Microsoft Cloud Architects: Yassine El Ouardi and Rafia Aqil
Customer question: Can we bill our team’s Fabric Copilot usage to a separate capacity while keeping data processing and reporting on our existing capacity?
Answer: Yes. An organization can designate a Fabric capacity for Copilot usage and assign specific users or groups to it. Eligible Copilot usage from those users is then billed to the designated capacity rather than the capacity hosting their content. The workspace can remain on its existing capacity for its underlying workloads. The minimum Fabric SKU for a designated Copilot capacity is F2. That makes F2 a starting point for a small team, not a guarantee that it will be large enough for every usage pattern. Monitor consumption as adoption grows and scale the capacity if needed.
LAB: In this lab, I created an F2 capacity for Copilot and kept the Adventure Works workspace on a separate F16 capacity. The setup illustrates the key architectural choice: assign users to the Copilot capacity, rather than moving their workspace to it.
- F2 capacity created: The Azure overview shows the new, active F2 Fabric capacity intended for the Copilot test.
- Both capacities visible: The admin portal lists the existing F16 capacity alongside the new F2 capacity.
- Copilot assignment setting under the capacity: The F2 capacity settings show where an administrator can designate the capacity for Copilot and select users or groups.
- Original workspace stays on F16: Workspace settings show that the Adventure Works workspace remains assigned to the F16 capacity.
- Semantic model opened: The Adventure Works model provides a practical workload for testing Copilot’s modeling assistance.
- Question submitted: The test asks Copilot to help fix the data model; the screenshot captures it processing the request.
- Recommendations returned: Copilot proposes specific model changes and says it has not applied them without confirmation.
- Capacity health checked: Fabric Capacity Metrics displays both capacities for comparison; this view shows 8 successful operations completed successfully for the Copilot Capacity.
Takeaway: A separate Copilot capacity gives a small team a way to consolidate Copilot billing without relocating its workspace. Start with F2 where the feature’s requirements are met, then size from observed usage.
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