Copilot cloud agent starts 20% faster with Actions custom images

Copilot cloud agent now starts up over 20% faster, thanks to optimized runner environments built with GitHub Actions custom images.

When you assign an issue to Copilot, start a task from the Agents tab, or mention @copilot in a pull request, the agent spins up a cloud-based environment to do its work. By prebuilding that environment with a custom Actions image, startup overhead has been significantly reduced, getting Copilot to work on your code faster than before.

This builds on the 50% startup improvement shipped in March, continuing to shorten the feedback loop when you work with Copilot cloud agent.

Editor’s note (May 11, 2026): Fixed a broken link in the previous paragraph.

To learn more, see the Copilot cloud agent documentation.