If you are a Power Platform enthusiast like me, you must have already explored the magic of Copilot in Power Apps and Power Automate. But there’s a hidden superpower in Copilot that not many developers are using: prompts for language detection and intelligent automation. In this article, I’ll share some practical Copilot prompt examples, how to detect language dynamically, and tips to make your Power Platform solutions smarter.
What is a Prompt?
In the world of AI and Power Platform Copilot, a prompt is basically a question or instruction you give to the AI to tell it what you want it to do. Think of it as talking to a very smart assistant: the clearer your instruction, the better the result.
For example
Simple prompt: "Create a list of numbers from 1 to 10."
AI understands: It will generate a list [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10].
So a prompt is just a way of communicating your intention to AI. Copilot works by understanding natural language prompts. That means you can just type what you want to do, and it converts your intent into working automation or code snippets.
Why Use Prompts in Copilot?
Prompts are basically instructions that you give to Copilot. The better your prompt, the smarter the AI output. A few examples include:
Creating a flow: "Create a Power Automate flow that saves email attachments from Outlook to SharePoint folder automatically."
Generating Power Apps formula: "Write a formula to calculate total invoice amount including GST."
Language detection: "Detect the language of this text and return the ISO code: 'Bonjour, comment ça va?'"
Sample Copilot Prompts for Language Detection
One of the coolest features is automated language detection. You can use it to dynamically identify the language of user input or documents, which is especially useful in multinational environments.
Image / screenshot placeholder (e.g., Copilot Studio prompt UI)
Prompt Template
Use this prompt template in Copilot Studio (or the custom prompt editor) to detect the predominant language. It will return only the language script (e.g., en-US) or unknown if detection fails.
You are an expert language detector. Identify the predominant language of the input text.
Return only the script of the language (e.g., en-US, fr-FR, es-ES).
If the language cannot be determined, return "unknown".
Do not provide any explanation or additional information.
Input Text:
{{text}}
How to Test
After you save the prompt in Copilot Studio, use the Test feature and feed sample texts. Make sure the output is exactly the script code and nothing else.
| Sample Input | Expected Output |
|---|
| I have a dog | en-US |
| Bonjour, comment allez-vous ? | fr-FR |
| これはテストです | ja-JP |
| %$#@! | unknown |
Step-by-step: Create & Test in Copilot Studio
Open Copilot Studio and create a new Custom Prompt.
Give it a name such as DetectLanguage and add the description: "Identify the predominant language and return only the script code."
Define an input variable: text (Text).
Paste the prompt template in the prompt editor (see template above).
Click Test, provide sample inputs and verify the outputs are correct.
When satisfied, click Save.
Testing Examples (manual)
Testing 1: Bonjour, comment allez-vous ?
Expected Output:
fr-FR
Testing 2: I have a dog
Expected Output:
en-US
Why Prompts Are Useful
Prompts are useful because they let you get complex results without coding a lot. Some benefits include:
Time-saving: Instead of writing long formulas or scripts, you can just describe what you want.
Beginner-friendly: Even if you are new to Power Platform, you can use prompts to generate flows, apps, or formulas.
Consistency: Prompts can ensure repetitive tasks are done the same way every time.
Smart automation: You can ask Copilot to do things like detect languages, summarize text, or process data automatically.
Real-world Example: Detecting Language in SharePoint Comments
Imagine you have a SharePoint list where employees submit feedback in multiple languages. You can:
Trigger a Power Automate flow when a new item is created.
Use Copilot with a language detection prompt.
Save the detected language code into a new column, e.g., LanguageCode.
Route or translate feedback automatically based on language.
This saves hours of manual classification and ensures your solution is multilingual-ready.
Key Takeaways
Power Platform Copilot is more than just code generation; it’s a smart automation assistant.
Prompts are the heart of effective Copilot usage.
Language detection is simple but powerful for global solutions.
Always test and iterate prompts to get the most accurate results.
Sample Prompts Recap
| Prompt Name | Sample Input | Sample Output |
|---|
| DetectLanguage | I have a dog | en-US |
| DetectLanguage | Bonjour, comment allez-vous ? | fr-FR |
| DetectLanguage | これはテストです | ja-JP |
| DetectLanguage | %$#@! | unknown |