GitHub Copilot SDK - Comprehensive Skill

Overview

The GitHub Copilot SDK enables developers to embed Copilot's agentic workflows programmatically in their applications. It exposes the same engine behind Copilot CLI as a production-tested agent runtime you can invoke from code.

When to Use the Copilot SDK

Use the Copilot SDK when:

• Building applications that need Copilot's AI capabilities
• Implementing custom AI assistants with tool-calling abilities
• Creating integrations that leverage Copilot's code understanding
• Connecting to MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers for standardized tools
• Need streaming responses in custom UIs

Don't use when:

• GitHub Copilot CLI is sufficient (use CLI directly)
• No programmatic integration needed (use Copilot in VS Code)
• Building simple chat without tools (use standard LLM API)

Language Support

npm install @github/copilot-sdk

pip install github-copilot-sdk

go get github.com/github/copilot-sdk/go

dotnet add package GitHub.Copilot.SDK

Prerequisites

1. GitHub Copilot CLI installed and authenticated
2. Active Copilot subscription (free tier available with limits)

Quick Start

Minimal Example (TypeScript)

import { CopilotClient } from "@github/copilot-sdk";

const client = new CopilotClient();
const session = await client.createSession({ model: "gpt-4.1" });

const response = await session.sendAndWait({ prompt: "What is 2 + 2?" });
console.log(response?.data.content);

await client.stop();

Minimal Example (Python)

import asyncio
from copilot import CopilotClient

async def main():
    client = CopilotClient()
    await client.start()
    session = await client.create_session({"model": "gpt-4.1"})
    response = await session.send_and_wait({"prompt": "What is 2 + 2?"})
    print(response.data.content)
    await client.stop()

asyncio.run(main())

Add Streaming

const session = await client.createSession({
  model: "gpt-4.1",
  streaming: true,
});

session.on((event) => {
  if (event.type === "assistant.message_delta") {
    process.stdout.write(event.data.deltaContent);
  }
});

await session.sendAndWait({ prompt: "Tell me a joke" });

Add Custom Tool

import { defineTool } from "@github/copilot-sdk";

const getWeather = defineTool("get_weather", {
  description: "Get weather for a city",
  parameters: {
    type: "object",
    properties: {
      city: { type: "string", description: "City name" },
    },
    required: ["city"],
  },
  handler: async ({ city }) => ({
    city,
    temperature: `${Math.floor(Math.random() * 30) + 50}°F`,
    condition: "sunny",
  }),
});

const session = await client.createSession({
  model: "gpt-4.1",
  tools: [getWeather],
});

Core Concepts

Architecture

Your Application → SDK Client → JSON-RPC → Copilot CLI (server mode)

The SDK manages the CLI process lifecycle automatically or connects to an external CLI server.

Key Components

1. CopilotClient: Entry point - manages connection to Copilot CLI
2. Session: Conversation context with model, tools, and history
3. Tools: Custom functions Copilot can invoke
4. Events: Streaming responses and tool call notifications
5. MCP Integration: Connect to Model Context Protocol servers

Session Configuration

const session = await client.createSession({
  model: "gpt-4.1", // Model to use
  streaming: true, // Enable streaming
  tools: [myTool], // Custom tools
  mcpServers: {
    // MCP server connections
    github: {
      type: "http",
      url: "https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/",
    },
  },
  systemMessage: {
    // Custom system prompt
    content: "You are a helpful assistant.",
  },
  customAgents: [
    {
      // Custom agent personas
      name: "code-reviewer",
      displayName: "Code Reviewer",
      description: "Reviews code for best practices",
      prompt: "Focus on security and performance.",
    },
  ],
});

Navigation Guide

When to Read Supporting Files

reference.md - Read when you need:

• Complete API reference for all 4 languages
• All method signatures with parameters and return types
• Session configuration options
• Event types and handling
• External CLI server connection

examples.md - Read when you need:

• Working copy-paste code for all 4 languages
• Error handling patterns
• Multiple sessions management
• Interactive assistant implementation
• Custom agent definition examples

patterns.md - Read when you need:

• Production-ready architectural patterns
• Streaming UI integration
• MCP server integration patterns
• Rate limiting and retry patterns
• Structured output extraction

drift-detection.md - Read when you need:

• Understanding how this skill stays current
• Validation workflow
• Update procedures

Quick Reference

Common Event Types

assistant.message_delta

SessionEventType.ASSISTANT_MESSAGE_DELTA

session.idle

SessionEventType.SESSION_IDLE

tool.invocation

SessionEventType.TOOL_EXECUTION_START

tool.result

SessionEventType.TOOL_EXECUTION_COMPLETE

Python: Import

from copilot.generated.session_events import SessionEventType

Default Tools

The SDK operates in

--allow-all

• File system operations
• Git operations
• Web requests
• All first-party Copilot tools

Integration with Amplihack

Use the Copilot SDK to build custom agents within amplihack:

# Create Copilot-powered agent for specific domain
from copilot import CopilotClient

async def create_code_review_agent():
    client = CopilotClient()
    await client.start()
    session = await client.create_session({
        "model": "gpt-4.1",
        "streaming": True,
        "systemMessage": {
            "content": "You are an expert code reviewer."
        }
    })
    return session

Next Steps

1. Start Simple: Basic send/receive with default model
2. Add Streaming: Real-time responses for better UX
3. Add Tools: Custom functions for your domain
4. Connect MCP: Use GitHub MCP server for repo access
5. Build UI: Integrate into your application

For complete API details, see

reference.md

examples.md

patterns.md