GitHub Issue Artifacts: Attach Agent Plans and Research to Issues (Preview)
GitHub CopilotGitHub launched issue artifacts in public preview, letting agent-generated plans, research, links and visualizations be attached directly to an issue. Supported types are Markdown files, external links and HTML files for interactive diagrams. Artifacts can be managed in the GitHub App, on github.com and with the new gh issue artifact command, with version history kept.
Key Takeaways
- Agent outputs now live on the issue itself, as a durable record instead of disappearing with a chat session.
- Three artifact types are supported: Markdown, external links and HTML visualizations.
gh issue artifactgives agents and scripts full create, edit, list, view, download and delete control.- Version history is retained when artifacts are updated on github.com.
- Artifacts from a GitHub App session attach to the issue automatically.
- HTML artifact support in the GitHub App is still coming soon, so the preview is not yet uniform across surfaces.
Keeping context with the work
Issue artifacts attach agent-generated outputs and other important context directly to an issue. Keeping plans, research, links and visualizations alongside the work gives coding agents richer context and gives teams a durable record as the work evolves.
What can be attached
- Markdown files for plans, research, root cause analyses and other documents.
- Links to Slack or Microsoft Teams threads, prototypes and other external resources.
- HTML files for interactive visualizations, flowcharts and diagrams, with a toggle between rendered preview and source.
In the GitHub App
When the GitHub App is used to work on an issue, artifacts created during the session are attached to that issue automatically. A session can also be prompted to produce a specific artifact such as an implementation plan, root cause analysis or summary of historical context. Creating and viewing HTML artifacts in the GitHub App is coming soon.
In GitHub CLI
The new gh issue artifact command supports create, edit, list, view, download and delete. Coding agents and developer tools that use gh can call it as part of their workflows. Artifacts can be addressed by their GitHub URLs, and Markdown documents support image and video attachments with --attach.
On github.com
Artifacts can be created, edited and deleted directly from an issue. Updating an artifact as plans change retains its version history, so teammates and agents have a current source of truth without losing how it evolved, and each artifact can be linked and shared.