What is the GitHub Copilot app?
The Copilot app is a standalone desktop application that serves as a control center for agentic development. Instead of managing agents through GitHub.com pull requests, issues, and CLI windows, the Copilot app brings everything into one unified interface.
Think of it as a command center where you can:
- See all your active work at a glance
- Spin up multiple agents working on different tasks simultaneously
- Inspect what each agent is doing in real time
- Redirect agents mid-task or approve their changes
- Let agents handle automation (like merging PRs) while you focus elsewhere
The key difference from existing Copilot experiences is that the app is purpose-built for parallel agent work. It handles the complexity of managing multiple isolated environments, branches, and worktrees automatically, so you don’t have to.
Key features
- The My Work view — A single dashboard for active sessions, your inbox of issues and PRs, background automations, and overall status — so you stop checking GitHub, your CLI, and VS Code separately.
- Automations — Built-in automations run scheduled tasks with the same agentic technology. Use templates out of the box or create your own, running as a plan, an interactive session, or on autopilot.
- Isolated worktrees — Every session runs in its own git worktree — a real, isolated copy of your branch with its own environment and changes, so multiple agents never step on each other.
- Canvases — Interactive work surfaces where you and agents collaborate. A canvas shows the actual work — a plan, a PR diff, terminal output, or a live browser — that you can edit, approve, or redirect.
- Agent Merge — Carries pull requests through the whole workflow: monitors CI, addresses failing tests and lint, tracks required reviewers, and can merge automatically once every condition is met.
Who it’s for
The Copilot app isn’t a replacement for existing experiences — it’s another tool in the toolbox that fills a specific gap.
- Teams running parallel agents — If you use agents regularly and need to manage parallel work, the app is a dedicated control center — everything in one place instead of many windows.
- Non-traditional developers — A more accessible, desktop-first interface for business analysts, product managers, and technical teammates who find VS Code or the CLI overwhelming.
- Multi-agent workflows — The worktree architecture makes it natural to dispatch multiple agents on different tasks with no manual branch juggling or coordination.
- GUI-first developers — A visual interface for common tasks that still surfaces the full power of agents, hooks, skills, and custom instructions.
How it compares
Each Copilot surface is best for a different job. The app is the control center for directing parallel agents.
- Copilot CLI — best for developers in the terminal. Raw power, scriptable, always available in your shell.
- VS Code extension — best for coding and real-time ai assistance. Integrated with your editor, instant feedback.
- GitHub.com — best for code review and pr management. Central hub for collaboration, always accessible on web.
- Copilot app — best for directing parallel agents, visual workflow. Control center for agentic development and multi-agent management.
Getting started
To use the GitHub Copilot app, you’ll need a Copilot Pro, Pro+, Business, or Enterprise plan, a compatible OS (macOS, Windows, or Linux), and connected GitHub repositories.
- Download the installer for your platform.
- Install and launch the app.
- Authenticate with your GitHub account.
- Connect the repositories you want to work in.
- From an issue: assign it to Copilot and the app opens a session to work on it.
- From a prompt: open the app and describe what you want done, like “Add dark mode support.”
- From your inbox: the app syncs your GitHub inbox — click an issue and start a session for it.
The app supports URL deep links on the ghapp:// scheme — handy for starting a session straight from your terminal:
# Start a new session in a repo
open "ghapp://session/new?repo=owner/repo"
# Start from a branch or a pull request
open "ghapp://session/new?repo=owner/repo&branch=main"
open "ghapp://session/new?repo=owner/repo&pr=1234"
# Start with a kickoff prompt or an initial mode
open "ghapp://session/new?repo=owner/repo&prompt=fix%20the%20flaky%20test"
open "ghapp://session/new?repo=owner/repo&mode=plan"
How a session works
Each session runs in its own worktree with an isolated environment, and you can run many in parallel.
- You describe the work or assign an issue.
- The Copilot app creates an isolated worktree.
- The agent reads your issue, instructions, and codebase.
- It plans and implements a solution.
- You monitor progress in the My Work view.
- You redirect the agent or let it finish.
- Changes are ready for review — a PR or an approval.
Built on your customizations
The app respects all your existing GitHub Copilot configuration, so agents behave the same way they do everywhere else.
- Custom agents — Markdown agent files in
.github/agents/. - Skills — Specialized task guidance in
.github/skills/. - Instructions — Coding standards in
.github/instructions/. - Hooks — Automated checks and formatting in
.github/hooks/. - Setup steps — Environment setup in
.github/copilot-setup-steps.yml.
Common workflows
A few ways teams put the app to work every day.
- Create a session for “Fix login timeout issue.”
- While it runs, create another for “Fix dark mode button styling.”
- Monitor both in the My Work view.
- Review and merge each PR independently.
- Connect your issue tracker and pull features from the backlog.
- Create a session for each feature.
- Each agent works independently in its own worktree.
- PRs land without interfering with each other.
- Configure Agent Merge in the app settings.
- Choose the automations to enable — run CI, address feedback, merge.
- Create a session to implement a feature.
- Agent Merge monitors the PR and merges when it’s ready.
Video series
Prefer to watch and learn? Get a guided tour of the GitHub Copilot app in this video from GitHub. Play it right here on the page.
1 video in this series