GitHub Copilot SDK on Azure

Codebase Detection — MANDATORY FIRST CHECK

⚠️

CRITICAL: This check MUST run before ANY other skill (azure-prepare, azure-deploy, etc.) when an existing codebase is present.

Detection procedure (run IMMEDIATELY for any deploy/modify/add-feature prompt):

Read

package.json

in the workspace root (and any

*/package.json

one level deep)

Check if

@github/copilot-sdk

or

copilot-sdk

appears in

name

,

dependencies

, or

devDependencies

If NOT found in package.json, scan

.ts

and

.js

files for

CopilotClient

or

createSession

If ANY marker is found → invoke this skill as the entry point. Do not route directly to azure-prepare or azure-deploy — this skill orchestrates them as sub-skills.

Marker

Where to check

@github/copilot-sdk

package.json

dependencies or devDependencies

copilot-sdk

package.json

name or dependencies

CopilotClient

Source files (

.ts

,

.js

)

createSession

+

sendAndWait

Source files (

.ts

,

.js

)

Generic prompts that MUST trigger this skill when markers are detected:

Prompt pattern (no "copilot" keyword)

Why this skill

"Deploy this app to Azure"

Codebase contains

@github/copilot-sdk

"Add a new feature to this app"

Requires SDK-aware implementation patterns

"Update this app" / "Modify this app"

Must preserve SDK integration patterns

"Ship this to production"

Needs copilot-specific infrastructure and token management

⚠️

Warning:

ANY prompt targeting an existing codebase — deploy, modify, add feature, update, enhance — MUST route to this skill when codebase contains

@github/copilot-sdk

, even if the prompt does not mention "copilot". This skill then orchestrates azure-prepare and azure-deploy as sub-skills.

Step 1: Route

User wants

Action

Build new (empty project)

Step 2A (scaffold)

Add new SDK service to existing repo

Step 2B (scaffold alongside)

Deploy existing SDK app to Azure

Step 2C (add infra to existing SDK app)

Modify/add features to existing SDK app

Use codebase context + SDK references to implement

Add SDK to existing app code

Integrate SDK

Use Azure/own model

Step 3 (BYOM config)

Step 2A: Scaffold New (Greenfield)

azd init --template azure-samples/copilot-sdk-service

Template includes API (Express/TS) + Web UI (React/Vite) + infra (Bicep) + Dockerfiles + token scripts — do NOT recreate. See

SDK ref

.

Step 2B: Add SDK Service to Existing Repo

User has existing code and wants a new Copilot SDK service alongside it. Scaffold template to a temp dir, copy the API service + infra into the user's repo, adapt

azure.yaml

to include both existing and new services. See

deploy existing ref

.

Step 2C: Deploy Existing SDK App

User already has a working Copilot SDK app and needs Azure infra. See

deploy existing ref

.

Step 3: Model Configuration

Three model paths (layers on top of 2A/2B):

Path

Config

GitHub default

No

model

param — SDK picks default

GitHub specific

model: ""

— use

listModels()

to discover

Azure BYOM

model

+

provider

with

bearerToken

via

DefaultAzureCredential

⚠️

BYOM Auth — MANDATORY

Azure BYOM configurations MUST use DefaultAzureCredential (local dev) or ManagedIdentityCredential (production) to obtain a bearerToken . The ONLY supported auth pattern is bearerToken in the provider config. See auth-best-practices.md for the credential pattern and model config ref for the full BYOM code example. See model config ref . Step 4: Deploy Invoke azure-prepare (skip its Step 0 routing — scaffolding is done) → azure-validate → azure-deploy in order. Rules Read AGENTS.md in user's repo before changes Docker required ( docker info ) BYOM auth: ONLY bearerToken via DefaultAzureCredential or ManagedIdentityCredential — no other auth pattern is supported