The outcome
Catch plausible-looking mistakes before they enter review.
GitHub Copilot is a AI coding agent. Making scoped changes in a connected repository while reviewing the diff and carrying the work into a pull request. This guide narrows that broad capability into one repeatable outcome, with checkpoints that keep the source material and your judgment in the loop.
Before you begin
Set the boundary before the tool starts.
Choose one real task, identify who will use the result, and decide what evidence or test will make the result acceptable. Gather only the source material needed for that task. If the work contains confidential, personal, regulated, or client-owned information, confirm that the platform and account are approved before sharing it.
AI should make the work easier to inspect. If the workflow removes the source, the owner, or the review step, redesign the workflow.
Step by step
A workflow you can repeat.
- 01
Read the issue and acceptance criteria again before reading the implementation.
- 02
Inspect the diff without generated noise and identify every changed behavior.
- 03
Check trust boundaries, error paths, data handling, permissions, and backward compatibility.
- 04
Run focused tests, static checks, and the repository's standard validation.
- 05
Write a pull-request summary that distinguishes what was tested from what was only inspected.
Working standard
What good use looks like.
- Review dependencies separately.
- Test negative paths.
- Do not accept tests that merely mirror the implementation.
Connecting a repository grants the tool context about that codebase. Review organisation policy, model-provider credentials, and the generated diff before you accept or publish a change.
Official references
Check the current product documentation.
Features, plan limits, availability, and data controls change. These official pages are the starting points used for this collection.