Rob Bos demonstrates hands-on techniques for using the GitHub Copilot Coding Agent to automate real development tasks, highlighting workflow automation, practical prompts, and DevOps best practices.

GitHub Copilot Coding Agent: Practical Automation Examples

Author: Rob Bos
Date posted: 20 Dec 2025

This post explores several practical ways to leverage the GitHub Copilot Coding Agent for automating coding tasks, with a focus on streamlining developer workflows and improving efficiency. The Coding Agent relies on AI to help you write, review, and refactor code by interpreting prompts from a variety of launch points and executing them securely inside GitHub Actions environments.

Key Features

  • AI-powered automation: Uses machine learning to process coding prompts and automate complex development tasks.
  • Integrated with GitHub Actions: Secure execution inside workflows, providing context-aware automation with network lockdown capabilities for added security.
  • Multiple launch points: Invoke the Coding Agent directly from your editor, repository UI, chat interface, or during repo creation.
  • Security and Architecture: Detailed documentation is provided by GitHub, outlining how runtime environments are secured (read more).

Starting a Coding Agent Session

You can initiate a Coding Agent session in several ways:

  • From your editor (Copilot Chat in VS Code):
    • Gather prompt context during chat, then use the “hand off to Cloud Agent” command to delegate execution.

    • Note: As of December 2025, VS Code is the primary supported editor.

  • Agent Task panel in a repo context (on github.com):
    • Utilize the “Agent Tasks” UI tab to automate codebase-specific tasks, such as fixing failed workflows or modifying configuration files.
  • During repository creation through the GitHub UI:
    • Configure initial project parameters and attach an automation prompt for immediate execution post-creation. Useful for bootstrapping and scaffolding new projects.
  • Via chat interface on github.com:
    • Start a session in the web chat by giving context and prompts, then hand them off to the Coding Agent for execution in the background.

Example Prompts for Developer Automation

1. Fixing Failing GitHub Actions Workflows

Look at the failing workflow here <link> or just <name>. Find out why it's failing, define if the error makes sense, fix if necessary, or suggest better approaches.

2. Analyzing Multiple Workflow Runs

Check the last two workflow runs for <workflow name>. If the executions log shows no new data, diagnose and resolve the problem.

3. Adding Functionality to a Repo

  • Example: Registering a stdio MCP server
  • Add contextual docs directly from relevant GitHub repositories.
  • Example JSON snippet:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "playwright": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": "npx",
      "tools": ["*"],
      "args": ["@playwright/mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}
  • Supplement with external documentation to guide the agent and ensure accurate configuration (e.g., server-json docs).

4. Bootstrapping Repositories

  • During repo creation, use the prompt field to instruct the agent on initial scaffolding. Note character limits (500 chars) when submitting prompts.

5. Offloading Directly from Chat

  • Summarize a development task in the chat UI, then click “Continue in Cloud” or similar options to begin background execution.
  • Example:
Please create a new branch and add a GitHub Actions workflow that does X, Y, and Z. Follow best practices for secrets and configuration.

Practical Tips and Insights

  • Review the security and logging features before using automation on sensitive codebases.
  • Use detailed, context-rich prompts for the best automation outcomes.
  • Review pull requests generated by the Coding Agent to learn about its process and prompt transformation.
  • Consult official documentation and explore related community resources for deeper understanding.

References

This guide by Rob Bos offers hands-on examples and lessons learned for developers seeking to automate everyday coding and DevOps tasks using the GitHub Copilot Coding Agent.

This post appeared first on “Rob Bos’ Blog”. Read the entire article here