copilot-cli
Reference knowledge base for GitHub Copilot CLI. Use when answering questions about Copilot CLI features, commands, configuration, plugins, hooks, skills, MCP servers, custom agents, automation, or troubleshooting CLI workflows. Do NOT use for general Git/GitHub questions, VS Code Copilot Chat, or IDE-only Copilot features.
Install via CLI (Recommended)
clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/awalesagar/copilot-cli-baseCopilot CLI Reference Skill
GitHub Copilot CLI is a terminal-native AI coding agent. This skill provides reference docs for all features, commands, and operational patterns.
When to Use
✅ USE this skill when:
- Answering questions about Copilot CLI features, commands, or configuration
- Setting up CI/CD automation with Copilot CLI or GitHub Actions
- Troubleshooting Copilot CLI errors, auth, or rate limits
- Creating custom agents, plugins, hooks, or MCP server integrations
- Writing prompts for programmatic/autopilot execution
- Comparing Copilot CLI vs Claude Code for a specific use case
❌ DON'T use this skill when:
- General Git or GitHub questions unrelated to Copilot CLI (→ use git CLI / GitHub skill)
- VS Code Copilot Chat or Copilot Edits features (→ IDE-specific docs)
- GitHub Actions workflows that don't involve Copilot (→ Actions docs)
- Copilot Workspace or other non-CLI Copilot products
Setup
Install: npm install -g @github/copilot (or via GitHub CLI extension)
Auth: copilot → trust directory → /login
Config: edit ~/.copilot/config.json directly (no copilot config set command)
See references/getting-started.md for full installation, authentication, and configuration details.
Quick Reference
Interactive: copilot → trust directory → /login → prompt
Programmatic: copilot -p "PROMPT" --yolo --no-ask-user -s
With permissions: copilot -p "PROMPT" --allow-tool='shell(git:*), write' --no-ask-user
Autopilot: copilot --autopilot --yolo --max-autopilot-continues 10 -p "PROMPT"
Custom agent: copilot -p "PROMPT" --agent=my-agent
Model override: copilot -p "PROMPT" --model claude-opus-4.6
Plan mode: Shift+Tab to cycle modes (standard/plan/autopilot)
Research: /research TOPIC → deep report with citations
Fleet: /fleet PROMPT → parallel subagent execution
Chronicle: /chronicle standup · tips · improve · reindex
Copilot CLI vs Claude Code
| Need | Copilot CLI | Claude Code |
|---|---|---|
| Rate-limited on Claude Code | ✅ Use as fallback | — |
| CI/CD automation | ✅ Built-in Actions support | Limited |
| Clean stdout (no PTY/ANSI) | — | ✅ Better |
| Long iterative reviews | ✅ Better for many iterations | — |
See references/patterns-and-best-practices.md for the full decision matrix.
Key Gotchas
Automation:
- Always use
-p(not-i) for automation —-ihangs - Always set
--max-autopilot-continues=Nin CI/CD to prevent runaway loops - Size timeouts by complexity: 120s (simple) → 1800s (large)
- Background servers die between exec spawns — restart each time
Metadata
Not sure this is the right skill?
Describe what you want to build — we'll match you to the best skill from 16,000+ options.
Find the right skillPaste this into your clawhub.json to enable this plugin.
{
"plugins": {
"official-awalesagar-copilot-cli-base": {
"enabled": true,
"auto_update": true
}
}
}