Copilot CLI Release Notes

2026-03-13

• Terminal title resets to default after running /clear or /new
• Add /extensions command to view, enable, and disable CLI extensions
• @ file mentions now support paths outside the project: absolute paths (@/usr/...), home directory (@~/...), and relative parent paths (@../...)
• Toggling experimental mode with /experimental on|off automatically restarts the CLI to apply changes immediately
• Right-click paste goes to the active dialog input instead of the main conversation input
• Introducing /pr to help create and view PRs, automatically fix CI failures, address review feedback, and resolve merge conflicts
• Block network (UNC) paths to prevent credential leakage via SMB authentication
• Send follow-up messages to background agents with the write_agent tool for multi-turn conversations
• Memory storage errors now indicate when repository doesn't exist or you lack write access
• Show a clear error when a classic Personal Access Token (ghp_) is set in environment variables instead of silently exiting
• Diff view displays correctly on Windows instead of showing corrupted/overwritten text
• Fix Kitty keyboard protocol escape sequences appearing at shutdown
• Setting claude-sonnet-4.6 as the default model is now preserved correctly
• Plugin uninstall reliably removes files using the stored install path
• Add /version command to display CLI version and check for updates from within the session
• Add experimental embedding-based dynamic retrieval of MCP and skill instructions per turn
• Syntax highlighting in /diff with support for 17 programming languages
• Add preCompact hook to run commands before context compaction starts
• Request ID from the API now appears in the timeline when errors occur after retries are exhausted
• PR descriptions with backtick-formatted code render correctly on Windows/PowerShell
• Show a helpful error message when a file path is passed as a CLI command
• Session reports an authentication error instead of hanging when the token is invalid or expired
• View tool shows partial content for large single-line files (e.g. minified JS, large JSON blobs) instead of empty output
• /changelog supports last <N>, since <version>, and summarize to browse and summarize multiple release notes at once
• Hooks config files that omit the version field are now accepted by the CLI

New

• Enables OpenTelemetry instrumentation for observability into agent sessions, LLM calls, and tool executions

Added

• Extensions can now be written as CommonJS modules (extension.cjs)
• Show loaded extensions count in the Environment loaded startup message
• Support disableAllHooks flag to disable all hooks from a configuration file
• Support Azure DevOps repository identification in session logs

Improved

• Only show reasoning headers when it's the only reasoning text available.
• Terminal properly resets when CLI crashes, preventing shell corruption
• /update command automatically restarts to apply updates instead of requiring manual exit
• OAuth authentication now handles Microsoft Entra ID and other OIDC servers reliably with proper resource indicators and refresh token support
• Show individual instruction file names in /instructions picker with [external] labels for injected files
• Path permission dialog offers a one-time approval option in addition to adding the path to the allowed list

Fixed

• Session export header renders each field on its own line in shared gists
• Auto-update now retries without authentication token on SAML enforcement errors
• Autopilot mode stops continuing after API errors instead of looping indefinitely
• Status line context window percentage no longer inflates across turns by using the last call's input and output tokens instead of cumulative totals
• Kitty keyboard protocol is properly disabled on suspend when using alternate screen

2026-03-11

• Add session.shell.exec and session.shell.kill RPC methods for executing shell commands with streaming stdout/stderr output
• Custom agents from --plugin-dir plugins now load correctly in ACP mode
• Adaptive color engine with dynamic color modes and interactive theme picker. Gracefully degrades on limited-color terminals and Windows
• MCP OAuth re-authentication works reliably when callback port changes or when using Microsoft Entra ID
• Replace /pr open with /pr view [local|web] to view PR status locally or open in browser
• Enables OpenTelemetry instrumentation for observability into agent sessions, LLM calls, and tool executions
• Extensions can now be written as CommonJS modules (extension.cjs)
• Show loaded extensions count in the Environment loaded startup message
• Support disableAllHooks flag to disable all hooks from a configuration file
• Support Azure DevOps repository identification in session logs
• Session export header renders each field on its own line in shared gists
• Auto-update now retries without authentication token on SAML enforcement errors
• Autopilot mode stops continuing after API errors instead of looping indefinitely
• Status line context window percentage no longer inflates across turns by using the last call's input and output tokens instead of cumulative totals
• Kitty keyboard protocol is properly disabled on suspend when using alternate screen
• Only show reasoning headers when it's the only reasoning text available.
• Terminal properly resets when CLI crashes, preventing shell corruption
• /update command automatically restarts to apply updates instead of requiring manual exit
• OAuth authentication now handles Microsoft Entra ID and other OIDC servers reliably with proper resource indicators and refresh token support
• Show individual instruction file names in /instructions picker with [external] labels for injected files
• Path permission dialog offers a one-time approval option in addition to adding the path to the allowed list
• Add --reasoning-effort CLI flag to set reasoning effort level
• Hooks can now request user confirmation before tool execution with 'ask' permission decision
• Add configure-copilot sub-agent for managing MCP servers, custom agents, and skills via the task tool
• Interactive shell initialization no longer times out on slow machines
• Faster shell commands on Windows by skipping PowerShell profile loading
• Improve CLI help documentation to use standard --option=value format and comma-separated list syntax

2026-03-09

• Enable alternate screen buffer by default for staff users
• Extensions are now available as an experimental feature — ask Copilot to write custom tools and hooks for itself using @github/copilot-sdk
• Document GH_HOST, HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, NO_COLOR, and NO_PROXY environment variables in help
• Read MCP server configuration from .devcontainer/devcontainer.json
• Add --binary-version flag to query the CLI binary version without launching
• Add /restart command to hot restart the CLI while preserving your session
• Background task notifications display in timeline with expandable detail
• Type 'quit' to exit the CLI, in addition to 'exit'
• Add extraKnownMarketplaces repository setting to replace marketplaces
• Add Windows Terminal support to /terminal-setup command
• /reset-allowed-tools now fully undoes /allow-all and re-triggers the autopilot permission dialog
• Improved handling of batched queries in the SQL tool
• Login flow no longer hangs on Ubuntu when system keyring is unresponsive
• Terminal is properly reset when CLI crashes unexpectedly
• Table disables borders in screen reader mode to prevent announcing decorative characters
• MCP servers with non-conforming outputSchema are now accessible
• /plugin update now works for GitHub-installed plugins
• /add-dir directories persist across session changes like /clear and /resume
• Prevent env command from being treated as safe to allow without approval
• Placeholder text color displays correctly when wrapping in narrow terminals
• /plugin update now works with marketplaces defined in project settings
• Retry status messages now display to show progress during server error recovery
• Show loading spinner in diff mode while fetching changes
• Suppress /init suggestion when .github/instructions/ contains instructions
• Rename merge_strategy config to mergeStrategy for consistency
• Suppress unknown field warnings in skill and command frontmatter
• Trust safe sed commands to run without confirmation

New

• Extensions are now available as an experimental feature — ask Copilot to write custom tools and hooks for itself using @github/copilot-sdk

Added

• Document GH_HOST, HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, NO_COLOR, and NO_PROXY environment variables in help
• Read MCP server configuration from .devcontainer/devcontainer.json
• Add --binary-version flag to query the CLI binary version without launching
• Add /restart command to hot restart the CLI while preserving your session
• Background task notifications display in timeline with expandable detail
• Type 'quit' to exit the CLI, in addition to 'exit'
• Add extraKnownMarketplaces repository setting to replace marketplaces
• Add Windows Terminal support to /terminal-setup command

Improved

• Retry status messages now display to show progress during server error recovery
• Show loading spinner in diff mode while fetching changes
• Suppress /init suggestion when .github/instructions/ contains instructions
• Rename merge_strategy config to mergeStrategy for consistency
• Suppress unknown field warnings in skill and command frontmatter
• Trust safe sed commands to run without confirmation

Fixed

• /reset-allowed-tools now fully undoes /allow-all and re-triggers the autopilot permission dialog
• Improved handling of batched queries in the SQL tool
• Login flow no longer hangs on Ubuntu when system keyring is unresponsive
• Terminal is properly reset when CLI crashes unexpectedly
• Table disables borders in screen reader mode to prevent announcing decorative characters
• MCP servers with non-conforming outputSchema are now accessible
• /plugin update now works for GitHub-installed plugins
• /add-dir directories persist across session changes like /clear and /resume
• Prevent env command from being treated as safe to allow without approval
• Placeholder text color displays correctly when wrapping in narrow terminals
• /plugin update now works with marketplaces defined in project settings

New

• Extensions are now available as an experimental feature — ask Copilot to write custom tools and hooks for itself using @github/copilot-sdk

Added

• Document GH_HOST, HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, NO_COLOR, and NO_PROXY environment variables in help
• Read MCP server configuration from .devcontainer/devcontainer.json
• Add --binary-version flag to query the CLI binary version without launching
• Background task notifications display in timeline with expandable detail
• Type 'quit' to exit the CLI, in addition to 'exit'
• Add Windows Terminal support to /terminal-setup command

Improved

• Retry status messages now display to show progress during server error recovery
• Show loading spinner in diff mode while fetching changes
• Suppress unknown field warnings in skill and command frontmatter

Fixed

• /reset-allowed-tools now fully undoes /allow-all and re-triggers the autopilot permission dialog
• Login flow no longer hangs on Ubuntu when system keyring is unresponsive
• Terminal is properly reset when CLI crashes unexpectedly
• Table disables borders in screen reader mode to prevent announcing decorative characters
• MCP servers with non-conforming outputSchema are now accessible
• /plugin update now works for GitHub-installed plugins
• /add-dir directories persist across session changes like /clear and /resume
• Prevent env command from being treated as safe to allow without approval
• /plugin update now works with marketplaces defined in project settings

Added

• Document GH_HOST, HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, NO_COLOR, and NO_PROXY environment variables in help
• Add --binary-version flag to query the CLI binary version without launching
• Background task notifications display in timeline with expandable detail
• Type 'quit' to exit the CLI, in addition to 'exit'
• Add Windows Terminal support to /terminal-setup command

Improved

• Retry status messages now display to show progress during server error recovery
• Show loading spinner in diff mode while fetching changes
• Suppress unknown field warnings in skill and command frontmatter

Fixed

• /reset-allowed-tools now fully undoes /allow-all and re-triggers the autopilot permission dialog
• Login flow no longer hangs on Ubuntu when system keyring is unresponsive
• Terminal is properly reset when CLI crashes unexpectedly
• Table disables borders in screen reader mode to prevent announcing decorative characters
• MCP servers with non-conforming outputSchema are now accessible
• /plugin update now works for GitHub-installed plugins
• /add-dir directories persist across session changes like /clear and /resume
• Prevent env command from being treated as safe to allow without approval
• /plugin update now works with marketplaces defined in project settings

2026-03-06

• To commemorate GitHub Copilot CLI reaching general availability last week, we're incrementing the major version to 1.0!
• Type 'exit' as a bare command to close the CLI
• Ask_user form now submits with Enter key and allows custom responses in enum fields
• Support 'command' field as cross-platform alias for bash/powershell in hook configs
• Hook configurations now accept timeout as alias for timeoutSec
• Fix handling of meta with control keys (including shift+enter from /terminal-setup)