[Improvement]: Clarify Copilot Chat usage for Coding Agent in 'About assigning tasks to Copilot' #38711
Description
Code of Conduct
- I have read and agree to the GitHub Docs project's Code of Conduct
What article on docs.github.com is affected?
The article "About assigning tasks to Copilot" should be improved to clearly explain how users can engage the Coding Agent directly from Copilot Chat. Currently, the documentation lists two ways to use the Coding Agent (assigning issues and using Copilot Chat), but it is not clear how to use the Chat method in practice. Feedback from a GitHub Star user highlights confusion about how to use Copilot Chat to delegate tasks, especially distinguishing between Agent mode and Coding Agent mode in different interfaces (GitHub.com vs. VS Code).
Background context from Slack
A GitHub Star user reported:
As per the excerpt from the documentation - https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/copilot/using-github-copilot/coding-agent/about-assigning-tasks-to-copilot#overview-of-copilot-coding-agent - there are two ways to engage with coding agent.
To delegate development tasks to Copilot, you can:
- Assign an issue to Copilot
- Use GitHub Copilot Chat to ask Copilot to create a pull request
Assigning issues is straightforward and working fine.
But, how to engage the coding agent via GitHub Copilot chat is not clear. I tried to provide prompts in GitHub.com using the repository scope, but no luck. Providing the same prompt in VS Code Chat in Agent mode creates the files using Agent mode and not Coding agent.
@hubwriter wrote:
There is a small improvement needed here, thanks.
Some historical context. Before CCA from Chat was added (just before Build) the docs were all about assigning issues to Copilot. The main article was https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/copilot/using-github-copilot/coding-agent/about-assigning-tasks-to-copilot - which is the one this GitHub Star was looking at. We added a short article about using CCA from Chat (https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/copilot/using-github-copilot/coding-agent/asking-copilot-to-create-a-pull-request), which is what this person needed to read.
We should add an issue to make that more obvious in the docs.
Which existing articles, if any, are affected?
- https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/copilot/using-github-copilot/coding-agent/about-assigning-tasks-to-copilot
- https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/copilot/using-github-copilot/coding-agent/asking-copilot-to-create-a-pull-request
Who does this affect?
- Users of GitHub Copilot who want to use the Coding Agent from Copilot Chat, especially those comparing the GitHub.com and VS Code experiences.
What is the user or business need for these changes?
- Clarifies documentation for a frequently asked workflow, reducing confusion and support burden. Addresses feedback from a GitHub Star and helps users understand new capabilities added to Copilot Chat.
We welcome contributions, can you help?
- I can help provide additional context or review the proposed documentation update.
Instructions for changes:
- Update the "About assigning tasks to Copilot" article, adding links at the end of the 2 bullet points: "Assign an issue to Copilot" (link to https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/using-github-copilot/coding-agent/using-copilot-to-work-on-an-issue), and "Use GitHub Copilot Chat to ask Copilot to create a pull request" (link to https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/using-github-copilot/coding-agent/asking-copilot-to-create-a-pull-request).
- Somewhere in the "About assigning tasks to Copilot" article, briefly mention the difference between Copilot coding agent and "agent mode" in VS Code, and link to https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/using-github-copilot/copilot-chat/asking-github-copilot-questions-in-your-ide?tool=visualstudio#copilot-edits-1