GitHub has introduced a new assistant — an AI agent capable of performing programming tasks on its own. From now on, the tool not only suggests lines of code, but also independently fixes errors, adds new functionality, and updates documentation.
GitHub has introduced a new assistant — an AI agent capable of performing programming tasks on its own. From now on, the tool not only suggests lines of code, but also independently fixes errors, adds new functionality, and updates documentation.
According to The Verge, the update was presented at the Microsoft Build conference. Unlike previous versions, the new GitHub Copilot agent has the ability to fully work with the project: it launches a virtual machine, clones the repository, analyzes the code base, makes changes and saves them. During work, it keeps a log session with an explanation of its actions. After completing the task, the agent tags the developer for review, and can automatically make edits based on comments.
GitHub Copilot first appeared in 2021 as a code completion tool based on the OpenAI Codex model. Since then, the platform has received several updates that have gradually expanded its functionality. The launch of a full-fledged AI agent is an attempt to make Copilot not just an assistant, but an autonomous task performer in the workflow.
The AI also reads context from related discussions in pull requests and issues, and follows custom instructions from the repository. This allows it to better understand the goal of the task and the specifics of the team’s code style.
The agent is currently available to Copilot Enterprise and Copilot Pro Plus users via GitHub, a mobile app, and a command-line interface. Microsoft has also announced the open source release of Copilot for Visual Studio Code, allowing developers to customize it to their needs.
GitHub is not the only player in the AI agent market. Similar products have already been introduced by Google (Jules) and OpenAI (Codex). But Copilot has the advantage of integrating directly into the GitHub ecosystem, where millions of projects are already hosted.
Recently, our news feed also reported that ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team users will be able to connect their GitHub repositories for deep research and in-depth code analysis.
