GitHub announced on November 6, 2026 that its @GitHub integration for Slack and Microsoft Teams is now generally available. Developers can mention the app inside a chat to have Copilot dig into a bug, file an issue, write a fix and open a pull request without switching to a browser or editor.
The release also adds Canvas support in Teams, a quicker setup flow, a fix for missed replies and clearer attribution on bot-created work. For teams that already plan work in chat, the move to GA means the feature is no longer a preview experiment but a supported way to hand tasks to Copilot cloud agent.
What GitHub Announced
The general availability notice covers both chat platforms. In each one, @GitHub acts as a front door to Copilot cloud agent, which does the actual work in a cloud sandbox and reports back when the result is ready.
- Canvas in Teams: plans, diffs and previews now sit beside the chat for review, so a team can discuss and refine the work in one place.
- Faster onboarding: the app now works out the target repository from your message and starts the session without asking you to pick it a second time.
- Smoother first use: setup is simpler for people who are not signed in, have no default repository, want to change repositories or still need to grant app access.
- Reliability fix: GitHub resolved a problem that could stop the bot from answering follow-up messages in a thread.
- Attribution: issues and pull requests made by @GitHub now state in their description that they came from a Slack or Teams conversation and name the person who started it.
How the Integration Works
According to GitHub's documentation, you start a session by mentioning @GitHub in a message, thread or direct message. Copilot then reads the whole thread as context, so earlier decisions and bug reports shape the plan it follows and the code it writes.
Within a session you can choose which model runs the task, plug in MCP servers, span several repositories and draw on Copilot Memory. In Slack, bigger jobs get their own Slack Code channel, where the team can watch the plan, branch, status and pull request link.
Each of these channels is meant for a single task. Once the work wraps up, you can archive it and still search its history later.
Teams adds another entry point: answer an existing GitHub alert in a chat with an @GitHub mention, and the agent picks up the issue or pull request it points to. From there it can recreate the bug, run the test suite, edit code and hand back a pull request for a person to review.
Permissions and Security Details
Who Copilot acts as changes with where you talk to it. In a direct message, it works under your own connected GitHub account and its rights. In a channel or group thread, it creates pull requests and issues under its own app identity instead.
That difference matters for branch protection. When a repository ruleset already requires at least one approval, pull requests opened under the app identity need one extra approval before they can merge, because no person is the author. GitHub turns this on by default.
- Starting or steering a session requires write rights on all of its repositories, while other people in the thread may still offer suggestions.
- Workspace guests and outside collaborators cannot start or steer a session.
- The full thread is stored as context in the artifacts the agent produces, so a direct message is the safer choice when a channel holds unrelated or sensitive talk.
What It Means for Developers
The main benefit is less context switching. A bug reported in a support channel can become a tracked issue or a draft fix in the same thread, and the new attribution line keeps a record of where the request came from. That trail helps reviewers who were not part of the original chat.
The flip side is that chat becomes part of your code supply chain. Before a wide rollout, check which channels have the app and who has write access to the linked repositories.
Treat bot pull requests like any other contribution and keep tests and review in place. Our article on how AI can help developers write secure code covers habits that apply here too.
Teams users get the biggest upgrade in this release. Canvas gives them a shared space to read a plan and a diff together, close to what Slack users already had.
GitHub has been spreading Copilot into more tools this month, including the Copilot preview in Xcode's coding assistant, and chat apps are the latest surface.
How to Get Started
You need a paid Copilot plan. For Slack, install the GitHub app for Slack in your workspace, connect your GitHub account when prompted and set a default repository. For Teams, add the GitHub app to a team once; after that, each member connects their own GitHub account.
If your team already uses the older GitHub Notifications app in Teams, GitHub says you should update it to the combined app, which keeps existing subscriptions and scheduled reminders. Organization and enterprise owners should note that the cloud agent policy is on by default and can be turned off if they are not ready.
Conclusion
With general availability, @GitHub in Slack and Teams becomes a supported path for turning chat threads into issues and pull requests through Copilot cloud agent. The Teams Canvas, faster repository detection and clear attribution make it more practical, while the identity and approval rules give admins some control. Review access and rulesets before turning it on across busy channels.
Sources
- GitHub Changelog: @GitHub in Slack and Teams is generally available and more
- GitHub Docs: Integrating Copilot cloud agent with Slack
- GitHub Docs: Integrating Copilot cloud agent with Teams
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