---
title: "Copilot cloud agent"
authors:
  - GitHub Copilot Learning Hub Team
lastUpdated: 2026-08-03
---

**[GitHub Copilot cloud agent](https://docs.github.com/copilot/concepts/agents/cloud-agent/about-cloud-agent)** lets GitHub Copilot work asynchronously in the cloud. You assign work on GitHub, and the cloud agent picks it up in the background — exploring the repository, making changes, and opening a pull request — while you stay free to do other things.

Across these exercises you'll add custom instructions the cloud agent will follow, then assign a GitHub issue and let it implement the work. You'll review and use custom agents to shape its approach, monitor and steer sessions from the agents dashboard, and finish by reviewing its pull requests and iterating on the results.

## Exercises

| Exercise | Topic | Description |
|----------|-------|-------------|
| [0. Prerequisites][ex0] | Setup | Create your repository and codespace |
| [1. Custom instructions][ex1] | Context | Add custom instructions cloud agent will follow |
| [2. Cloud Agent][ex2] | Async Agent | Assign issues to Copilot cloud agent |
| [3. Custom Agents][ex3] | Specialized Agents | Review and use custom agents |
| [4. Managing Agents][ex4] | Monitoring | Monitor and steer agent sessions |
| [5. Iterating][ex5] | Review | Review PRs, iterate on Copilot's work, and choose next steps |

## Prerequisites

Before attending this workshop, please ensure you have:

- [ ] A GitHub account with an active **Copilot Student, Pro, Pro+, Business, or Enterprise** plan
- [ ] Copilot cloud agent enabled for your account or organization

> [!TIP]
> No paid plan? Verified students can get GitHub Copilot for free through [GitHub Education][callout-student-plan-education]. The **Copilot Student** plan includes the agent, MCP, code review, and Copilot CLI features this workshop uses — so you can complete every harness with it.

[callout-student-plan-education]: https://github.com/education/students

> [!NOTE]
> Cloud agent is available on **Copilot Student, Pro, Pro+, Business, and Enterprise** — every plan except Copilot Free. On Copilot Business or Enterprise, an administrator must enable it for your organization.

> [!NOTE]
> MCP isn't covered in this harness. To explore using MCP servers with Copilot, see the [CLI harness](/learning-hub/copilot-workshops/cli/) or the [VS Code harness](/learning-hub/copilot-workshops/vscode/).

## Get Started

**[Start with Exercise 0: Prerequisites →][ex0]**

[ex0]: /learning-hub/copilot-workshops/cloud/0-prerequisites/
[ex1]: /learning-hub/copilot-workshops/cloud/1-custom-instructions/
[ex2]: /learning-hub/copilot-workshops/cloud/2-cloud-agent/
[ex3]: /learning-hub/copilot-workshops/cloud/3-custom-agents/
[ex4]: /learning-hub/copilot-workshops/cloud/4-managing-agents/
[ex5]: /learning-hub/copilot-workshops/cloud/5-iterating/
