GitHub Copilot API

Use the GitHub Copilot REST API via direct curl calls to manage Copilot subscriptions and retrieve usage metrics for your organization.

Official docs: https://docs.github.com/en/rest/copilot

Note: This API is for managing Copilot subscriptions and viewing metrics, not for code generation.

When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Manage Copilot seat assignments (add/remove users and teams)
• View Copilot billing information for an organization
• Retrieve usage metrics (active users, code completions, chat usage)
• Monitor Copilot adoption across teams
• Audit Copilot usage for compliance

Prerequisites

1. You need a GitHub organization with Copilot Business or Enterprise
2. Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT) or use a GitHub App
3. Required permissions: manage_billing:copilot or admin:org
4. Store your token in the environment variable GITHUB_TOKEN

export GITHUB_TOKEN="ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxx"

Token Permissions

• manage_billing:copilot – For billing and seat management
• read:org – For reading organization data
• admin:org – For adding/removing users and teams

Important: When using $VAR in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing $VAR in bash -c '...'. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly.

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.example.com" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"'

How to Use

All examples below assume you have GITHUB_TOKEN set.

Base URL: https://api.github.com

Required headers:

• Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}
• Accept: application/vnd.github+json
• X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28

1. Get Copilot Billing Information

Get seat breakdown and settings for an organization. Replace your-org-name with your organization name:

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "https://api.github.com/orgs/your-org-name/copilot/billing" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" --header "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" --header "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28"'

Response:

{
  "seat_breakdown": {
  "total": 12,
  "added_this_cycle": 2,
  "pending_cancellation": 0,
  "pending_invitation": 1,
  "active_this_cycle": 12,
  "inactive_this_cycle": 0
  },
  "seat_management_setting": "assign_selected",
  "public_code_suggestions": "block"
}

2. List All Copilot Seat Assignments

Get all users with Copilot seats. Replace your-org-name with your organization name:

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "https://api.github.com/orgs/your-org-name/copilot/billing/seats?per_page=50" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" --header "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" --header "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28"' | jq '.seats[] | {login: .assignee.login, last_activity: .last_activity_at}'

3. Get Copilot Seat Details for a User

Get specific user’s Copilot seat information. Replace your-org-name with your organization name and username with the target username:

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "https://api.github.com/orgs/your-org-name/members/username/copilot" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" --header "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" --header "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28"'

4. Add Users to Copilot Subscription

Assign Copilot seats to specific users. Replace your-org-name with your organization name:

Write to /tmp/github_copilot_request.json:

{
  "selected_usernames": ["user1", "user2"]
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.github.com/orgs/your-org-name/copilot/billing/selected_users" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" --header "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" --header "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/github_copilot_request.json'

Response:

{
  "seats_created": 2
}

5. Remove Users from Copilot Subscription

Remove Copilot seats from specific users. Replace your-org-name with your organization name:

Write to /tmp/github_copilot_request.json:

{
  "selected_usernames": ["user1", "user2"]
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X DELETE "https://api.github.com/orgs/your-org-name/copilot/billing/selected_users" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" --header "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" --header "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/github_copilot_request.json'

Response:

{
  "seats_cancelled": 2
}

6. Add Teams to Copilot Subscription

Assign Copilot to entire teams. Replace your-org-name with your organization name:

Write to /tmp/github_copilot_request.json:

{
  "selected_teams": ["engineering", "design"]
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X POST "https://api.github.com/orgs/your-org-name/copilot/billing/selected_teams" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" --header "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" --header "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/github_copilot_request.json'

7. Remove Teams from Copilot Subscription

Remove Copilot from teams. Replace your-org-name with your organization name:

Write to /tmp/github_copilot_request.json:

{
  "selected_teams": ["engineering"]
}

Then run:

bash -c 'curl -s -X DELETE "https://api.github.com/orgs/your-org-name/copilot/billing/selected_teams" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" --header "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" --header "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/github_copilot_request.json'

8. Get Copilot Usage Metrics for Organization

Get usage statistics (requires 5+ active users). Replace your-org-name with your organization name:

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "https://api.github.com/orgs/your-org-name/copilot/metrics?per_page=7" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" --header "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" --header "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28"' | jq '.[] | {date, total_active_users, total_engaged_users}'

Response:

{
  "date": "2024-06-24",
  "total_active_users": 24,
  "total_engaged_users": 20
}

9. Get Copilot Metrics for a Team

Get team-specific usage metrics. Replace your-org-name with your organization name and team-name with the target team:

bash -c 'curl -s -X GET "https://api.github.com/orgs/your-org-name/team/team-name/copilot/metrics" --header "Authorization: Bearer ${GITHUB_TOKEN}" --header "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" --header "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28"'

Metrics Data Structure

The metrics response includes:

Guidelines

1. Requires Copilot Business/Enterprise: Free tier users cannot use this API
2. Metrics need 5+ users: Usage metrics only available with 5+ active Copilot users
3. Data retention: Metrics available for up to 100 days
4. Rate limits: Standard GitHub API rate limits apply
5. API in preview: Some endpoints may change