Hi everyone,

I'm currently building a ServiceNow incident handling automation using Microsoft Cowork (available through the Microsoft Frontier program) and have run into an issue that I haven't been able to resolve.

Solution Architecture

I have built:

• A custom FastAPI MCP backend hosted on Azure Web App
• MCP tools for:
  • Fetching new ServiceNow incidents (state = new)
  • Retrieving relevant ServiceNow Knowledge Base articles based on incident context
  • Updating ServiceNow comments and work notes
  • Performing Microsoft Entra ID automation (e.g., user profile updates requested through incidents)
• Custom plugins and skills deployed through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center

What Works

When I start the Cowork agent manually and provide instructions such as processing new incidents:

1. It successfully discovers my custom tools.
2. It fetches incidents from ServiceNow.
3. It retrieves KB articles.
4. It updates work notes/comments.
5. It performs Entra ID actions when required.
6. It processes incidents sequentially according to the workflow.

So the overall integration appears to be working correctly.

The Problem

The issue occurs when I configure the Cowork agent to run on a scheduled basis (every hour).

Instead of executing the workflow, the agent reports messages like:

and after retries:

From the Workspace panel, I can see the scheduled task is active, but during scheduled execution it behaves as if none of the custom plugins, skills, or MCP tools are available in the session. And when I go to the same scheduled session and manually enter the same prompt which I had provided in the scheduled part, then it is working as expected.

Questions

1. Are scheduled Cowork runs executed in a different runtime/session context than manual runs?
2. Do scheduled runs currently support:
   • Custom MCP servers?
   • Custom plugins deployed through M365 Admin Center?
   • Custom skills?
3. Are there any additional permissions, trust settings, or plugin approvals required specifically for scheduled executions?
4. Has anyone successfully used scheduled Cowork tasks with custom MCP tools or external systems such as ServiceNow?
5. Is this a known limitation of the current Frontier preview?

Any guidance or confirmation from others using Cowork + MCP integrations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!