Conversation
Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot
AI
changed the title
[WIP] Clarify repository visibility for Copilot GitHub token
Clarify repository visibility setting is irrelevant for Copilot token authentication
Jan 29, 2026
pelikhan
reviewed
Jan 29, 2026
| Create a fine-grained PAT at <https://github.com/settings/personal-access-tokens/new>. Select your user account (not an organization), choose "Public repositories" access, and enable "Copilot Requests" permissions. Then add it to your repository: | ||
|
|
||
| > [!NOTE] | ||
| > The "Repository access" dropdown setting (Public repositories, All repositories, or select repositories) is **not relevant** for Copilot authentication. The token only requires the **Copilot Requests** permission, which is independent of repository visibility. Even if your project is private, you can leave the visibility set to "Public repositories"—it does not affect how the token is used for Copilot requests. |
Contributor
There was a problem hiding this comment.
The correct wording is:
"You should leave public repositories enabled; otherwise, you will not have access to the Copilot 'request permission' option."
Contributor
Author
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Updated in a1fb394. The note now reads: "You should leave 'Public repositories' enabled; otherwise, you will not have access to the Copilot Requests permission option."
| Create a fine-grained PAT at <https://github.com/settings/personal-access-tokens/new>. Select your user account (not an organization), choose "Public repositories" access, and enable "Copilot Requests" permissions. Then add it to your repository: | ||
|
|
||
| > [!NOTE] | ||
| > The "Repository access" dropdown setting (Public repositories, All repositories, or select repositories) is **not relevant** for Copilot authentication. The token only requires the **Copilot Requests** permission, which is independent of repository visibility. Even if your project is private, you can leave the visibility set to "Public repositories"—it does not affect how the token is used for Copilot requests. |
Contributor
There was a problem hiding this comment.
@copilot The correct wording is:
"You should leave public repositories enabled; otherwise, you will not have access to the Copilot 'request permission' option."
Contributor
Author
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Updated in a1fb394. Both files now use the corrected wording.
…rmission access Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>
Contributor
Author
|
Just as a heads up, I was blocked by some firewall rules while working on your feedback. Expand below for details. Warning Firewall rules blocked me from connecting to one or more addresses (expand for details)I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:
If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:
|
Copilot
AI
changed the title
Clarify repository visibility setting is irrelevant for Copilot token authentication
Clarify that "Public repositories" setting is required to access Copilot Requests permission
Jan 29, 2026
pelikhan
approved these changes
Jan 29, 2026
This file contains hidden or bidirectional Unicode text that may be interpreted or compiled differently than what appears below. To review, open the file in an editor that reveals hidden Unicode characters.
Learn more about bidirectional Unicode characters
Sign up for free
to join this conversation on GitHub.
Already have an account?
Sign in to comment
Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.This suggestion is invalid because no changes were made to the code.Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is closed.Suggestions cannot be applied while viewing a subset of changes.Only one suggestion per line can be applied in a batch.Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.Applying suggestions on deleted lines is not supported.You must change the existing code in this line in order to create a valid suggestion.Outdated suggestions cannot be applied.This suggestion has been applied or marked resolved.Suggestions cannot be applied from pending reviews.Suggestions cannot be applied on multi-line comments.Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is queued to merge.Suggestion cannot be applied right now. Please check back later.
The documentation for creating Copilot GitHub tokens did not clarify that the "Public repositories" setting in the "Repository access" dropdown must be enabled to access the Copilot Requests permission option. This caused confusion for users who didn't understand why they needed this setting.
Changes
docs/src/content/docs/reference/engines.md: Added NOTE callout after token creation instructions explaining that "Public repositories" must be enabled to access the Copilot Requests permission optiondocs/src/content/docs/reference/tokens.md: Added inline note in "For User-owned Repositories" section clarifying the same requirementThe clarification explains that without "Public repositories" enabled, users will not see the Copilot Requests permission option in GitHub's token creation UI.
Original prompt
💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.