We recently released the GitHub Copilot Coding Agent for Azure Boards to all customers. If you’re not already familiar with it, we recommend taking a few minutes to read this blog post for an overview and details.
One of the top requests from customers using the GitHub Copilot Coding Agent for Azure Boards has been the ability to select and use custom agents defined at the GitHub repository or organization level. In this update, we’re excited to share that support for custom agents is on the way.
Custom agents in GitHub Copilot are tailored versions of the Copilot coding agent that you can define once to follow your own workflows, coding conventions, and tool preferences. They act like specialized teammates that consistently apply your team’s standards instead of you repeating the same instructions each time. You configure custom agents using Markdown-based agent profiles that specify prompts, tools, and behaviors.
Example agent
Learn more about Custom Agents
Creating a custom agent involves defining a specialized Copilot coding agent profile that lives in a GitHub repository and includes tailored instructions, tools, and behavior for specific workflows or tasks. You build the custom agent by creating a .agent.md profile file (often in a .github/agents folder) and committing it to a repository. Once merged, that agent appears in the Copilot agents dropdown for use. At the organization level, owners can set up a dedicated .github-private repository to house custom agent profiles that are available across all or selected repositories within the organization. This lets teams standardize custom agents for shared workflows without duplicating agent configurations in each individual repo.
Learn more about creating custom agents and creating custom agents in VS Code
Once you have created a custom agent at the repository or organization level, it will automatically be available in Azure DevOps. When you choose to create a pull request from a work item, you’ll see a new agent selection control next to the repository list.
After selecting a custom agent and clicking Create, that agent will be used to generate the code changes and create the pull request in the selected repository.
The post Azure Boards integration with GitHub Copilot includes custom agent support appeared first on Azure DevOps Blog.
