GitHub Copilot for Developers

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Course Information

Instructor: Tim Warner - Microsoft MVP, MCT

Duration: 4 hours (4 x ~55 minute segments with breaks)

Platform: O’Reilly Live Training (ON24)

Connect with Tim

• 📧 Email: [email protected]
• 🌐 Website: TechTrainerTim.com
• 🐦 Bluesky: @techtrainertim.bsky.social
• 💼 LinkedIn: Timothy Warner
• 🎥 YouTube: @TechTrainerTim
• 📚 O’Reilly: Timothy Warner

Course Structure (July 2026)

Segment 1: Foundations & Core Workflow

• AI Credits are the billing model (since June 1, 2026; premium requests are legacy; 1 credit = $0.01 USD; token-metered on input, output, and cached tokens)
• Code completions and Next Edit Suggestions are unlimited on paid plans and consume zero credits
• Subscription tiers including the new Copilot Max ($100/mo) and Student plan
• Copilot Business self-serve sign-ups show a pause banner for orgs on GitHub Free/Team — verify live
• VS Code 1.129.x setup — Copilot Chat is built in; Agent Host runs Copilot, Claude, and Codex harnesses
• Chat interface basics (Ctrl+I inline, sidebar chat)
• Chat participants (@workspace, @terminal, @vscode, @github)
• Slash commands (/explain, /fix, /tests, /doc, /new, /troubleshoot)
• Context and file references (#file, #selection, #changes, #codebase)
• Prompt engineering fundamentals
• Responsible AI foundations

Segment 2: Chat Power Features & Multi-File Operations

• Chat modes (Ask vs Edit vs Agent)
• Copilot Edit mode for controlled multi-file refactoring
• Custom instructions: .github/copilot-instructions.md, path-scoped .github/instructions/*.instructions.md (applyTo required, excludeAgent optional), and AGENTS.md (nearest in the tree wins)
• Prompt files (.github/prompts/*.prompt.md) — use agent:; mode: is gone from the docs
• Unified chat customization editor
• Auto model selection as the default paradigm — Free and Student get Auto only; enterprises can set Auto as the org default
• Current model lineup: GPT-5.6 family, GPT-5.5/5.4, Claude Opus 4.8, Sonnet 5, Fable 5, Gemini 3.5/3.6 Flash, MAI-Code-1-Flash, Kimi K2.7 Code
• Debugging workflows and iteration loops
• Next Edit Suggestions (free, zero credits)
• Copilot Vision — GA July 1, 2026: images and PDFs, all tiers including Free

Segment 3: Agentic Features & Advanced Workflows

• Agent Mode in VS Code with Plan mode, Autopilot mode, and sub-agent delegation (Explore, Task, Code Review, Plan)
• Copilot cloud agent (renamed from “coding agent” in April 2026) — async work on GitHub’s infrastructure
• GitHub Copilot CLI — install @github/copilot (not @github/copilot-cli); binary is copilot; Node 22+; PowerShell 6+ on Windows
• Custom Agents (.github/agents/*.agent.md) — description required; target, disable-model-invocation, user-invocable optional; infer retired; 30,000-char body limit
• Agent Skills (.github/skills//SKILL.md) — portable open standard; name and description required
• Model Context Protocol — current finalized spec 2025-11-25; the 2026-07-28 revision ships July 28, 2026
• MCP servers replaced Copilot Extensions, which were disabled November 10, 2025
• Copilot Memory (public preview) — removed if unused for 28 days; the timer resets on use
• Copilot SDK GA (June 2, 2026) and the Copilot app (GA to all plans July 7, 2026)
• Testing workflows, TDD, and migration scenarios

Segment 4: Enterprise Features, Spaces & Governance

• GitHub Copilot Spaces (GA Sep 2025; persistent context hubs)
• Organization-level custom instructions
• Copilot Code Review — agentic tool calling, CodeQL and ESLint, hand-off to the cloud agent; consumes GitHub Actions minutes since June 1, 2026
• Content exclusion gap: CLI, cloud agent, and Agent mode (plus Edit mode) do not support content exclusion. The cloud agent can see and update excluded files
• Enterprise AI Controls / agent control plane (GA Feb 26, 2026), managed-settings.json (GA July 1, 2026), MCP allowlists (still preview)
• Audit logs with agent attribution and agent_session.task events
• Copilot Metrics (GA Feb 27, 2026); repository-level metrics GA July 17, 2026; AI credits per user in the API
• AI Credit governance: cost centers, credit pooling, per-user budgets
• IDE expansion: JetBrains, Eclipse, Xcode, Visual Studio 2026
• GH-300 Certification overview — seven domains, weightings unchanged; revision effective August 7, 2026

Model Options (July 2026)

Navigate to the supported models reference and the models and pricing table live rather than reciting rates. The roster changes often.

Auto model selection picks per request unless you pin. Several models support 1M-token context and configurable reasoning levels.

Retired: GPT-5.2, Claude Sonnet 4 (May 6, 2026), Claude Opus 4.1 / GPT-5 / GPT-5-Codex (Feb 17, 2026), plus 20+ models since October 2025.

What’s New (July 2026)

• AI Credits cutover completed June 1, 2026 — premium requests are legacy. 1 credit = $0.01, token-metered. No rollover; allowance resets at 00:00:00 UTC monthly.
• Copilot Max — new $100/mo tier with 20,000 credits.
• Business/Enterprise promotional credits — existing customers get 3,000 and 7,000 credits per user for June 1 to September 1, 2026. Last covered month is August.
• Claude Sonnet 5 GA (June 30) and Copilot app GA to all plans (July 7).
• Copilot SDK GA (June 2) — TypeScript, Python, Go, .NET, Rust, Java.
• Copilot Vision GA (July 1) — images and PDFs, all tiers including Free.
• Agent Finder GA (June 17) — implements the Agentic Resource Discovery (ARD) spec.
• Repository-level usage metrics GA (July 17); AI credits per user added to the metrics API (June 19).
• VS Code 1.129.1 (July 15) — Agent Host process, session-management tools, ! terminal prefix.
• Gemini 3.6 Flash added July 21, 2026.
• Coming: MCP spec 2026-07-28 ships July 28; used_copilot_coding_agent metrics field deprecates August 1; GH-300 revision effective August 7.

Subscription Tiers (July 2026)

Billing is usage-based on GitHub AI Credits. 1 AI credit = $0.01 USD. Base credits match the subscription price one-for-one; the flex allotment sits on top and is designed to change as AI economics change. Credits do not roll over, and the allowance resets at 00:00:00 UTC on the first of each month.

Code completions and Next Edit Suggestions are unlimited on paid plans and consume zero credits. Credits are spent by chat, agent mode, code review, cloud agent, CLI, and Copilot Apps.

GitHub publishes no numeric credit figure for Free or Student. Free includes 2,000 code completions per month; Student includes unlimited completions.

Promotional allowance, June 1 to September 1, 2026: existing Business customers receive 3,000 credits per user and existing Enterprise customers 7,000 credits per user. Seat prices did not change, the last covered month is August, and it applies to existing customers only.

Verified July 21, 2026. Overage bills at published per-model token rates, not a flat per-credit fee. See models and pricing.

Prerequisites

• GitHub account (Free plan includes Copilot with 2,000 monthly code completions)
• Visual Studio Code 1.129+ (Copilot Chat is built in)
• Basic understanding of Git and GitHub
• Familiarity with at least one programming language

Copilot Links

Verified 2026-07-22. Grouped for the way you actually use them: get people running, find what others built, get certified.

1. Enablement - get up and running

Sign up and set up

IDE and client setup

Hands-on learning

Staying current (this product changes weekly)

Billing note: AI Credits replaced premium requests on June 1, 2026. 1 credit = $0.01. The annual-plan multiplier table is legacy and applies only to Pro and Pro+ annual subscribers who stayed on request-based billing.

2. Resources - galleries, collections, and standards

Awesome Copilot - the community collection

Install a plugin bundle straight from the marketplace, which is pre-registered in current CLI and VS Code builds:

copilot plugin install @awesome-copilot

Agent Skills - the open, portable standard

A SKILL.md written for Copilot also works in Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex CLI. Originally from Anthropic, now a cross-vendor standard. GitHub docs assign the feature no GA or preview label - do not invent one.

MCP - connect Copilot to everything else

The npm package @modelcontextprotocol/server-github is deprecated. Use the hosted server or the Go binary.

Customization reference

3. Certification - GH-300

Exam at a glance

Official links

Seven domains (weightings unchanged for the Aug 7 revision)

The blueprint really does list both “Use GitHub Copilot features” and “GitHub Copilot features.” That is Microsoft own wording, not a typo in this README.

Study path

1. MS Learn: Copilot Fundamentals Pt. 1 and Pt. 2
2. GH-300 study guide - map each domain to hands-on practice
3. docs/certification/ in this repo - exam objectives and study notes
4. Free practice assessment, then the sandbox for UI familiarity

Exam questions cover GA features, and preview features can appear when they are commonly used. Agent Mode, MCP, Plan Mode, sub-agents, Spaces, Spark, and Copilot CLI are already in the current objectives - the August 7 revision is an incremental refresh (three areas marked Minor), not a rewrite.

Reference inputs (this repo)

• docs/references/microsoft-style-guide.md - Microsoft Writing Style Guide for prose matching Microsoft house voice
• docs/references/fictional-companies.md - Microsoft fictional companies for scenario stems
• docs/certification/ - GH-300 exam objectives and study notes
• COURSE_PLAN_JULY_2026.md - the presenter run sheet for this delivery

License

MIT License - See LICENSE for details