GitHub Copilot CLI — Hermes Orchestration Guide

Delegate coding tasks to GitHub Copilot CLI. Copilot CLI can read files, write code, run shell commands, and manage git workflows autonomously.

Prerequisites

• Install: Comes pre-installed on this system (copilot --version → v1.0.61+)
• Auth: Run copilot interactively and use /login for GitHub OAuth, OR set COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN in ~/.hermes/.env
• Check status: copilot -p "hello" --allow-all — if it responds without auth error, you're good
• Health check: copilot --version

Two Orchestration Modes

Mode 1: Print Mode (-p) — Non-Interactive (PREFERRED for most tasks)

Print mode runs a one-shot task, returns the result, and exits. No PTY needed.

terminal(command="copilot -p 'Add error handling to all API calls in src/' --allow-all", workdir="/path/to/project", timeout=120)

When to use print mode:

• One-shot coding tasks (fix a bug, add a feature, refactor)
• CI/CD automation and scripting
• Any task where you don't need multi-turn conversation

Print mode skips ALL interactive dialogs — no workspace trust prompt, no permission confirmations.

Mode 2: ACP Mode (--acp --stdio) — Agent Protocol

Copilot CLI can act as an ACP server for integration with Hermes delegate_task:

delegate_task(
    goal="Refactor the auth module to use JWT tokens",
    acp_command="copilot",
    acp_args=["--acp", "--stdio"],
    workdir="/path/to/project"
)

When to use ACP mode:

• Multi-turn iterative work
• Tasks requiring human-in-the-loop decisions
• When you want Copilot to have full tool access (file read/write, terminal, etc.)

Note: ACP mode requires Copilot to be authenticated first.

Mode 3: VS Code ACP Integration

Copilot CLI can be used as an ACP agent in VS Code:

1. Install ACP Client extension: code --install-extension formulahendry.acp-client
2. Configure agent in ~/.config/Code/User/settings.json:

   {
     "acp.agents": {
       "GitHub Copilot": {
         "command": "copilot",
         "args": ["--acp", "--stdio"]
       }
     }
   }
   

3. Open ACP panel from Activity Bar → select "GitHub Copilot" → connect

Status (Stand 13.06.2026): ✅ ACP Client Extension v0.2.0 installiert, settings.json konfiguriert.

Auth Setup

Copilot CLI requires GitHub authentication. Two methods:

Method 1: Interactive Login (Recommended)

copilot
/login

Follow the browser OAuth flow.

Method 2: Token

Add to ~/.hermes/.env:

COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN=***

Verify Auth

copilot -p "hello" --allow-all

Should respond with a greeting. If you see "No authentication information found", run the login flow.

Tested & Verified (13.06.2026)

• ✅ copilot -p "..." --allow-all — funktioniert
• ✅ delegate_task(acp_command="copilot") — funktioniert, Copilot kann Files erstellen und ausführen
• ✅ VS Code ACP Extension installiert und konfiguriert
• ✅ Auth: eingeloggt als Toqsick auf GitHub

Configuration

• Model: Set via copilot --model <model> or in ~/.copilot/config.json
• Config dir: ~/.copilot/
• Logs: ~/.copilot/logs/

Tips

• Prefer -p for quick tasks — less overhead than ACP mode
• Use --allow-all in non-interactive mode to skip permission prompts
• Set workdir to the project directory so Copilot has full context
• For Hermes integration, ACP mode via delegate_task is the cleanest path
• Copilot CLI v1.0.61+ is installed on this system (as of 2026-06-13)
• copilot-instructions.md — use templates/copilot-instructions.md as a starting point for project-specific Copilot guidance
• VS Code ACP — see references/vscode-acp-setup.md for detailed setup steps