--- name: Copilot Delegate slug: copilot-delegate category: AI Engineering description: Copilot Delegate hands a bounded coding task to the GitHub Copilot CLI as a background implementer, then reviews the diff and commits it. Use when the user wants to delegate implementation work to Copilot or run a queue of coding tasks while staying the reviewer. github: "https://github.com/amElnagdy/delegate-skills/tree/master/skills/copilot-delegate" language: JavaScript stars: 1188 forks: 111 install: "npx degit https://github.com/amElnagdy/delegate-skills/tree/master/skills/copilot-delegate ~/.claude/skills/copilot-delegate" installs_to: ~/.claude/skills/copilot-delegate source_path: skills/copilot-delegate/SKILL.md collection_size: 15 category_size: 2451 collection_url: "https://dirskills.com/collections/amElnagdy/delegate-skills" added: 2026-08-20T07:55:38.021Z last_synced: 2026-08-20T07:55:38.021Z canonical_url: "https://dirskills.com/skills/copilot-delegate" --- # Copilot Delegate Copilot Delegate hands a bounded coding task to the GitHub Copilot CLI as a background implementer, then reviews the diff and commits it. Use when the user wants to delegate implementation work to Copilot or run a queue of coding tasks while staying the reviewer. **Install:** ```bash npx degit https://github.com/amElnagdy/delegate-skills/tree/master/skills/copilot-delegate ~/.claude/skills/copilot-delegate ``` ## README # Copilot Delegate You are the **orchestrator**. Delegate a bounded coding task to a separate **implementer** — the GitHub Copilot CLI — then review what it produced and land it yourself. You write the brief and own the judgment; the implementer makes changes in its own session in a clean working tree; you verify and commit. The loop needs only a shell command and file access, so any comparable orchestrator can drive it. ## When NOT to use this - The task is small enough to do inline; delegation overhead is not worth it. - The `copilot` CLI is not installed or authenticated. - You need a hard sandbox. Copilot exposes sandbox controls, but they are upstream-experimental (MXC-based, controlled via the `/sandbox` command and settings, disabled by default) — this relay does not configure them. `--read-only` only disables edit tools (`--mode plan`); shell commands still run. If project files must not change at all, dispatch against a clean or isolated worktree. ## Prerequisites (check once) 1. Install `copilot` (`npm install -g @github/copilot`; the CLI requires Node 22+, the relay itself runs on Node 18+ — the relay probes `copilot version`). 2. Authenticate: run `copilot login` (interactive web/device flow), or set `COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN` / `GH_TOKEN` / `GITHUB_TOKEN` in the environment. 3. Confirm `copilot version` succeeds. 4. Work in, or point `--cd` at, the target git repository. ## Choose the model (optional) Copilot picks a default model (`auto`). To choose another, pass `--model `. The relay accepts letters, digits, and `. _ : / -` only (the value reaches a shell on Windows). ## Choose the effort (optional) Copilot supports a reasoning effort dial: `--effort ` with values `low`, `medium`, `high`, `xhigh`, or `max`. The relay rejects any other value before dispatch. ## The loop Run these five steps per task. Steps 1, 4, and 5 require judgment; 2 and 3 are mechanical. ### 1. Write a brief Copilot sees only the text you send. It cannot read your conversation: the brief must stand alone with the goal, current state, what to change, what to leave untouched, the project's **real** gates, and a report contract. Keep each brief to a single task. Write it to a file and pass it as the relay's `--brief`. See [references/writing-the-brief.md](references/writing-the-brief.md). ### 2. Dispatch Use the bundled relay. It runs `copilot -p` with `--output-format json --no-color --stream off`, captures the JSONL event stream, and writes `result.json`. ```bash node "/scripts/relay.mjs" --brief brief.txt --cd /path/to/repo # choose a model: add --model # set reasoning effort: add --effort # read-only planning pass: add --read-only (forces --mode plan) # full tool autonomy: add --allow-all-tools # hard time limit (watchdog): add --timeout 2h (the 30m default suits brief runs) # resume a session: add --session or --resume-last # see all options: node .../relay.mjs --help ``` The child's cwd pins the workspace. The relay writes artifacts under the system temp dir by default and never commits. See [references/dispatch-and-poll.md](references/dispatch-and-poll.md). ### 3. Wait for completion The relay blocks until copilot finishes. Run it with the orchestrator's background-command facility, or background it in the shell and poll for `result.json`. A pre-run usage error exits 2 and writes no result; a missing `copilot` exits 127 and writes `status: "copilot_unavailable"`. Completion means the process exited and `result.json` exists — trust process state and the working tree, not the progress display. Copilot's final assistant message is the `finalMessage` field of `result.json`. ### 4. Review — do not trust the self-report - Re-run the project's gates yourself. - Read the diff against the brief, starting with `touchedFiles`. - Run relevant guard skills if installed. See [references/review-and-land.md](references/review-and-land.md). ### 5. Land it If the work is good, commit it. The relay never commits — the diff and `result.json` are the record; run `git status` and `git diff` first to confirm exactly what changed. If the group has a PR flow, make the commit and push a branch; let human review happen. If the diff is wrong or incomplete, re-dispatch a corrected brief in a fresh run and review again. ## Autonomy and permissions Without `--allow-all-tools`, copilot auto-denies tool calls in headless mode: the process exits 0 but the relay detects the denial events and reports `status: "failed"` with the CLI's own error message and a hint to pass `--allow-all-tools`. This is the honest default — the orchestrator sees the failure rather than a silent no-op. `--allow-all-tools` explicitly grants full tool autonomy. `--read-only` selects `--mode plan`, which disables edit tools so project files can't be changed by direct edits; it works without `--allow-all-tools`. Shell commands still run in plan mode, so it guards against edits, not against everything. The two flags are mutually exclusive. Copilot also exposes sandbox controls, but they are upstream-experimental (MXC-based, controlled via the `/sandbox` command and settings, disabled by default). This relay does not configure them. ## Authorization model Delegation is something the human opts into. Once briefed, copilot works as a tool you approved use of. The boundary is: **do not accept conclusions from the self-report**; verify everything on disk. For anything touching credentials, production data, or irreversible operations, stop and ask the human first instead of encoding it in a brief. ## References - [references/writing-the-brief.md](references/writing-the-brief.md) — structure, scope, gates, brief delivery. - [references/dispatch-and-poll.md](references/dispatch-and-poll.md) — flags, artifacts, `result.json`, and failure recovery. - [references/review-and-land.md](references/review-and-land.md) — what to verify before calling the diff done, at the end of a run. - [references/multi-task-queues.md](references/multi-task-queues.md) — sequential queues, constraint carry-forward, progress tracking, and the final coherence pass.