Copilot Discord Bot — GitHub Copilot on the go

Use GitHub Copilot from your phone by chatting in Discord.

You run this bot on a server/PC (home lab, VM, cloud box) that has:

• GitHub Copilot CLI + authentication
• Your repos under a configured root folder (Bot:ReposRoot)

Then you use Discord mobile to:

• Create a session (Discord thread)
• Pick a repo with reactions (1️⃣..🔟)
• Approve/deny tool actions with reactions (👍/👎)
• Watch a single “CLI panel” status message update in-place

Demo

Video: media/copilot-discord-bot.mp4

Highlights

• Emoji-first UX: threads + reactions work great on mobile.
• Single status panel: no spam; one message edits in-place.
• Repo sandbox: agent work is scoped under Bot:ReposRoot.
• Interactive approvals: prompts show what’s being approved.

Security model (read this)

• Set Bot:OwnerDiscordUserId (recommended). If set, the bot ignores everyone else.
• Keep Bot:ReposRoot tight. The bot should only see repos you want it to touch.
• Keep approvals on (cp approve ask) unless you fully trust your tools + repos.
• Optional: Bot:AutoApproveReadPermissions=true reduces prompt spam for read-only actions.

Prereqs

• .NET 10 (SDK or runtime)
  • Verify: dotnet --version should be 10.x
• GitHub Copilot CLI installed on the server and authenticated
  • Verify: copilot --version (should not prompt)
  • Authenticate (interactive): run copilot once and complete sign-in
  • Authenticate (service-friendly): set GH_TOKEN / COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN
• A Discord application + bot token

Create a Discord bot + invite it

In the Discord Developer Portal:

1. Create an Application
2. Create a Bot and copy the token
3. Enable Privileged Gateway Intents:
   • Message Content Intent (required)
4. Invite the bot to your server (OAuth2 → URL Generator):
   • Scopes: bot
   • Permissions (minimum recommended):
     • View Channels
     • Send Messages
     • Read Message History
     • Create Public Threads
     • Send Messages in Threads
     • Add Reactions
     • Use External Emojis (optional)

Configure

You can put defaults in src/CopilotDiscordBot/appsettings.json, but for production it’s recommended to use environment variables (especially when running as a service).

Required settings:

• Bot:DiscordBotToken – your bot token
• Bot:OwnerDiscordUserId – your Discord user id (recommended)
• Bot:ReposRoot – root folder containing repos (example: e:\\Git)

Environment variable equivalents:

• Bot__DiscordBotToken
• Bot__OwnerDiscordUserId
• Bot__ReposRoot
• Bot__DataDir (recommended to set to an absolute path when running as a service)

Dev-friendly option (user-secrets), from repo root:

• dotnet user-secrets set "Bot:DiscordBotToken" "YOUR_TOKEN" --project src/CopilotDiscordBot/CopilotDiscordBot.csproj
• dotnet user-secrets set "Bot:OwnerDiscordUserId" "123456789012345678" --project src/CopilotDiscordBot/CopilotDiscordBot.csproj
• dotnet user-secrets set "Bot:ReposRoot" "e:\\Git" --project src/CopilotDiscordBot/CopilotDiscordBot.csproj

Run (dev)

From repo root:

• dotnet run -c Release --project src/CopilotDiscordBot/CopilotDiscordBot.csproj

Health endpoint:

• http://localhost:5000/health

Install as a background service (recommended)

These scripts publish the app, set environment variables, and register an always-on service.

Windows (Windows Service)

Run from an elevated PowerShell:

• powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\\scripts\\install-service-windows.ps1

Common options:

• -ReposRoot "E:\\Git"
• -OwnerDiscordUserId 123456789012345678
• -GhToken "..." (recommended for services)
• -CopilotCliPath "C:\\Path\\to\\copilot.exe"

Uninstall:

• powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\\scripts\\uninstall-service-windows.ps1

Linux (systemd)

Make scripts executable and run with sudo:

• chmod +x scripts/*.sh
• sudo ./scripts/install-service-linux.sh --user <username> --repos-root /path/to/repos

The installer writes an env file at /etc/copilot-discord-bot.env (mode 600) and creates a systemd unit.

Uninstall:

• sudo ./scripts/uninstall-service-linux.sh --remove-env

Use it (emoji-first)

Create a session

In any normal text channel:

• cp new my-session

The bot creates a thread (that thread is the session) and posts a repo picker.

Pick a repo

In the session thread:

• React with 1️⃣..🔟 on the repo picker message.

Fallback: cp repo <path>

Chat

Just send normal messages in the thread.

You’ll see a single status panel updated in-place (state/repo/model/doing).

Change model

In the session thread:

• cp model (shows current)
• cp model gpt-5.2 (sets for this session)

Approve/Deny tool actions

When Copilot requests permission, the bot posts a prompt message.

• React 👍 to approve
• React 👎 to deny

Troubleshooting

"StreamJsonRpc.ConnectionLostException" on first message

This usually means the copilot process exited immediately (often because PATH resolved to a VS Code shim that prints an interactive install prompt).

• Run where copilot (Windows) and verify it points to the winget-installed copilot.exe
• Run copilot --version in the same shell you launch the bot from
• If it prompts to install/reinstall, restart your terminal (PATH update) and try again
• If it still points to the shim, set Bot:CopilotCliPath to the full copilot.exe path

Permission prompt too vague

The Copilot SDK is preview and permission payload fields can vary. You can temporarily enable:

• Bot:DebugPermissionPayload=true

This adds a redacted debug panel to permission prompts.

Auto-approve policy (per session)

• cp approve ask (recommended)
• cp approve always

MCP server example

Enable the GitHub MCP server for a session:

cp config set {"model":"gpt-5.2","mcpServers":{"github":{"type":"http","url":"https://api.githubcopilot.com/mcp/","tools":["*"]}}}