CEDAR — COPILOT IN OUTLOOK PRACTICAL LAB

Purpose: create a controlled email conversation and manually verify an action list against the original messages. All scenario names, dates and decisions are synthetic.

Prerequisites: an eligible work or school account with Exchange Online; Copilot available in Outlook; permission to use synthetic test messages. No administrator role is needed to run the prompts. Use your own approved lab mailbox only.

SETUP
1. Read E1–E4 and the answer key before running the exercise. Keep the answer key out of Copilot.
2. Open e1-email.txt and copy its contents into the BODY of a new email to your own lab address. Do not attach the .txt file. Use a unique subject, for example [LAB] Cedar pilot — verified action list — YOUR-RUN-ID.
3. Reply within that conversation three times, copying the contents of e2-email.txt, e3-email.txt and e4-email.txt into each reply BODY, in that order. Do not attach the files. Remove automatically quoted earlier messages and any automatic signature from the new reply body before pasting; each body should contain only its matching fixture. Keep the same subject and reply conversation. Check recipients before sending; only your own lab account should be included.
4. Confirm four scenario messages E1–E4 in Outlook. Sent and received copies may both appear in an all-folders search; these are not extra scenario updates. Group by conversation if appropriate and record the previous view so you can restore it.
5. Open the full conversation, then Copilot. Use the prompts in order, replacing the example subject in P1 with your actual subject. Stop if Copilot cannot identify all four messages.
6. Compare the output with answer-key.txt. Open each cited email and check its section label and wording.
7. Only after verification, use the follow-up prompt to produce draft text. This lab does not require sending that draft, creating tasks or scheduling meetings.

Interpretation: action owners are named in the fictional body. The single real sender is the lab operator, not the owner of every action. The account role and default mailbox do not affect this distinction.

No approval or completion can be inferred from a later timestamp. A summary, a draft and a sent message are separate outcomes.

Cleanup: restore any view preferences you changed. Keep or remove lab mail and chats according to your organisation's policy. Deleting visible content is not proof that retention copies have been erased.

Contents: seven .txt files — four email bodies, prompts.txt containing four prompts, answer-key.txt, and this README. No executable scripts, credentials or real addresses are included.
