When you assign a task to the GitHub Copilot coding agent, it runs autonomously in a remote sandbox and works toward a pull request — entirely in the background. That means you need a way to watch its progress, steer it mid-flight, or call it off. GitHub gives you seven surfaces to do exactly that.
Availability: Copilot Pro, Pro+, Business, and Enterprise plans.
Not all Copilot sessions are the same
The word "session" covers three meaningfully different concepts in Copilot. Understanding the distinction matters — only coding agent sessions are tracked across surfaces and have a formal lifecycle.
| Type | What it is | Edits files? | Runs where? | Tracked across surfaces? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat session | Conversational Q&A — you ask, Copilot answers. No actions taken. | No | Inline in editor or browser | No |
| Agentic chat session | Agent Mode (VS Code, GitHub.com, JetBrains, Copilot CLI) — Copilot acts locally in your editor: analyzes the repo, edits files, runs commands. | Yes — locally | Inline in your editor or terminal | No |
| Coding agent session | Autonomous background task → pull request. Copilot works entirely in a remote GitHub-hosted sandbox with its own dev environment. | Yes — in remote sandbox | Remote on GitHub | Yes — 7 surfaces |
The key question: did Copilot run autonomously in a remote environment? If yes — it is a coding agent session with a trackable lifecycle (Running → Completed → Archived). If it ran inline in your editor or CLI, it is agentic chat — no cross-surface tracking, no formal states.
Where you can track sessions
Every surface below gives you a live view of running sessions and an archive of past ones. Pick whichever fits your workflow.
| Surface | How to open it | Key capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub.com — Agents tab | Click the Agents icon in the top nav → View all | Cross-repo overview; steer or stop a session; start new tasks |
| GitHub CLI | gh agent-task list / gh agent-task view --repo OWNER/REPO PR# |
Add --log for session logs; --follow to stream live output. Requires CLI v2.80.0+ (public preview) |
| Raycast | Open Raycast → search "Copilot" → View Tasks | macOS & Windows launcher. Press ⌘L to open session logs. Sign in with GitHub on first use |
| VS Code | GitHub Pull Requests extension → GitHub icon in sidebar → click a session → View Session | Per-repo view; Open in VS Code (Insiders only) from the agents tab launches directly |
| JetBrains IDEs | GitHub Coding Agent Jobs button in sidebar, or Open Job List after delegating a task | Public preview. Right-click a running job → Cancel Job to stop it |
| Eclipse | Agents icon (top-right of chat window), or Open Job List after delegating a task | Public preview. Same status/cancel workflow as JetBrains |
| GitHub Mobile | Home → Agents section → Agent Tasks | Filter by Open / Merged / Closed to quickly find what you need |
Reading the session logs
From the agents tab (GitHub.com) or from VS Code, click a session to open its log viewer. The logs expose Copilot's internal monologue: every tool call it made, the files it read, the tests and linters it ran in its own dev environment, and the validation steps before it pushed any code. It's the closest you'll get to watching Copilot think.
Steering a running session
Changed your mind mid-task, or spotted that Copilot is heading in the wrong direction? Open the agents tab, select the running session, and type a new prompt into the prompt box. Copilot will finish its current tool call and then apply your guidance.
Cost: each steering message costs one premium request.
Stopping a session
Click Stop session in the session log viewer to halt Copilot immediately. Use this when you realise the task description was wrong, or when the change simply doesn't need to be made any more.