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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

New session

New message

Permission approval

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":["*"]}}}