ACP support in Copilot CLI is now in public preview

GitHub Copilot CLI now implements the Agent Client Protocol (ACP), an industry-standard protocol for communication between AI agents and clients. This enables third-party tools, IDEs, and automation systems to integrate directly with Copilot’s agentic capabilities through an extensible interface.

How it works

You can start Copilot in ACP mode via stdio: copilot --acp

Or connect via TCP on a specific port: copilot --acp --port 8080

ACP clients can then:

• Initialize a connection and discover agent capabilities.
• Create isolated sessions with custom working directories.
• Send prompts with text, images, and context resources.
• Receive streaming updates as the agent works.
• Respond to permission requests for tool execution.
• Cancel operations and manage session lifecycle.

Use cases

• IDE integrations: Build Copilot support into any editor or development environment.
• CI/CD pipelines: Orchestrate agentic coding tasks in automated workflows.
• Custom frontends: Create specialized interfaces for specific developer workflows.
• Multi-agent systems: Coordinate Copilot with other AI agents using a standard protocol.

Learn more in our ACP documentation and join the discussion within GitHub Community.