GitHub Copilot CLI Workshop
Welcome to this hands-on workshop for mastering GitHub Copilot CLI! This workshop will take you from installation to advanced automation techniques.
From first install to advanced automation — master operating modes, custom instructions, MCP servers, agent skills, plugins, custom agents, hooks, context management, and more through hands-on exercises.
Interactive chat, interactive-with-prompt, slash commands, programmatic mode, and delegate — master every way to use Copilot CLI.
AGENTS.md, copilot-instructions.md, and path-specific instructions to guide Copilot's behavior and coding style; inspect loaded sources with /instructions.
Connect to GitHub MCP, configure local/remote servers, and control access with tool, path, and URL permissions, permission modes, and command sandboxing.
Build custom agents, use built-in research and review agents, create reusable skills alongside the built-in ones, and leverage the plugin ecosystem.
Trusted-folder lifecycle hooks, dynamic workflows, autopilot mode, and fleet command for parallel multi-agent workflows.
User settings in settings.json, managed policy, opt-in session limits and AI credits, context management, IDE integration, accessibility, and team standardization.
Welcome to this hands-on workshop for mastering GitHub Copilot CLI! This workshop will take you from installation to advanced automation techniques.
Before installing, ensure you have one of:
Interactive mode starts a conversational session where you chat with Copilot in real-time. It's ideal for:
Copilot CLI combines applicable instructions; there is no general file-precedence order. The list describes sources, not priority:
Copilot CLI registers a set of built-in tools in every session:
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that extends AI capabilities:
Skills are specialized capabilities that:
Plugins extend Copilot's capabilities beyond built-in features:
Custom agents are specialized versions of Copilot with:
Admit the folder's configuration using the trust prompt (session-only trust is sufficient). For one new prompt-mode session use --trust-folder. Review hooks before admission: they execute code. Exact COPILOT_ALLOW_ALL=true also trusts cwd configuration; other accepted truthy spellings only auto-approve tools.
Context is everything Copilot "remembers" during a session:
A session is a continuous interaction with Copilot CLI that maintains:
The diagram is a schematic of inputs, not a universal precedence order: COPILOT_HOME selects storage, individual keys have their own override rules, and managed policy can constrain overrides. See Module 13 and installed configuration help.
Copilot CLI stores user settings at ~/.copilot/settings.json (or under the directory specified by COPILOT_HOME).