Capability · Framework — agents

GitHub Copilot CLI

GitHub Copilot CLI (`gh copilot`) is the terminal front-end for GitHub Copilot, installed as a `gh` extension. It answers shell-command questions (`?`), explains existing commands (`explain`), and — in newer Copilot Agent variants — can execute multi-step tasks interactively in the terminal. Useful as the 'what is the flag for X' tool for engineers already using GitHub.

Framework facts

Category: agents
Language: Go / TypeScript
License: Proprietary (GitHub)
Repository: https://github.com/github/gh-copilot

Install

# Requires gh CLI + Copilot subscription
gh extension install github/gh-copilot

Quickstart

gh copilot suggest 'find all files larger than 1GB in /var'
gh copilot explain 'tar -czvf archive.tar.gz ./dir'

Alternatives

Aider — repo-scoped terminal agent
gptme — open-source terminal agent
Warp AI — terminal-native

Frequently asked questions

Is Copilot CLI the same as Copilot Workspace?

No. Copilot CLI is the terminal helper for shell commands. Copilot Workspace is a web-based product for entire task execution across a repo. Both sit under the GitHub Copilot umbrella.

Does it execute commands automatically?

Only on your confirmation — `suggest` prints commands and asks before running. Copilot Coding Agent (a separate product) can run tasks end-to-end inside Actions with review gates.

Sources

Copilot CLI docs — accessed 2026-04-20
gh-copilot GitHub — accessed 2026-04-20