GitHub Copilot Now Available in Microsoft Teams
GitHub CopilotGitHub launched a public preview that brings GitHub Copilot's cloud agent into Microsoft Teams, turning any channel, thread, or direct message into a shared, collaborative agent session. Mentioning @GitHub lets the whole team watch, question, and help steer the agent's work, while anyone with repository write access can trigger it to make changes. Copilot works asynchronously in a secure cloud sandbox, posting progress to a dedicated code channel and producing artifacts that can be picked up from the terminal, the Copilot app, or an IDE. The feature is available in public preview on paid Copilot plans, with sessions billed as usage-based AI credits and optional admin approval required before merging agent-authored pull requests.
Key Takeaways
- Shared agent sessions in Microsoft Teams let an entire channel or thread watch, question, and help steer a single Copilot cloud agent run.
- Only participants with repository write access can actually trigger Copilot to make changes, even though anyone can add context.
- Copilot works asynchronously in a secure cloud sandbox, freeing the conversation to continue while it investigates or codes.
- A dedicated code channel surfaces live progress and keeps generated artifacts accessible from the terminal, the Copilot app, or an IDE.
- GitHub designed the flow around real-time hand-off, such as delegating a bug investigation to Copilot mid-standup instead of after the meeting.
- Sessions are usage-based and budget-configurable, consuming AI credits, and admins can require extra approval before agent-authored PRs merge — available now on paid Copilot plans in public preview.
Turning Teams Conversations Into Agent Sessions
GitHub has released a public preview that brings GitHub Copilot's cloud agent directly into Microsoft Teams, letting a team's existing chat threads double as the starting point for real engineering work. Mentioning @GitHub in a channel, thread, or direct message starts a Copilot cloud agent session that the whole conversation can see and help direct.
A Genuinely Shared Session
Unlike a one-on-one assistant, the session is visible to everyone in the conversation. Team members can ask the agent questions, supply additional context, or help shape the plan, while participants who hold write access to the underlying repository are the ones who can actually trigger Copilot to make changes. GitHub frames this as a way to hand off action items in the moment — for example, asking Copilot to start investigating a bug while the team is still discussing it in a standup, rather than waiting for the meeting to end.
Asynchronous Work in a Cloud Sandbox
Once triggered, Copilot works asynchronously inside a secure cloud sandbox rather than blocking the conversation. It creates a dedicated code channel where progress is posted as it happens, so the team can follow along without leaving Teams. When the work is ready, the resulting artifacts — code changes, pull requests, and related output — can be picked up from a terminal, the GitHub Copilot app, or a preferred IDE.
Governance and Billing
Repository administrators can require additional approval before a pull request generated through the Teams integration is merged, keeping a human checkpoint in the loop for agent-authored changes. Cloud agent sessions and sandbox time started from Teams consume AI credits and are billed on a usage basis, with organizations able to configure budgets to control spend.
Availability
The integration is available in public preview to organizations on paid GitHub Copilot plans.