GitHub opens agent tasks REST API

GitHub on May 13 put its Copilot cloud agent behind a public-preview REST API, extending a feature that had largely been started from GitHub surfaces and developer tools into something companies can call from their own software. The new “agent tasks” API lets organizations on Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise create, list and monitor cloud agent jobs with HTTP requests instead of only launching them from an editor, issue, chat panel or other GitHub interface. GitHub’s documentation says Copilot cloud agent runs in an ephemeral development environment powered by GitHub Actions, where it can inspect a repository, make code changes, run tests and linters, and open a pull request. The new API adds a direct programmatic entry point to that workflow. ### Which customers can actually use the new API? (github.blog) GitHub’s docs say the agent tasks API is available to organizations with Copilot Business or Copilot Enterprise, and that the feature is in public preview and subject to change. The broader Copilot cloud agent product is available on other paid plans, but GitHub limited this API rollout to the two business-focused tiers in the launch note. (docs.github.com) The May 13 changelog entry says those customers can “programmatically start Copilot cloud agent tasks,” while the companion docs describe the API as a way to integrate the cloud agent into “your own tools and workflows.” ### What does a call to the API actually do? GitHub’s how-to page says a client starts a task with a POST request to `/agents/repos/{owner}/{repo}/tasks`. (github.blog) The required field is `prompt`, and optional fields include `base_ref`, `model`, and `create_pull_request`. The same docs say users can list tasks for a repository, list their tasks across repositories they can access, and check the status of a specific task by task ID. (github.blog) The REST reference lists task states including `queued`, `in_progress`, `completed`, `failed`, `idle`, `waiting_for_user`, `timed_out`, and `cancelled`. ### How is this different from starting Copilot from GitHub or an IDE? (docs.github.com) GitHub’s existing documentation already lists a long set of places where cloud agent sessions can begin, including GitHub Issues, the agents tab on GitHub, Copilot Chat on GitHub.com, Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs, Eclipse, Visual Studio 2026, the GitHub CLI, GitHub Mobile, Slack, Teams, Jira, Linear and Azure Boards. The REST API adds another path: software can now trigger agent work directly through an authenticated request. (docs.github.com) GitHub has been widening administrative control around the agent in recent months. A March 24 changelog post introduced public-preview REST APIs for organization owners to manage which repositories can use Copilot coding agent, and an April 15 update added APIs and AI Controls settings to enable Copilot cloud agent for selected organizations through custom properties. (docs.github.com) ### What does GitHub require for authentication and permissions? GitHub’s docs say the agent tasks API supports only user-to-server tokens. Accepted credentials include fine-grained personal access tokens, OAuth app tokens and GitHub App user-to-server tokens, while GitHub App installation access tokens and other server-to-server tokens are not supported. (github.blog) The REST reference says repository-level access requires the “Agent tasks” permission, with read access for listing tasks. GitHub’s launch materials do not describe a separate inheritance model for the agent beyond those token and repository permission requirements. ### What does GitHub say about cost and usage tracking? GitHub’s cloud agent documentation says the agent runs in an environment powered by GitHub Actions. (docs.github.com) Earlier GitHub materials on the coding agent said using the agent consumes GitHub Actions minutes and Copilot premium requests, starting from plan entitlements, and GitHub has separately added cloud-agent fields and code-review comment types to usage metrics this year. (docs.github.com) The May 13 API launch note does not add new pricing details. GitHub’s documentation instead points users to its usage-based billing materials for organizations and enterprises and says the preview API can be used to start and manage tasks programmatically. ### Where does GitHub point developers next? GitHub’s docs direct developers to the REST API reference for agent tasks and to the “Using Copilot cloud agent via the API” guide for request examples and supported authentication methods. (docs.github.com) The changelog entry published on May 13 links to both resources as the public preview begins. (github.blog) (docs.github.com)