Runtime marketplace and copilot-managed-runtime plugin are a separate installation from the earlier Managed-Apps identity. Existing users should not assume an ordinary plugin update moves them across.

Compatibility evidence is narrower than the list of supported packaging formats. The repository records local installation and discovery of 22 skills with Copilot CLI 1.0.103 on Windows. It says those checks do not establish Git-backed updates or runtime loading of agents and hooks. Claude Code and Codex runtime checks remain pending in the published matrix.

There is Codex discovery metadata, but the package does not include a Codex architect agent or Codex hooks. Developers should therefore separate finding a plugin in a directory from proving that its complete workflow runs correctly in their client.

## A breaking factory rename is already in the template

A [November 5 pull request](https://github.com/microsoft/Copilot-Managed-Runtime/pull/7), merged at 05:47 UTC, changes the Vite integration to the copilotManagedRuntime factory and raises the template's plugin dependency to version 0.5.0. It deliberately provides no alias for the earlier managedApps factory. The coding-agent plugin metadata moves to version 2.1.12.

The pull request describes a coordinated release dependency: the public Vite package and the CLI's detection logic must both support the new factory. Its validation notes report a successful build against a local candidate, while explicitly leaving public package availability and a real ms app create run unverified.

A merged template is useful evidence of the intended API. Before adopting it, confirm that the referenced package versions resolve and that the installed CLI recognizes the generated configuration. This article has not installed the packages or run a deployment.

## Local development still has licensing boundaries

Microsoft's [licensing FAQ](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/manage/apps/licensing-faq) separates development activities from running an app. Creating, building and deploying through the CLI do not require a development license. Running an app, including locally, requires Power Apps Premium or Copilot Credits.

Sharing an app does not give recipients a runtime license or permission to its underlying data. The FAQ also says CLI app creation is off by default, even though eligible commercial-cloud tenants receive the runtime. Tenant access, administrator settings and runtime entitlement all need checking before a pilot.

## What to test first

Start with a small internal app and a non-sensitive test dataset. Verify installation, local execution, the proposed changes to data, and the path from a reviewed commit to deployment. Record which client and package versions passed those checks.

The new repository gives teams more of the development process to inspect. Its own compatibility notes also provide a useful adoption checklist. Organizational governance can constrain where an app runs and what it accesses; teams still need to test whether its generated code performs the intended business operation correctly.

I'm Paras. I work at the intersection of AI, engineering and distribution.

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