.NET: Add AIAgent implementation for GitHub Copilot SDK #3395

Copilot · 2026-01-22T20:56:18Z

Motivation and Context

Adds support for GitHub Copilot SDK as an agent provider, enabling agentic capabilities through the Copilot platform.

Description

New Project: Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot

Implements GithubCopilotAgent following the established A2AAgent/CopilotStudioAgent pattern:

Wraps GitHub Copilot SDK's CopilotClient and CopilotSession
Supports both sync (RunAsync) and streaming (RunStreamingAsync) operations with real-time update delivery via channels
GithubCopilotAgentThread manages conversation sessions via session IDs (internal constructor and setter for proper encapsulation)
Implements IAsyncDisposable with optional client ownership via ownsClient parameter (defaults to false), allowing callers to control whether the agent disposes the CopilotClient
Provides AsAIAgent extension methods on CopilotClient for easy AIAgent creation (similar to A2AClientExtensions and AnthropicClientExtensions)
AOT-compatible via source-generated JSON serialization

Target Framework Constraint

Only targets .NET 8.0+ (TargetFrameworksCore) - GitHub.Copilot.SDK doesn't support netstandard2.0 or net472.

Usage Example

using GitHub.Copilot.SDK;
using Microsoft.Agents.AI;
using Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot;

// Create and start a Copilot client
CopilotClient copilotClient = new(new CopilotClientOptions { AutoStart = true });
await copilotClient.StartAsync();

// Create an AIAgent using the extension method
AIAgent agent = copilotClient.AsAIAgent();

// Or with explicit ownership control
AIAgent agent = copilotClient.AsAIAgent(ownsClient: true);

// Ask Copilot to write code for us
AgentResponse response = await agent.RunAsync("Write a small .NET 10 C# hello world single file application");
Console.WriteLine(response);

Additional Changes

Added GitHub.Copilot.SDK v0.1.10 to central package management
Created sample in samples/GettingStarted/AgentProviders/Agent_With_GithubCopilot demonstrating code generation capabilities
Sample includes container safety warning (recommended to run in containerized environment)
Sample and README updated to use AsAIAgent extension method
14 unit tests in Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests (including 4 tests for extension methods)
Updated solution file and AgentProviders README

Contribution Checklist

The code builds clean without any errors or warnings
The PR follows the Contribution Guidelines
All unit tests pass, and I have added new tests where possible
Is this a breaking change? If yes, add "[BREAKING]" prefix to the title of the PR.

Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>.NET: Add AIAgent implementation for Github Copilot SDK</issue_title>
<issue_description>There is a new Github Copilot SDK:
https://github.com/github/copilot-sdk

It has a list of usage linked from this page:
https://github.com/github/copilot-sdk/blob/main/cookbook/dotnet/README.md

We should add a new .net project Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot. This project should provide an AIAgent implementation that uses the copilot sdk to provide copilot agentic capabilities.

The implementation should follow a similar design to A2AAgent, CopilotStudioAgent and ChatClientAgent.

All the new capabilities should have unit tests associated and a sample in Samples/GettingStarted/AgentProviders.</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

Fixes .NET: Add AIAgent implementation for Github Copilot SDK #3394

💬 We'd love your input! Share your thoughts on Copilot coding agent in our 2 minute survey.

stephentoub · 2026-01-22T20:58:53Z

@westey-m I was talking with @SteveSanderson earlier today about doing exactly this. :)

Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgentThread.cs

dotnet/samples/GettingStarted/AgentProviders/Agent_With_GithubCopilot/Program.cs

dotnet/samples/GettingStarted/AgentProviders/Agent_With_GithubCopilot/README.md

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgent.cs

westey-m · 2026-01-23T09:33:48Z

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgent.cs

+                switch (evt)
+                {
+                    case AssistantMessageDeltaEvent deltaEvent:
+                        updates.Add(ConvertToAgentResponseUpdate(deltaEvent));


@copilot, can't we yield updates here as soon as we receive them instead of waiting till the end?

Done in 44f3ab6. Changed to use a channel to yield updates as they arrive instead of collecting them.

…tOptions ctor, streaming improvements, better sample, container warning Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgent.cs

Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-01-23T11:18:55Z

@copilot, dotnet-format is failing with the following error. Please address.

...

Fixed in b45d14a. Added UTF-8 BOM to Program.cs to match repository encoding standards.

westey-m · 2026-01-23T12:21:45Z

@copilot, I'm receiving some additional dotnet-format errors now, please fix.

/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgent.cs(1,1): error CHARSET: Fix file encoding. [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgentThread.cs(1,1): error CHARSET: Fix file encoding. [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotJsonUtilities.cs(1,1): error CHARSET: Fix file encoding. [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgent.cs(124,46): error IDE0009: Add 'this' or 'Me' qualification [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgent.cs(28,30): error IDE0052: Private member 'GithubCopilotAgent._logger' can be removed as the value assigned to it is never read [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgentThread.cs(3,1): error IDE0005: Using directive is unnecessary. [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgentThread.cs(5,1): error IDE0005: Using directive is unnecessary. [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotJsonUtilities.cs(7,1): error IDE0005: Using directive is unnecessary. [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgent.cs(124,46): error IDE0009: Add 'this' or 'Me' qualification [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgent.cs(28,30): error IDE0052: Private member 'GithubCopilotAgent._logger' can be removed as the value assigned to it is never read [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgentThread.cs(3,1): error IDE0005: Using directive is unnecessary. [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgentThread.cs(5,1): error IDE0005: Using directive is unnecessary. [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotJsonUtilities.cs(7,1): error IDE0005: Using directive is unnecessary. [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgent.cs(124,46): error IDE0009: Add 'this' or 'Me' qualification [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgent.cs(28,30): error IDE0052: Private member 'GithubCopilotAgent._logger' can be removed as the value assigned to it is never read [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgentThread.cs(3,1): error IDE0005: Using directive is unnecessary. [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgentThread.cs(5,1): error IDE0005: Using directive is unnecessary. [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]
/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotJsonUtilities.cs(7,1): error IDE0005: Using directive is unnecessary. [/app/dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.csproj]

…ualifier, remove unnecessary usings Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-01-23T12:26:00Z

@copilot, I'm receiving some additional dotnet-format errors now, please fix.

...

Fixed in c3f94cb. Added UTF-8 BOM to all source files, removed unused _logger field, added this. qualification, and removed unnecessary using directives.

westey-m · 2026-01-23T12:31:56Z

@copilot, here are some more dotnet-format errors to fix:

/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/GithubCopilotAgentTests.cs(1,1): error CHARSET: Fix file encoding. [/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests.csproj]
/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/GithubCopilotAgentThreadTests.cs(1,1): error CHARSET: Fix file encoding. [/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests.csproj]
/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/GithubCopilotAgentTests.cs(36,75): error IDE0004: Cast is redundant. [/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests.csproj]
/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/GithubCopilotAgentThreadTests.cs(3,1): error IDE0005: Using directive is unnecessary. [/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests.csproj]
/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/GithubCopilotAgentTests.cs(36,75): error IDE0004: Cast is redundant. [/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests.csproj]
/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/GithubCopilotAgentThreadTests.cs(3,1): error IDE0005: Using directive is unnecessary. [/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests.csproj]
/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/GithubCopilotAgentTests.cs(36,75): error IDE0004: Cast is redundant. [/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests.csproj]
/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/GithubCopilotAgentThreadTests.cs(3,1): error IDE0005: Using directive is unnecessary. [/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests.csproj]

Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-01-23T12:35:10Z

@copilot, here are some more dotnet-format errors to fix:

/app/dotnet/tests/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot.UnitTests/GithubCopilotAgentTests.cs(1,1): error CHARSET: Fix file encoding. [/app/d...

Fixed in 97f4457. Added UTF-8 BOM to test files, removed redundant cast, and removed unnecessary using directive.

westey-m · 2026-01-23T14:55:35Z

@copilot, similar to other agents, we should have AsAIAgent extension methods on CopilotClient that allows us to easily create an AIAgent when we already have a CopilotClient.
See e.g. A2AClientExtensions and AnthropicClientExtensions.

Also make sure to add tests for the new code added.

Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-01-23T15:00:46Z

@copilot, similar to other agents, we should have AsAIAgent extension methods on CopilotClient that allows us to easily create an AIAgent when we already have a CopilotClient.
See e.g. A2AClientE...

Done in a5b7aeb. Added CopilotClientExtensions with AsAIAgent extension methods following the A2AClientExtensions pattern, along with 4 unit tests. Updated sample and README to use the extension method.

Initial plan

4c55bd9

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and westey-m Jan 22, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of westey-m January 22, 2026 20:56 View session

Copilot AI and others added 3 commits January 22, 2026 21:10

Add GitHub Copilot SDK AIAgent implementation with tests

5a39df4

Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

Add projects to solution and fix sample imports

9178095

Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

Improve pragma comment clarity in GithubCopilotAgentThread

b365707

Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Add AIAgent implementation for Github Copilot SDK~~ .NET: Add AIAgent implementation for GitHub Copilot SDK Jan 22, 2026

Copilot AI requested a review from westey-m January 22, 2026 21:23

Copilot finished work on behalf of westey-m January 22, 2026 21:23

markwallace-microsoft added documentation Improvements or additions to documentation .NET labels Jan 23, 2026

Copilot AI temporarily deployed to integration January 23, 2026 09:16 Inactive

westey-m reviewed Jan 23, 2026

View reviewed changes

Copilot started work on behalf of westey-m January 23, 2026 09:34 View session

Address PR feedback: internal constructor/setter, remove CopilotClien…

44f3ab6

…tOptions ctor, streaming improvements, better sample, container warning Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI requested a review from westey-m January 23, 2026 09:42

Copilot finished work on behalf of westey-m January 23, 2026 09:42

westey-m reviewed Jan 23, 2026

View reviewed changes

dotnet/src/Microsoft.Agents.AI.GithubCopilot/GithubCopilotAgent.cs Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

Merge branch 'main' into copilot/add-aiagent-implementation

09d526f

Copilot started work on behalf of westey-m January 23, 2026 10:45 View session

westey-m had a problem deploying to integration January 23, 2026 10:46 — with GitHub Actions Error

Add ownsClient parameter to allow caller control over client disposal

52ba627

Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI requested a review from westey-m January 23, 2026 10:49

Copilot finished work on behalf of westey-m January 23, 2026 10:49

Copilot AI temporarily deployed to integration January 23, 2026 10:53 Inactive

Copilot AI had a problem deploying to integration January 23, 2026 10:53 Failure

Fix file encoding: add UTF-8 BOM to Program.cs

b45d14a

Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of westey-m January 23, 2026 11:19

Copilot AI temporarily deployed to integration January 23, 2026 12:15 Inactive

Copilot AI had a problem deploying to integration January 23, 2026 12:15 Error

Copilot started work on behalf of westey-m January 23, 2026 12:22 View session

Fix dotnet-format errors: UTF-8 BOM, remove unused logger, add this q…

c3f94cb

…ualifier, remove unnecessary usings Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI temporarily deployed to integration January 23, 2026 12:27 Inactive

Copilot finished work on behalf of westey-m January 23, 2026 12:27

Copilot started work on behalf of westey-m January 23, 2026 12:32 View session

Fix test file encoding and remove redundant cast

97f4457

Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of westey-m January 23, 2026 12:36

Copilot AI temporarily deployed to integration January 23, 2026 12:43 Inactive

Merge branch 'main' into copilot/add-aiagent-implementation

4ae34d3

westey-m temporarily deployed to integration January 23, 2026 14:51 — with GitHub Actions Inactive

Copilot started work on behalf of westey-m January 23, 2026 14:56 View session

Add AsAIAgent extension methods for CopilotClient with tests

a5b7aeb

Co-authored-by: westey-m <164392973+westey-m@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of westey-m January 23, 2026 15:01

Merge branch 'main' into copilot/add-aiagent-implementation

02e6c0e

dmytrostruk temporarily deployed to integration January 23, 2026 18:32 — with GitHub Actions Inactive

.NET: Add AIAgent implementation for GitHub Copilot SDK #3395

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Motivation and Context

Description

Contribution Checklist

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Copilot AI commented Jan 22, 2026 •

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