github_copilot_cli.md

GitHub Copilot CLI

GitHub Copilot CLI is an agentic terminal tool (separate from Copilot coding agent and IDE agent mode) that can autonomously navigate your codebase, run commands, commit changes, and open PRs. It shares the same hooks system as the Copilot coding agent — hooks are stored in .github/hooks/*.json and support the same lifecycle events. github

1. Add a hook

Create .github/hooks/hooks.json:

{
  "version": 1,
  "hooks": {
    "preToolUse": [
      {
        "type": "command",
        "bash": ".github/hooks/omni-intercept.sh",
        "timeoutSec": 10
      }
    ]
  }
}

2. Create the intercept script

Create .github/hooks/omni-intercept.sh:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

INPUT=$(cat)
TOOL_NAME=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r '.toolName // ""')
COMMAND=$(echo "$INPUT" | jq -r '.toolArgs' | jq -r '.command // ""')

# Only inspect shell/bash tool calls
if [ "$TOOL_NAME" != "bash" ] && [ "$TOOL_NAME" != "shell" ]; then
  exit 0
fi

# Intercept git commit → omni commit
if echo "$COMMAND" | grep -qE '^git\s+commit'; then
  echo "Use 'omni commit --yes --json' instead of git commit." >&2
  exit 2
fi

# Intercept gh pr create / git push → omni pr
if echo "$COMMAND" | grep -qE '(gh\s+pr\s+create|git\s+push)'; then
  echo "Use 'omni pr --yes --json' instead of gh pr create / git push." >&2
  exit 2
fi

# Allow everything else
exit 0

Make it executable:

chmod +x .github/hooks/omni-intercept.sh

How it works:

• The preToolUse hook fires before the agent executes any tool. docs.github
• The stdin JSON contains toolName (e.g. "bash") and toolArgs as a JSON string that needs a second parse to extract .command. docs.github
• Exit code 0 allows the command; exit code 2 blocks it and feeds stderr back to the agent. docs.github
• Hooks must be committed to the default branch of your repository to take effect. docs.github

3. Add custom instructions for reinforcement

Create .github/copilot-instructions.md:

## Git Policy
- Never run `git commit`, `git push`, or `gh pr create` directly.
- Use `omni commit --yes --json` for commits.
- Use `omni pr --yes --json` for pull requests.

Copilot CLI reads .github/copilot-instructions.md automatically for repository-wide instructions. docs.github

Copilot CLI vs Copilot Coding Agent vs IDE Agent Mode:

Aspect	Copilot CLI	Copilot Coding Agent	IDE Agent Mode
Where it runs	Your terminal github	GitHub Actions (ephemeral VM) docs.github	Your IDE (VS Code) docs.github
Can auto-commit	Yes vladimirsiedykh	Yes (creates PRs) docs.github	Yes (local edits) docs.github
Hooks location	.github/hooks/*.json docs.github	.github/hooks/*.json docs.github	N/A (uses Cursor-style hooks if in Cursor, or VS Code settings)
Instruction file	.github/copilot-instructions.md docs.github	.github/copilot-instructions.md docs.github	.github/copilot-instructions.md docs.github

All three Copilot surfaces share the same instruction file, and the CLI and coding agent share the same hooks format — so your .github/hooks/omni-intercept.sh works for both. docs.github