GitHub Copilot: Scheduled Agent Automations in VS Code
GitHub CopilotVS Code 1.137 introduced Automations, a public preview feature in GitHub Copilot's Agents window that lets developers schedule recurring agent tasks instead of starting a chat session by hand every time. Automations can run on demand, hourly, daily, or weekly, using either a built-in template (catching up on changes, triaging issues, finding bugs) or a fully custom prompt. The feature inherits the acting agent's existing permissions and complements, rather than replaces, GitHub's existing cloud-hosted Copilot coding agent scheduling.
Key Takeaways
- Automations run recurring agent tasks in VS Code's Agents window on a schedule, removing the need to manually start a session for routine work.
- Developers enable the preview feature with the
chat.automations.enabledsetting, which is on by default in VS Code Insiders and off by default in Stable. - Scheduling supports on-demand, hourly, daily, and weekly runs, with daily and weekly automations firing at a set local time.
- Built-in templates cover common upkeep tasks like catching up on repository changes, triaging issues, and finding bugs, and can be adapted or replaced with a fully custom prompt.
- Automations inherit the acting agent's existing permissions, so a scheduled run can still pause for approval and never bypasses an organization's agent policies.
- The feature currently runs one session at a time and requires the host machine to stay awake, positioning it as an editor-native complement to GitHub's existing cloud-based Copilot coding agent scheduling.
Sources & Mentions
4 external resources covering this update
Visual Studio Code 1.137 adds voice mode and automations
Neowin
VS Code Can Now Schedule AI Agent Tasks and Take Voice Commands
Windows Report
Visual Studio Code 1.137 Released: AI Agents, Voice Mode, and the New Agent Host Protocol
ntcompatible
Copilot automations turn agents into scheduled infrastructure
Dev.to
A New Way to Keep Agents Working in the Background
GitHub Copilot's Agents window in VS Code 1.137 introduced Automations, a public preview feature that lets developers schedule recurring agent tasks instead of manually kicking off a new chat session every time routine work needs doing. Once configured, an automation can run on its own schedule and complete work such as summarizing repository changes, triaging incoming issues, or hunting for bugs, all without a developer sitting at the keyboard to start it.
How Automations Are Configured
Developers turn the feature on with the chat.automations.enabled setting, which ships off by default on Stable releases and on by default on Insiders builds as GitHub gradually rolls it out. Once enabled, an Automations entry appears in the Agents window sidebar, where developers create a new automation by giving it a descriptive name and writing a prompt describing the task, its scope, and the expected output.
GitHub Copilot ships several built-in templates to get started, covering common maintenance routines like catching up on recent repository changes, triaging open issues, or searching the codebase for bugs. Developers can adapt one of these templates or write a fully custom prompt and schedule of their own.
Scheduling and Permissions
Each automation can be set to run on demand, hourly, daily, or weekly, with daily and weekly runs executing at a specified time in the developer's local time zone. Automations act with the same permissions as any other Copilot agent, meaning a scheduled run can read files, execute commands, and make changes according to whatever access the underlying agent has been granted. Saving an automation does not bypass an organization's existing agent policies, and a run may still pause for approval just like an interactive session would.
The feature carries a few practical constraints during preview: the machine hosting VS Code needs to stay awake for a scheduled run to fire, only one automation session runs at a time, and while a missed schedule may trigger a catch-up run, GitHub cautions that this behavior should not be relied on.
Why It Matters
Automations mark a shift from agents that need to be explicitly summoned toward agents that operate more like background infrastructure, quietly handling upkeep tasks a developer would otherwise have to remember to run by hand. It complements, rather than replaces, the scheduled tasks GitHub already offers through its cloud-hosted Copilot coding agent, giving developers a lighter-weight, editor-native option for automating recurring work on their own machine.