Copilot CLI: Automation, Programmatic Mode, Scripts, and GitHub Actions

description=$(copilot -p "Describe this file briefly: $file" -s 2>/dev/null)

# Store Copilot output in a shell variable.

echo "Summarize the changelog impact of this commit" | copilot > summary.txt

# Generate output for downstream steps.

copilot --allow-all-tools -p "Run the test suite, inspect the failures, and propose the minimal patch."

# Let Copilot use tools during a non-interactive run.

copilot -p "Generate release notes from recent commits." --share=./copilot-session.md

# Save the output session to Markdown.

copilot -p "Summarize open pull requests assigned to me." --share-gist

# Publish the transcript as a gist.

copilot -p "Explain the risk profile of this generated migration: ./db/migrations/20260327_add_index.sql"

# Use a one-off prompt to inspect generated artifacts or source files.

- run: brew install copilot-cli

# Bootstrap Copilot in a GitHub Actions runner.

- run: npm install -g @github/copilot

# Use Node-based installation in CI.

env:
  COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}

# Authenticate programmatically in a workflow step.

- run: copilot -p "Summarize recent repository activity for the release report."

# Execute Copilot in a job step.

- run: copilot -p "Generate a brief test report from the logs in this directory." > report.md

# Persist generated text for later workflow steps.

while IFS= read -r -d "" file; do
  description=$(copilot -p "Describe this file briefly: $file" -s 2>/dev/null)
  echo "$file => $description"
done < <(find . -type f -size +10M -print0)

# Use Copilot inside a `while` loop.

git log --oneline -20 | copilot > release-notes.md

# Combine git and Copilot for release automation.

copilot -p "Review the SQL files in ./migrations for locking risk, data loss risk, and rollback gaps."

# Use Copilot as a quick reviewer in a script.

copilot -p "Create a concise onboarding guide for this repository with setup, test, build, and deployment commands." > onboarding.md

# Generate repo setup instructions in Markdown.