Run GitHub Copilot agents in GitHub Actions with gh-aw

GitHub Copilot is the default gh-aw engine and runs GitHub Copilot agents inside a GitHub Actions workflow. gh-aw provides the Markdown workflow format, event routing, sandbox controls, and safe outputs so the agent can analyze repository state and propose changes without direct write access.

Setup

Set engine: copilot or omit engine: because Copilot is the default. For organization-billed usage, grant copilot-requests: write; otherwise provide a COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN secret. See Copilot authentication for both paths.

Initialize the repository

Run gh aw init to configure the repository. Copilot is the default engine, so no --engine flag is required. This sets up the full Copilot integration: dispatcher skill, MCP server configuration, .gitattributes, VS Code settings, and the custom agent file.

gh aw init

---
on:
  schedule: daily

permissions:
  contents: read
  issues: read
  pull-requests: read
  copilot-requests: write

engine: copilot

safe-outputs:
  create-issue:
    title-prefix: "[status] "
    labels: [report]
    close-older-issues: true
---

# Daily Repository Status

Analyze the repository and create a concise daily status report covering:
- Open issues and their priority
- Recent PR activity
- Upcoming work items

When to choose gh-aw vs. GitHub Copilot’s native @copilot assignment

Choose gh-aw for scheduled or event-driven automation, Markdown-defined workflows, and validated safe outputs. Choose GitHub Copilot’s native @copilot assignment when the task is interactive PR-level coding assistance driven directly from the pull request conversation.