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References

All technical claims in this workshop are grounded in the primary sources below. Where the product is evolving, prefer the live commands (/help, /model, copilot help <topic>) over any value frozen in a document.

Primary sources — GitHub official documentation

Document What it covers
About GitHub Copilot CLI Concepts: modes, context management, customization, security, model usage, sandboxes, ACP
Using GitHub Copilot CLI How-to: sessions, tips, custom instructions/agents/skills, MCP, context commands
Best practices for GitHub Copilot CLI Models, plan mode, infinite sessions, delegate, workflows, advanced patterns, team guidance
Installing GitHub Copilot CLI Install paths and prerequisites
GitHub Copilot features The assistive / agentic / customization / admin taxonomy across surfaces
Adding custom instructions for GitHub Copilot CLI Instruction file locations and precedence
Adding agent skills for GitHub Copilot CLI Authoring SKILL.md skills
About agent skills Skill concepts
Creating custom agents Agent-profile schema
About the rubber duck agent Cross-model "second opinion" critique used by /rubber-duck
Running tasks in parallel with /fleet Parallel subagent execution and /tasks monitoring
Allowing Copilot CLI to work autonomously (autopilot) How autopilot iterates (plan → act → test → verify) until done
About GitHub Copilot plugins Plugin marketplaces and /plugin management
About hooks for GitHub Copilot Lifecycle hooks
About GitHub Copilot Memory Persistent repo memories
About Model Context Protocol (MCP) MCP concepts
Configure MCP servers (JSON structure) mcp-config.json schema
About GitHub Copilot code review Automated code review
About cloud and local sandboxes Sandboxing model: local vs cloud, session lifecycle, auth, billing
Configuring local sandbox settings The /sandbox UI: General / Filesystem / Network settings and platform limits
Enabling or disabling cloud sandboxes for your organization Org policy: Cloud Sandbox access
Billing for cloud and local sandboxes Compute / Memory / Storage meters for cloud sandboxes
Models and pricing for GitHub Copilot Premium requests, model costs
Copilot CLI command reference Full command & flag list
Copilot CLI configuration directory ~/.copilot settings reference
Copilot CLI ACP server Agent Client Protocol
Customization cheat sheet When to use which customization feature
Plans for GitHub Copilot Plan comparison & pricing

Primary sources — GitHub repositories & packages

Resource Notes
github/copilot-cli Official repo: README, changelog.md, install script, issues, discussions
@github/copilot on npm The npm distribution
Homebrew cask copilot-cli macOS/Linux install

Change watchlist { #change-watchlist }

Check these sources before each workshop run. Copilot CLI changes quickly enough that static workshop material should be treated as a snapshot, not a contract.

Area to watch Primary source Why it matters
CLI releases and command behavior github/copilot-cli changelog Tracks CLI versions, new slash commands (/settings, /security-review, /worktree), prompt-mode behavior, MCP config loading, hooks, permissions, and bug fixes
Copilot-wide product announcements GitHub Blog Changelog — Copilot label Tracks model releases/deprecations, public previews, plan changes, code review updates, sandboxes, BYOK, and usage metrics
Model availability and deprecations Supported models, GitHub Blog Changelog — Copilot Model names and plan eligibility change frequently; examples should instruct learners to use /model rather than copy fixed names
BYOK / external provider models Using your own LLM models in GitHub Copilot CLI, Using your LLM provider API keys with Copilot Separates client-side BYOK from enterprise-admin configured external-provider models
Sandboxes About cloud and local sandboxes, GitHub Blog sandbox announcement Public-preview behavior, pricing, platform support, and policy controls may change
MCP and agent discovery MCP management, github/copilot-cli changelog MCP config locations, registry behavior, deferTools, and Agent finder are actively evolving
Code review behavior About GitHub Copilot code review, AGENTS.md support announcement Review instructions, draft PR review UX, and timeline behavior affect Demo 2
Usage and billing signals Copilot usage metrics API, AI credits usage API announcement Workshop owners need to explain AI credit consumption and admin reporting accurately

Recent changes reflected in this workshop

Date Change Source
2026-06-29 Claude Opus 4.8 (fast mode) entered preview across Copilot surfaces including Copilot CLI (admin policy off by default) GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-26 MAI-Code-1-Flash reached general availability for Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-25 Copilot code review now uses the CLI/SDK grep/rg/glob/view file tools (~20% lower review cost) and adds org-level default Medium analysis depth GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-24 Free and Student plans default to Copilot auto model selection only; (Preview) label retired from Microsoft-released models GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-24 /security-review available to all users without --experimental (CLI 1.0.64) copilot-cli changelog 1.0.64
2026-06-23 New Copilot CLI terminal interface GA: tabbed Session/Gists/Issues/Pull requests layout, /mcp search GitHub MCP Registry install, and /theme color modes GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-19 ai_credits_used added to user-level Copilot usage metrics API reports GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-18 Generated release notes now credit the developer alongside @copilot for Copilot cloud-agent PRs GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-18 Copilot code review reads repository-root AGENTS.md GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-17 Enterprise-admin configured external-provider models appear in Copilot CLI /model GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-11 /settings provides a unified, schema-driven settings UI and inline setting changes GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-10 /security-review added as an experimental public-preview CLI command GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-04 1M-token context windows and configurable reasoning levels available on supported models GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-02 Rubber duck and voice input generally available; prompt scheduling and new terminal UI under /experimental GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-02 Cloud and local sandboxes entered public preview GitHub Blog Changelog
2026-06-02 / 2026-06-05 / 2026-06-18 GPT-4.1, GPT-5.2/GPT-5.2-Codex, and Opus 4.6 (fast) deprecation notices GitHub Blog Changelog

Hands-on practice

Resource Notes
Creating applications with Copilot CLI (GitHub Skills) Official guided exercise: issue → app → tests → PR
github/awesome-copilot (gh.io/awesome-copilot) Community collection of instructions, agents, skills, hooks, and plugins. Pre-registered as a Copilot plugin marketplace, so you can copilot plugin install <name>@awesome-copilot (or /plugin marketplace add github/awesome-copilot). Featured in the Mona Mayhem video below

Talks & demos { #talks--demos }

The three videos below are from the official GitHub YouTube channel and pair directly with this workshop. They are the primary inspiration for the inline "Watch it" callouts in Getting Started, Feature Deep Dive, and Demo Scenarios.

Resource Maps to What it covers
Ultimate GitHub Copilot CLI tutorial for beginners Parts 0–2 The official Copilot CLI for beginners series in one video: install & /login, first requests, interactive vs. non-interactive modes, a slash-command tour (/model, /context, /compact, /clear, /resume, /diff, /cwd, /reset-allowed-tools), the plan → delegate → review loop (/plan, /delegate, /review), MCP (/mcp add, Playwright/Svelte), and instructions/agents/skills (/init, .instructions.md, .github/skills, .github/agents)
Build with the Copilot CLI — Mona Mayhem Part 3 (Demos) A GitHub Dev Days hands-on workshop that builds a retro-arcade app end to end: context engineering with /init, plan mode, autopilot vs. YOLO mode, iterative UI debugging by pasting screenshots, the /plugin marketplace + awesome-copilot, /fleet parallel agents, and /delegate to the cloud agent
Less // TODO: more done with GitHub Copilot CLI Parts 0–2 + SDK A Dev Days deep dive into the three interaction modes (non-interactive/headless for CI, interactive, server mode), /login & /user, /env, Auto model selection, built-in agents (research, plan, autopilot), /review, /rubber-duck cross-model validation, /fleet + /tasks, Copilot Memory, and driving the CLI from an app via the Copilot SDK
GitHub Copilot Anywhere: From Remote Control CLIs to Cloud Sandboxes (DEM305) Sandboxing Microsoft Developer demo. Inspiration for the Copilot Anywhere narrative: remote-controlling the CLI (prompt mode, ACP, /delegate) and offloading work to cloud sandboxes you can resume from any device

Related material in this site

Document Relationship
Copilot SDK Tutorial The programmable surface — same runtime, embedded in your code
Copilot SDK · Architecture How the SDK, CLI server, and Copilot API interact
Copilot SDK · CLI Server Mode Running the CLI as a server

Note on workshop source decks

This workshop was informed by internal Microsoft/GitHub enablement decks provided as reference material. Those decks contain forward-looking or templated content (for example, speculative future model names and dated context-window figures) that is deliberately not reproduced here. Every factual claim in this workshop is instead tied to the GitHub primary sources above. Three of the supplied reference files were rights-protected (encrypted) and could not be opened; none of their content is represented here.