Copilot cannot be assigned to PRs

[nozaq]

Describe the bug
A clear and concise description of what the bug is.

Currently the only way to assign Copilot to pull requests is to assign Copilot to an issue then let it create a PR. Once Copilot is unassigned from the PR, it cannot be assigned back.

It should be possible to assign Copilot to pull requests, not just issues.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Go to any Pull Request detail page.
2. Click on 'Assignees' on the right side panel.
3. Type 'Copilot'.
4. No user appears.

Expected behavior

'Copilot' user is shown as an assignee candidate so we can assign Copilot to the PR.

Screenshots
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Additional context
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Related thread: https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/159068#discussioncomment-13409799

This becomes especially problematic when you want another reviewer to review a PR that Copilot created on behalf of your account.
If the reviewer leaves a comment, Copilot will pick it up and automatically start a session to respond to it without your approval.
To prevent this behavior, you need to unassign Copilot from the PR first, so that you and the reviewer can discuss it without triggering a new Copilot session.
However, due to this issue, you aren't able to reassign Copilot to the PR afterward, so Copilot cannot continue working on the PR after the code review.

[nhu-do]

Thanks for posting this here @nozaq ! We are looking into this issue and prioritizing it against other initiatives. For those following along - we've found that this typically occurs on personal repositories only. Please let me know if that is not your experience! 🙏🏼

[nozaq]

@nhu-do Thank you for sharing the situation! We're experiencing this issue in our Enterprise repositories, not personal ones.

[nhu-do]

Would you mind sharing the name of the enterprise that you're seeing this one to help with debugging? If you aren't comfortable posting on this public forum, feel free to email me at nhu-do@github.com 😄

[nozaq]

@nhu-do I've just emailed you the name of our enterprise that's experiencing this issue 👍🏼

[pamelafox]

I would love if I could assign Copilot to take over a PR. Not sure if that's the same thing? My scenario is that Dependabot keeps sending PRs that are incorrect, and I currently have to manually take over to do the upgrade correctly, but I want Copilot to take over those PRs instead. Currently I have to make an issue that says "Do this package upgrade, see PR #N for why it failed", which is roundabout.

[nhu-do]

@pamelafox Thanks for sharing your feedback! Taking over a PR is a slightly different feature than what is reported here. In this scenario, Copilot created a PR, a user unassigned Copilot to prevent the agent from responding to comments, then a user reassigns Copilot to continue to iterate. This is a current workaround to prevent the agent from acting on comments. We are working towards a fix for the review comment functionality for a more deterministic experience, shipping very soon 👀

Regarding letting Copilot take over a PR that it did not create, that's something that we are driving towards as well. I will capture your feedback in our board. Thank you!

[pamelafox]

Ahh I see, thanks for clarifying. I'm looking forward to the ability for Copilot to take over a PR. Thanks!

[nhu-do]

Hi @nozaq, we've just shipped the fix to reassign Copilot to an existing Copilot PR. Would you mind validating whether it works for you?

[boneskull]

@nhu-do Just wanted to chime in and request this feature. I have a PR created by Renovate's bot that I want Copilot to iterate on.