title: "Copilot App" description: "The GitHub Copilot desktop app: parallel agent sessions with GitHub integration" section: "Copilot" readTime: "5 min" badge: "NEW"

GitHub Copilot App

The GitHub Copilot app is a standalone desktop application purpose-built for agent-driven development. It combines parallel agent workstreams, GitHub integration, and pull request lifecycle management, and it is built on GitHub Copilot CLI. It runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows.

The Copilot app is in technical preview and subject to change. It is available on all Copilot plans. For Business and Enterprise, the GitHub Copilot app policy must remain enabled (it is on by default and separate from the Copilot CLI policy). Content exclusion policies apply to Business and Enterprise users.

Isolated Sessions

You can run multiple agent sessions at once. Each session has its own git worktree and branch, so tasks do not interfere with each other. A session can run in a cloud sandbox, or you can configure a local sandbox to limit the resources agent-run tools can use on your machine.

Session modes:

Interactive — collaborative, you steer as you go
Plan — the agent plans and you approve before it executes
Autopilot — fully autonomous

You can choose the model and reasoning effort for each session.

GitHub Integration

Browse and find issues and start sessions from them
Create and close pull requests and review pull requests
View CI check results
Search across repositories

More Features

Automations — save recurring agent tasks and run them on a schedule or on demand
Chats — brainstorm in a conversation mode without creating a branch or workspace
Session history — /chronicle gives insights from previous sessions, and /chronicle cost tips surfaces expensive usage patterns
Canvases — custom, agent-driven artifacts where people and agents collaborate
Computer use — on macOS and Windows, local sessions can interact with desktop applications that have no API, CLI, or MCP integration
Customizations — global instructions, MCP servers, and agent skills
Models — multiple LLMs, including your own provider through bring your own key (BYOK)

The app may generate code that matches or nearly matches public code, even when the "Suggestions matching public code" policy is set to Block. It also consumes AI credits, so match model capability to task complexity.

Copilot App vs VS Code

	Copilot App	VS Code
Start from	GitHub issues, PRs, repositories	Files, selection, chat prompt
Session isolation	Own worktree + branch per session	Shared workspace (local sessions)
Built on	Copilot CLI	Editor, terminal, debugger, tests
Best for	GitHub-centric workflows, parallel async tasks	Active coding, file editing

VS Code also offers an Agents window for managing sessions across projects, and Copilot CLI sessions can be steered remotely, see Agents.

Getting Started

Download the app from the GitHub Copilot app repository (see the official docs)
Sign in with your GitHub account
Start your first session from an issue or an empty chat
Use the Give feedback icon at the bottom left to report issues

Cloud Agent — Background agent that returns pull requests
Agents — All Copilot agent types
Copilot Memory — Preferences that persist across sessions

Copilot App