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Learn how to build your first space in minutes and customize Copilot to match your team’s unique coding style and workflows.
When generative AI tools guess what you need, the magic only lasts as long as the guesses are right. Add an unfamiliar codebase, a security checklist your team keeps in a wiki, or a one‑off Slack thread that explains why something matters, and even the most and even the most powerful model may fill in gaps with assumptions rather than having access to your specific context and knowledge.
GitHub Copilot Spaces fixes that problem by letting you bundle the exact context Copilot should read—code, docs, transcripts, sample queries, you name it—into a reusable “space.” Once a space is created on github.com, Copilot chat and command interactions on the GitHub platform are grounded in that curated knowledge, producing answers that feel like they came from your organization’s resident expert. In the future, IDE integration for Spaces is planned.
In this article, we’ll walk through:
We have everything you need to get started—including pro tips on the context that’s most helpful in your workflows.
Large language models (LLMs) thrive on patterns, but day‑to‑day engineering work is full of _un_patterned edge cases, including:
Without that context, an AI assistant can only guess. But with Copilot Spaces, you choose which files, documents, or free‑text snippets matter, drop them into a space, and let Copilot use that context to answer questions or write code. As Kelly Henckel, PM for GitHub Spaces, said in our GitHub Checkout episode, “Spaces make it easy to organize and share context, so Copilot acts like a subject matter expert.” The result? Fewer wrong guesses, less copy-pasting, and code that’s commit-ready.
Think of a space as a secure, shareable container of knowledge plus behavioral instructions:
| What it holds | Why it matters | |
|---|---|---|
| Attachments | Code files, entire folders, Markdown docs, transcripts, or any plain text you add | Gives Copilot the ground truth for answers |
| Custom instructions | Short system prompts to set tone, coding style, or reviewer expectations | Lets Copilot match your house rules |
| Sharing & permissions | Follows the same role/visibility model you already use on GitHub | No new access control lists to manage |
| Live updates | Files stay in sync with the branch you referenced | Your space stays up to date with your codebase |
Spaces are available to anyone with a Copilot license (Free, Individual, Business, or Enterprise) while the feature is in public preview. Admins can enable it under Settings > Copilot > Preview features.
TL;DR: A space is like pinning your team’s collective brain to the Copilot sidebar and letting everyone query it in plain language.
frontend‑styleguide.src/components or individual files such as eslint.config.js.<Button> component to match our accessibility checklist”—and watch it cite files you just attached.Instead of dumping your entire repo into one space, create smaller, purpose‑built spaces like: Accessibility, Data‑Queries, Auth‑Model, etc. Kelly, the PM behind the feature, uses this pattern internally at GitHub to make subject‑matter expertise reusable.
Custom instructions are the “personality layer” of a space and where spaces shine because they live alongside the attachments. This allows you to do powerful things with a single sentence, including:
script setup syntax and Composition API for examples.”During the GitHub Checkout interview, Kelly shared how she built a personal space for a nonprofit side project: She attached only the Vue front‑end folder plus instructions on her preferred conventions, and Copilot delivered commit‑ready code snippets that matched her style guide on the first try.
Space ingredients
How it helps: Instead of pinging the accessibility lead on Slack, you can use Spaces to ask questions like “What steps are needed for MAS‑C compliance on this new modal?” Copilot summarizes the relevant checkpoints, references the doc anchor, and even suggests ARIA attributes or color‑contrast fixes. GitHub’s own accessibility SME, Katherine, pinned this space in Slack so anyone filing a review gets instant, self‑service guidance.
Space ingredients
.sql filesHow it helps: Product managers and support engineers who don’t know your database structures can ask, “Average PR review time last 7 days?” Copilot autocompletes a valid KQL query with correct joins and lets them iterate. Result: lets PMs and support self-serve without bugging data science teams.
Space ingredients
How it helps: New hires type “How does our auth flow handle SAML?” and get a structured answer with links and diagrams, all without leaving GitHub. Because spaces stay in sync with main, updates to ADRs propagate automatically—no stale wikis.
Spaces respect the same permission model you already use:
Sharing is as simple as sending the space URL or pinning it to a repo README. Anyone with access and a Copilot license can start chatting instantly.
We’re working to bring Copilot Spaces to more of your workflows, and are currently developing:
Your feedback will shape those priorities. Drop your ideas or pain points in the public discussion or, if you’re an enterprise customer, through your account team.
Head to github.com/copilot/spaces, spin up your first space, and let us know how it streamlines your workflow. Here’s how to get it fully set up on your end:
Copilot Spaces is free during the public preview and doesn’t count against your Copilot seat entitlements when you use the base model. We can’t wait to see what you build when Copilot has the right context at its fingertips.