GitHub Copilot CLI Action 🤖

A GitHub Action wrapper for the GitHub Copilot CLI that enables AI-powered automation in your workflow files.

Installation

Permissions

Add the copilot-requests: write permission to your workflow. The default GITHUB_TOKEN now handles Copilot authentication — no PAT required.

Note

Your organization must have the "Allow use of Copilot CLI billed to the organization" policy enabled.

Basic Setup

Add the following workflow to your .github/workflows folder:

name: 'Copilot Automation'
on: [pull_request]

permissions:
  copilot-requests: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  copilot:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: 'Checkout Repository'
        uses: actions/checkout@v5

      - name: 'Run Copilot CLI'
        uses: austenstone/copilot-cli@v3
        with:
          prompt: |
            Review this pull request for:
            1. Code quality and best practices
            2. Security vulnerabilities
            3. Performance implications
            4. Documentation completeness

Advanced Setup with MCP Servers

          prompt: 'What time is it?'
          mcp-config: |
            {
              "mcpServers": {
                "time": {
                  "type": "local",
                  "command": "uvx",
                  "args": ["mcp-server-time", "--local-timezone", "America/New_York"],
                  "tools": ["*"]
                }
              }
            }

Configuration

Input Parameters

Parameter	Description	Required	Default
prompt	Natural language prompt to send to GitHub Copilot	✅	-
copilot-token	(Deprecated) Override token for Copilot auth. The default github.token now works.	❌	github.token
copilot-config	GitHub Copilot CLI configuration (JSON)	❌	See below
mcp-config	MCP server configuration in JSON format	❌	-
Agent Behavior
autopilot	Enable autopilot continuation in prompt mode	❌	true
max-turns	Maximum number of autopilot continuation turns	❌	unlimited
no-ask-user	Disable ask_user tool for fully autonomous CI execution	❌	true
silent	Output only the agent response without usage statistics	❌	false
model	AI model to use (e.g., "claude-sonnet-4", "gpt-5")	❌	-
agent	Specify a custom agent to use (e.g., "explore")	❌	-
reasoning-effort	Reasoning effort level (low, medium, high, xhigh)	❌	-
experimental	Enable experimental CLI features	❌	false
Tool Permissions
allow-all-tools	Allow all tools without approval	❌	true
allowed-tools	Comma-separated list of tools to allow (e.g., "shell(git:*)")	❌	-
denied-tools	Comma-separated list of tools to deny (e.g., "shell(rm)")	❌	-
allowed-urls	Comma-separated list of URLs/domains to allow	❌	-
denied-urls	Comma-separated list of URLs/domains to deny	❌	-
MCP Configuration
enable-all-github-mcp-tools	Enable all GitHub MCP tools	❌	false
add-github-mcp-tools	Comma-separated list of specific GitHub MCP tools to enable	❌	-
add-github-mcp-toolsets	Comma-separated list of GitHub MCP toolsets to enable	❌	-
disable-mcp-servers	Comma-separated list of MCP servers to disable	❌	-
disable-builtin-mcps	Disable all built-in MCP servers	❌	false
Files & Directories
additional-directories	Comma-separated list of additional directories to trust	❌	-
Session Management
resume-session	Resume from a previous session ID (use "latest" for most recent)	❌	-
share	Share session to a markdown file after completion	❌	-
share-gist	Share session to a secret GitHub gist	❌	false
Output & Logging
output-format	Output format (json for JSONL output)	❌	-
log-level	Log level: none, error, warning, info, debug, all	❌	all
upload-artifact	Upload Copilot logs as workflow artifacts	❌	true
fail-on-error	Fail the step if Copilot CLI exits with non-zero code	❌	false
copilot-version	Version of Copilot CLI to install	❌	prerelease
options	Additional CLI flags (e.g., "--no-custom-instructions")	❌	--screen-reader --no-color --stream off

Output Parameters

Output	Description
exit-code	Exit code from the Copilot CLI command
logs-path	Path to the copilot logs directory
session-path	Path to the shared session markdown file (when share is used)

MCP Server Configuration

The action supports Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers for extending Copilot's capabilities. Configure MCP servers using JSON format with an mcpServers object where each key is the server name and the value contains its configuration.

Important

See the official MCP server configuration docs for complete details.

Examples

📋 View All Example Workflows

Workflow	Description
CI Fix	Automatically analyzes failed workflow runs and creates a pull request with fixes
Comment Trigger	Responds to issue comments starting with /copilot and executes the requested task
Dependabot Analysis	Reviews Dependabot PRs with detailed dependency analysis, breaking changes, and migration guidance
PR Review	Performs comprehensive autonomous code reviews on pull requests with severity-based feedback
Research	Conducts deep research on GitHub issues using Firecrawl to gather and synthesize information
Security Triage	Triages all security alerts (Dependabot, Secret Scanning, Code Scanning) into a single comprehensive report
Issue Triage	Automatically labels issues based on their title and content using existing repository labels
Usage Report	Generates comprehensive Copilot usage reports and analytics

Troubleshooting

Note

Most issues stem from permissions configuration.

Common Issues

1. "Copilot token required" / Permission Denied

   • Ensure your workflow has copilot-requests: write permission
   • Your org must enable the "Allow use of Copilot CLI billed to the organization" policy
   • If using a legacy PAT, ensure it has the "Copilot Requests" permission

2. Copilot starts but permission denied on repo operations

   • Add appropriate permissions (e.g., contents: write, pull-requests: write)
   • Check Settings > Actions > General > Workflow permissions

3. Tool Access Denied

   • Check your allowed-tools and denied-tools configuration
   • If allow-all-tools: false, you must explicitly allow needed tools

4. MCP Server Connection Issues

   • Verify MCP server URLs are accessible from GitHub-hosted runners
   • Check authentication headers and tokens
   • Ensure type is set correctly (local, http, or sse)

5. Session Resume Not Working

   • Session data is stored in logs; ensure upload-artifact: true
   • Use resume-session: latest to continue the most recent session

6. Large Output Truncation

   • Set log-level: error or log-level: warning to reduce verbosity
   • Break complex prompts into smaller, focused tasks

Related Resources

• GitHub Copilot CLI Documentation
• Model Context Protocol (MCP)
• MCP Server Configuration Docs
• Search for workflow examples