How does the "Chat with Copilot" button work?

[Ima-Random-Person]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Copilot in GitHub

Body

When I click the "Chat with Copilot" button it sometimes opens a small pop-up and sometimes opens up an entire page. I only want it to open the small pop-up, but how does it know when to open the github.com/copilot page?

[techsoftye]

According to GitHub’s May 18, 2026 update, clicking the main Copilot icon in the top navigation should open a chat panel on the page you’re viewing.

The full-page experience is available through More → In immersive chat next to the Copilot icon, or through the arrow icon inside the chat panel.

Official announcement:
https://github.blog/changelog/2026-05-18-ask-questions-in-context-with-copilot-on-web/

I haven’t found a documented “always open in panel” setting. If you’re clicking the main icon and it sometimes takes you to the full page without choosing either of those options, which GitHub pages does this happen on? Does it also switch between the two when you’re on the same page?

A screenshot showing the button you’re clicking would help clarify what’s happening.

[kevinjosh10]

Hi @community! The "Chat with Copilot" button on GitHub.com provides two modes:

1. In-Page Overlay: When browsing a repository file or diff, it opens a contextual chat window scoped to the active file.
2. Full-Page Experience: Navigating to github.com/copilot opens the full workspace chat with multi-repository indexing.

[Rounit-1st]

It depends on where you click the “Chat with Copilot” button and how GitHub handles that particular button.

• Small pop-up: Copilot opens in a chat panel within the current page.
• Full page: GitHub navigates you to github.com/copilot, opening Copilot as a separate page.
  This behavior is generally controlled by the button’s implementation and the context in which it appears.
  If you always want the pop-up, try opening Copilot from the chat icon in GitHub’s interface rather than clicking a link that navigates to the Copilot page.

[slyyr]

The two interfaces are different Copilot experiences.

Try opening Copilot from the main navigation rather than using a link that explicitly opens the immersive experience.

If it still opens the full page unexpectedly, could you share the exact button or link you're clicking? That would help distinguish the intended navigation behaviour from a possible UI issue.

If this solves your issue, please mark this reply as the answer so others experiencing the same behaviour can find the solution easily!

[Kaustav5505g]

The Copilot icon in the top navigation bar is designed to open the in-page overlay panel.

If it redirects you to the full-page experience (github.com/copilot) instead, it usually happens for a few specific reasons:

1. Unsupported Pages: Certain GitHub pages (like settings, billing, or account management) don't support the side panel yet, so GitHub falls back to standard page navigation.

2. Page Loading Lag: If the page scripts haven't finished initializing when you click the icon, it defaults to the standard URL link (github.com/copilot).

3. Menu Option: Selecting More (•••) → In immersive chat next to the icon is designed specifically to take you to the full page.