Steering a GitHub Copilot CLI session from another device

Remote control lets you connect to a running Copilot CLI session from any browser or from GitHub Mobile. You can view session output, respond to permission requests, and continue working in the session without being at the machine where the session is running.

This article explains how to enable and use remote control. For more conceptual information, see About remote control of GitHub Copilot CLI sessions.

Prerequisites

• The machine where the CLI session is running must be online, with the session actively running in a terminal.

  Tip

  Use the /keep-alive slash command to prevent your machine from going to sleep while you're away. See Preventing your machine from going to sleep.

• The working directory must contain a Git repository hosted on GitHub.com. If you are not in a GitHub repository, the CLI displays: "Remote session disabled: not in a GitHub repository."

Enabling remote control for a session

You can enable remote control in three ways:

• With a slash command during an interactive session.
• With a command-line option when you start Copilot CLI.
• By configuring the CLI to enable remote control by default for all interactive sessions.

Using the /remote slash command

If you are already in an interactive session and want to enable remote control, enter:

/remote on

/remote on

The CLI connects to GitHub.com and displays details for accessing the session remotely—see Accessing a session from GitHub.com and Accessing a session from GitHub Mobile later in this article.

You can use the /remote slash command without an argument to check the current remote control status, or to redisplay the remote access details if remote control is currently enabled. If you want to end the remote connection for the current session, enter /remote off.

Using the --remote command-line option

If you think you may want to access a session remotely, you can start the CLI with the --remote command-line option. This avoids the need to remember to use the /remote slash command during the session.

copilot --remote

copilot --remote

Details for accessing the session remotely are displayed when the interactive session starts and can be displayed again at any time by using the /remote slash command.

Configuring remote control to always be enabled

If you always want your interactive CLI sessions to be remotely accessible, add the following to your Copilot settings file (typically located at ~/.copilot/settings.json):

{
  "remoteSessions": true
}

{
  "remoteSessions": true
}

To override this setting for a particular session, use the --no-remote option when you start the session:

copilot --no-remote

copilot --no-remote

Accessing a session from GitHub.com

When you enable remote control, the CLI displays a link to the session on GitHub.com.

Use the link to access the session in your default web browser. You must be signed in to GitHub with the same account that started the CLI session.

You can also access the session without the link:

1. Log on to GitHub.com on any computer.

2. In the top-left corner of GitHub, click .

3. Click Copilot.

   Your CLI session is listed under "Recent agent sessions."

4. Optionally, use the Type filter at the top right of the list to show only Copilot CLI sessions.

5. Click your Copilot CLI session to open it.

If you started the session from a local copy of a GitHub repository, you can also access the session from the Agents tab of that repository on GitHub.com.

Accessing a session from GitHub Mobile

A Copilot CLI session is available in GitHub Mobile as soon as you enable remote control. To find your session in GitHub Mobile:

1. Tap the Copilot button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

   The session is listed under "Agent sessions."

2. Tap the session to open it.

Use a QR code to quickly open a session on your phone

1. In an interactive session, enter the /remote slash command to redisplay the remote session details.

2. Press Ctrl+E to toggle on/off display of a QR code.

   Note

   This keyboard shortcut expands/collapses all details in the session conversation, not just the QR code. It only works if the input field is currently empty.

3. Scan the QR code with your phone to go directly to the session in GitHub Mobile.

Preventing your machine from going to sleep

You can use the /keep-alive slash command to prevent your machine from going to sleep. This allows you to maintain the remote connection and continue interacting with the session from GitHub.com or GitHub Mobile.

In an interactive session, enter /keep-alive OPTION, where OPTION is one of:

• on: Prevents the machine from going to sleep while the CLI session is active.
• off: Allows the machine to go to sleep as normal.
• busy: Prevents the machine from going to sleep only while Copilot is working on a task. Once the agent completes a task the machine can go to sleep as normal. The machine will not go to sleep if Copilot is waiting for you to respond to a request for input from you.
• NUMBERm, NUMBERh, or NUMBERd (for example, 30m, 8h, 1d): Prevents the machine from going to sleep for a specific number of minutes, hours, or days. If a bare number is provided without a suffix, it is treated as minutes.

Without passing an OPTION, the /keep-alive command displays the current keep-alive status.

Reviewing previous sessions

You can view old Copilot CLI sessions on GitHub.com or in GitHub Mobile.

1. Go to your list of recent agent sessions on GitHub.com or in GitHub Mobile. See Accessing a session from github.com and Accessing a session from GitHub Mobile earlier in this article.
2. Click or tap the session you want to review.

On GitHub.com, a message tells you the copilot --resume command to use if you want to resume the session. Enter this command in your terminal on the machine where you ran that session.

Resuming a session

When you use copilot --continue or copilot --resume to resume a CLI session for which remote control was enabled, remote control is automatically re-enabled.

Preventing remote control

Remote control is disabled by default, but may be enabled in your Copilot settings file (typically ~/.copilot/settings.json). You can ensure a session is not remotely controllable by:

• For a single session: Start the CLI with --no-remote to prevent remote control for that session, regardless of your settings file value.
• Permanently: Remove the "remoteSessions": true setting from ~/.copilot/settings.json (or set it to false).

Further reading

• Copilot CLI sessions in Visual Studio Code in the VS Code documentation.