WorkIQ WSL Bridge Skill

Access Microsoft 365 data — emails, calendar, files, Teams — from WSL2 by bridging to the Windows-native Copilot CLI with the WorkIQ plugin installed.

Purpose

WSL2 environments cannot natively run the WorkIQ MCP server because it depends on Windows-native authentication (M365 SSO via browser). This skill solves that by routing M365 queries through powershell.exe to the Windows Copilot CLI, which has full access to the WorkIQ MCP server and Microsoft Graph API.

This means you can query your emails, check your calendar, search files, and read Teams messages — all without leaving your WSL terminal session.

Prerequisites

1. WSL2 with a Linux Distribution

You must be running inside WSL2 (not WSL1 or native Linux).

# Verify WSL2
grep -qi microsoft /proc/version && echo "WSL detected" || echo "Not WSL"

2. Windows-Native Copilot CLI

Install on the Windows host (not inside WSL):

# From Windows Terminal or PowerShell
winget install GitHub.Copilot

Verify from WSL:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot --version" 2>&1

3. GitHub Authentication

Authenticate the Windows Copilot CLI:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot login" 2>&1

4. WorkIQ Plugin

Install the WorkIQ plugin in the Windows Copilot CLI:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot plugin install workiq" 2>&1

5. M365 Authentication

WorkIQ will prompt for Microsoft SSO on first use. A browser window opens on the Windows host for sign-in. No extra setup needed — just approve the consent prompt.

How It Works

WSL Copilot CLI session
     │
     ▼
powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot -p '...' --allow-all-tools --silent --no-auto-update 2>&1"
     │
     ▼
Windows Copilot CLI (native)
     │
     ▼
WorkIQ MCP Server (npx @microsoft/workiq@latest mcp)
     │
     ▼
Microsoft Graph API → M365 (emails, calendar, files, Teams)

Each query spawns a powershell.exe process that invokes the Windows Copilot CLI with a natural-language prompt. The --allow-all-tools flag grants the Copilot CLI permission to call the WorkIQ MCP tool, which queries Microsoft Graph on your behalf.

Key flags:

• --allow-all-tools — Lets Copilot use WorkIQ without manual approval
• --silent — Suppresses interactive UI elements
• --no-auto-update — Prevents update checks that slow down execution
• 2>&1 — Captures both stdout and stderr from the Windows side

Usage Examples

Check Today's Meetings

powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot -p 'Use the workiq ask_work_iq tool to answer: What meetings do I have today?' --allow-all-tools --silent --no-auto-update 2>&1"

Find Recent Emails from Someone

powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot -p 'Use the workiq ask_work_iq tool to find all emails from Dustin Duran. Show me the 5 most recent ones with their subject lines, dates sent, and a brief summary of each email.' --allow-all-tools --silent --no-auto-update 2>&1"

Search for Files

powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot -p 'Use the workiq ask_work_iq tool to answer: Find my most recent PowerPoint files in OneDrive and SharePoint.' --allow-all-tools --silent --no-auto-update 2>&1"

Get Email Summaries

powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot -p 'Use the workiq ask_work_iq tool to answer: Summarize the most important unread emails in my inbox from the last 24 hours.' --allow-all-tools --silent --no-auto-update 2>&1"

Check This Week's Calendar

powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot -p 'Use the workiq ask_work_iq tool to answer: What does my calendar look like for the rest of this week? List all meetings with times and attendees.' --allow-all-tools --silent --no-auto-update 2>&1"

Activation Instructions

This skill activates when the user mentions emails, calendar, meetings, M365, Microsoft 365, Outlook, or WorkIQ in a WSL environment.

Detection Logic

When activated, perform these checks in order:

1. Detect WSL environment:

   bashCopy

   grep -qi microsoft /proc/version
   

   If not WSL, fall back to the standard work-iq skill (native MCP approach).

2. Check Windows Copilot is available:

   bashCopy

   powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot --version" 2>&1
   

   If not found, guide user through installation (see Prerequisites §2).

3. Check WorkIQ plugin is installed:

   bashCopy

   powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot plugin list" 2>&1 | grep -i workiq
   

   If not found, guide user through installation (see Prerequisites §4).

4. Route the query: Build the powershell.exe command with the user's natural-language question and execute it:

   bashCopy

   powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot -p 'Use the workiq ask_work_iq tool to answer: <USER_QUERY>' --allow-all-tools --silent --no-auto-update 2>&1"
   

5. Parse and present: Extract the relevant answer from the Copilot CLI output and present it cleanly to the user.

If Prerequisites Are Missing

Guide the user through setup:

It looks like you're in WSL but the Windows Copilot CLI isn't set up for WorkIQ yet.

To set up M365 access from WSL:
1. Install Copilot CLI on Windows: winget install GitHub.Copilot
2. Authenticate: powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot login"
3. Install WorkIQ: powershell.exe -NoProfile -Command "copilot plugin install workiq"
4. Try your query again — WorkIQ will prompt for M365 sign-in on first use.

Troubleshooting

Limitations

• Write actions may require additional permissions — WorkIQ can query M365 data and draft content. Sending emails, creating documents, and posting Teams messages may require additional M365 admin consent or Graph API permissions. If write operations fail, check your tenant's app permissions for the WorkIQ integration.
• WSL-only — Requires a Windows host with Copilot CLI installed. Does not work on native Linux or macOS.
• No session persistence — Each query spawns a new Copilot CLI process. There is no conversational memory between queries.
• Startup latency — Response time includes Copilot CLI startup + WorkIQ MCP server initialization (~10-30 seconds per query).
• Output parsing — Copilot CLI output includes status messages and formatting that must be filtered to extract the actual answer.
• Auth scope — Access is limited to what your M365 account has permissions for. Admin consent may be required for some tenants.
• No streaming — The full response is returned only after the Windows Copilot CLI process completes.

Relationship to work-iq Skill

This skill complements the existing work-iq skill:

Use work-iq when running natively. Use workiq-wsl when running inside WSL2 and the native MCP approach is unavailable.

Version: 1.0.0 | Updated: 2025-07-14