Copilot SDK: GitHub Multi-Provider Backend

The Copilot SDK backend wraps GitHub’s Copilot SDK (github-copilot-sdk), providing multi-provider agent capabilities with JSON-RPC event-driven execution.

Overview

Status: Beta
Provider support: Copilot, OpenAI, Azure, Anthropic, LiteLLM
Built-in tools: shell, file_ops, git, web_search
MCP support: No
Architecture: Python SDK wrapper with CopilotClient singleton

Prerequisites

Install the Copilot CLI:

pip install github-copilot-sdk

Ensure the copilot CLI is on your PATH. For the default Copilot provider, you need an active GitHub Copilot subscription.

Configuration

export POCKETPAW_AGENT_BACKEND="copilot_sdk"

Backend-Specific Settings

Setting	Env Variable	Default	Description
`copilot_sdk_provider`	`POCKETPAW_COPILOT_SDK_PROVIDER`	`"copilot"`	Provider: `copilot`, `openai`, `azure`, `anthropic`, `litellm`
`copilot_sdk_model`	`POCKETPAW_COPILOT_SDK_MODEL`	`""` (auto)	Model to use
`copilot_sdk_max_turns`	`POCKETPAW_COPILOT_SDK_MAX_TURNS`	`0` (unlimited)	Max turns per query

Provider Configuration

export POCKETPAW_COPILOT_SDK_PROVIDER="copilot"
# Uses your GitHub Copilot subscription, no separate API key needed

export POCKETPAW_COPILOT_SDK_PROVIDER="openai"
export POCKETPAW_OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

export POCKETPAW_COPILOT_SDK_PROVIDER="azure"
# Configure Azure OpenAI credentials

export POCKETPAW_COPILOT_SDK_PROVIDER="anthropic"
export POCKETPAW_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

export POCKETPAW_COPILOT_SDK_PROVIDER="litellm"
export POCKETPAW_LITELLM_API_BASE="http://localhost:4000"
export POCKETPAW_LITELLM_MODEL="gpt-4o"

Built-in Tools

Copilot Tool	Policy Mapping
`shell`	`shell`
`file_ops`	`write_file`
`git`	`shell`
`web_search`	`browser`

How It Works

PocketPaw creates a CopilotClient singleton for the session
Messages are sent via the JSON-RPC event-driven interface
The Copilot CLI handles tool execution and multi-turn reasoning
History is injected for multi-turn context
Responses stream back as AgentEvent objects

When to Use

Choose Copilot SDK when:

You have a GitHub Copilot subscription and want to use it as your agent backbone
You want multi-provider flexibility (switch between Copilot, OpenAI, Azure, and Anthropic)
You want git-aware coding assistance integrated into PocketPaw