Most AI coding assistants start with a chat window. That works for quick questions, but real software development rarely happens in a straight line. You might be fixing a bug, reviewing a pull request, or exploring a new idea in the same hour.
The GitHub Copilot app is designed for that kind of workflow. It treats AI as a workspace where you can manage multiple agent sessions and switch between tasks without losing momentum.
Your work starts with a project
Agent sessions connect to a project. This gives each session the repository context needed for a specific task.
From the home screen, you can choose a project you have worked with before or add a new one from GitHub or your local machine. Once selected, the session has access to the codebase, files, and tools needed to begin work.
For example, you might want to add a breadcrumb navigation component to an existing application. Instead of manually searching through files to find the right place to make the change, you can describe the update you want. The session examines the project, identifies relevant files, makes the changes, and runs tests to help validate the work.
By starting each session with the project already connected, you spend more time working and less time preparing your environment.
Keep multiple threads moving
Once you have selected a project and started an agent session, you can create additional sessions for other questions, ideas, or tasks without interrupting your existing work. Quick Chat lets you start a new conversation from the Copilot app home screen. Each conversation can focus on a different area of work, giving you a dedicated space to explore ideas, ask questions, or work through changes.
For example, you can open a Quick Chat session to ask Copilot about Copilot, such as how worktrees function in the app, while another agent session continues working on a project update. You can also use Quick Chat to investigate how your codebase works, explore potential approaches, or gather context before deciding how to move forward.
When you return to your original session, you can pick up where you left off, review the changes, and make any updates needed to move the task forward.
Multiple sessions let you follow different threads of work without losing track of where each task stands.
Make your work interactive with canvas
When working on a UI change, seeing the result can be just as important as reviewing the code behind it. The GitHub Copilot app lets you open a browser canvas directly within your workflow, giving you a way to preview your application and make changes based on what you see.
A canvas is a shared, interactive space built around work artifacts, such as a plan, a kanban board, a checklist, or a running application. It provides a visual representation of your work alongside your conversation, so you can move beyond a text-based view of the task.
Rather than opening a new terminal and launching a separate browser, you can create a browser canvas in the GitHub Copilot app using the /create-canvas slash command.
For example, after asking Copilot to update a UI component, you can create a canvas with: /create-canvas Open this app in a browser canvas
This opens your application in a canvas where you can preview the result. If something needs adjusting, you can Enable Canvas Dev Mode and use Pick & Polish to select elements directly in the canvas and use them as context for your next request. You can point to a specific part of the page, request an update, and continue refining the result.
Keep work moving with Agent Merge
Once your changes are ready, the next step is creating a pull request and moving through the standard CI and review process. Agent Merge helps extend that workflow beyond the initial code change by monitoring the pull request and assisting with tasks that come up during review.
To start an Agent Merge workflow, open the pull request options in the Copilot app and select Agent Merge. From there, you can choose which actions Agent Merge can take, such as addressing review feedback, helping resolve CI failures, or handling merge conflicts.
After Agent Merge is enabled, it monitors the pull request as it moves through the review and CI process. If issues come up, it can help address requested changes and prepare the pull request for merge. Once the required checks have passed, you can choose to merge the pull request.
Start exploring the Copilot app
The Copilot app brings together the different parts of your development workflow in one place. Start with a project. From there, you can create separate sessions for different threads of work, create a canvas to visualize and refine your work, and keep changes moving through the pull request process with Agent Merge.
There is more to explore, including additional ways to customize and extend your workflow. The best way to learn the GitHub Copilot app is to try it yourself.
What it means
Developers no longer need to juggle separate terminals and browser windows to test changes. The app integrates the preview, the code editor, and the review process into a single interface.
