Choosing a setup path for Copilot SDK

Find the right setup guide that matches how you plan to use SDK do Copilot.

Quem pode usar esse recurso?

SDK do GitHub Copilot está disponível com todos os Copilot planos.

Neste artigo

Observação

SDK do Copilot is currently in versão prévia técnica. Functionality and availability are subject to change.

Architecture overview

Every SDK do GitHub Copilot integration follows the same core pattern: your application talks to the SDK, which communicates with CLI do Copilot over JSON-RPC. What changes across setups is where the CLI runs, how users authenticate, and how sessions are managed.

Who are you?

Hobbyist

You're building a personal assistant, side project, or experimental app. You want the simplest path to getting Copilot in your code.

Start with:

  1. Using a local CLI with Copilot SDK—use the CLI already signed in on your machine.
  2. Using a bundled CLI with Copilot SDK—package everything into a standalone app.

Internal app developer

You're building tools for your team or company. Users are employees who need to authenticate with their enterprise GitHub accounts or org memberships.

Start with:

  1. Using GitHub OAuth with Copilot SDK—let employees sign in with their GitHub accounts.
  2. Setting up Copilot SDK for backend services—run the SDK in your internal services.

If scaling beyond a single server:

  1. Scaling Copilot SDK deployments—handle multiple users and services.

App developer (ISV)

You're building a product for customers. You need to handle authentication for your users—either through GitHub or by managing identity yourself.

Start with:

  1. Using GitHub OAuth with Copilot SDK—let customers sign in with GitHub.
  2. BYOK in the github/copilot-sdk repository—manage identity with your own model keys.
  3. Setting up Copilot SDK for backend services—power your product from server-side code.

For production:

  1. Scaling Copilot SDK deployments—serve many customers reliably.

Platform developer

You're embedding Copilot into a platform—APIs, developer tools, or infrastructure that other developers build on. You need fine-grained control over sessions, scaling, and multi-tenancy.

Start with:

  1. Setting up Copilot SDK for backend services—core server-side integration.
  2. Scaling Copilot SDK deployments—session isolation, horizontal scaling, persistence.

Depending on your authentication model:

  1. Using GitHub OAuth with Copilot SDK—for GitHub-authenticated users.
  2. BYOK in the github/copilot-sdk repository—for self-managed identity and model access.

Decision matrix

Use this table to find the right guide based on what you need to do.

What you needGuide
Simplest possible setupUsing a local CLI with Copilot SDK
Ship a standalone app with CopilotUsing a bundled CLI with Copilot SDK
Users sign in with GitHubUsing GitHub OAuth with Copilot SDK
Use your own model keys (OpenAI, Azure, etc.)BYOK in the github/copilot-sdk repository
Azure BYOK with Managed Identity (no API keys)Using Azure Managed Identity with Copilot SDK
Run the SDK on a serverSetting up Copilot SDK for backend services
Serve multiple users or scale horizontallyScaling Copilot SDK deployments

Prerequisites

All guides assume you have:

  • CLI do Copilot installed. For more information, see Instalando o CLI do GitHub Copilot.
  • One of the SDKs installed:
    • Node.js: npm install @github/copilot-sdk
    • Python: pip install github-copilot-sdk
    • Go: go get github.com/github/copilot-sdk/go
    • .NET: dotnet add package GitHub.Copilot.SDK

If you're new to the SDK do GitHub Copilot, start with Introdução ao SDK do Copilot first, then return here for production configuration.

Next steps

Pick the guide that matches your situation from the decision matrix above, or start with the persona description closest to your role.