GitHub OAuth Setup

Let users authenticate with their GitHub accounts to use Copilot through your application. This supports individual accounts, organization memberships, and enterprise identities.

Best for: Multi-user apps, internal tools with org access control, SaaS products, apps where users have GitHub accounts.

How It Works

You create a GitHub OAuth App (or GitHub App), users authorize it, and you pass their access token to the SDK. Copilot requests are made on behalf of each authenticated user, using their Copilot subscription.

sequenceDiagram
    participant User
    participant App as Your App
    participant GH as GitHub
    participant SDK as SDK Client
    participant CLI as Copilot CLI
    participant API as Copilot API

    User->>App: Click "Sign in with GitHub"
    App->>GH: Redirect to OAuth authorize
    GH->>User: "Authorize this app?"
    User->>GH: Approve
    GH->>App: Authorization code
    App->>GH: Exchange code for token
    GH-->>App: Access token (gho_xxx)

    App->>SDK: Create client with token
    SDK->>CLI: Start with githubToken
    CLI->>API: Request (as user)
    API-->>CLI: Response
    CLI-->>SDK: Result
    SDK-->>App: Display to user

Key characteristics:

Each user authenticates with their own GitHub account
Copilot usage is billed to each user's subscription
Supports GitHub organizations and enterprise accounts
Your app never handles model API keys — GitHub manages everything

Architecture

flowchart TB
    subgraph Users["Users"]
        U1["👤 User A<br/>(Org Member)"]
        U2["👤 User B<br/>(Enterprise)"]
        U3["👤 User C<br/>(Personal)"]
    end

    subgraph App["Your Application"]
        OAuth["OAuth Flow"]
        TokenStore["Token Store"]
        SDK["SDK Client(s)"]
    end

    subgraph CLI["Copilot CLI"]
        RPC["JSON-RPC"]
    end

    U1 --> OAuth
    U2 --> OAuth
    U3 --> OAuth
    OAuth --> TokenStore
    TokenStore --> SDK
    SDK --> RPC
    RPC --> Copilot["☁️ GitHub Copilot"]

    style Users fill:#161b22,stroke:#8b949e,color:#c9d1d9
    style App fill:#0d1117,stroke:#58a6ff,color:#c9d1d9
    style CLI fill:#0d1117,stroke:#3fb950,color:#c9d1d9

Step 1: Create a GitHub OAuth App

Go to GitHub Settings → Developer Settings → OAuth Apps → New OAuth App (or for organizations: Organization Settings → Developer Settings)
Fill in:
- Application name: Your app's name
- Homepage URL: Your app's URL
- Authorization callback URL: Your OAuth callback endpoint (e.g., https://yourapp.com/auth/callback)
Note your Client ID and generate a Client Secret

GitHub App vs OAuth App: Both work. GitHub Apps offer finer-grained permissions and are recommended for new projects. OAuth Apps are simpler to set up. The token flow is the same from the SDK's perspective.

Step 2: Implement the OAuth Flow

Your application handles the standard GitHub OAuth flow. Here's the server-side token exchange:

// Server-side: Exchange authorization code for user token
async function handleOAuthCallback(code: string): Promise<string> {
    const response = await fetch("https://github.com/login/oauth/access_token", {
        method: "POST",
        headers: {
            "Content-Type": "application/json",
            Accept: "application/json",
        },
        body: JSON.stringify({
            client_id: process.env.GITHUB_CLIENT_ID,
            client_secret: process.env.GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET,
            code,
        }),
    });

    const data = await response.json();
    return data.access_token; // gho_xxxx or ghu_xxxx
}

Step 3: Pass the Token to the SDK

Create a SDK client for each authenticated user, passing their token:

Node.js / TypeScript

import { CopilotClient } from "@github/copilot-sdk";

// Create a client for an authenticated user
function createClientForUser(userToken: string): CopilotClient {
    return new CopilotClient({
        githubToken: userToken,
        useLoggedInUser: false,  // Don't fall back to CLI login
    });
}

// Usage
const client = createClientForUser("gho_user_access_token");
const session = await client.createSession({
    sessionId: `user-${userId}-session`,
    model: "gpt-4.1",
});

const response = await session.sendAndWait({ prompt: "Hello!" });

Python

from copilot import CopilotClient

def create_client_for_user(user_token: str) -> CopilotClient:
    return CopilotClient({
        "github_token": user_token,
        "use_logged_in_user": False,
    })

# Usage
client = create_client_for_user("gho_user_access_token")
await client.start()

session = await client.create_session({
    "session_id": f"user-{user_id}-session",
    "model": "gpt-4.1",
})

response = await session.send_and_wait({"prompt": "Hello!"})

package main

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	copilot "github.com/github/copilot-sdk/go"
)

func createClientForUser(userToken string) *copilot.Client {
	return copilot.NewClient(&copilot.ClientOptions{
		GitHubToken:     userToken,
		UseLoggedInUser: copilot.Bool(false),
	})
}

func main() {
	ctx := context.Background()
	userID := "user1"

	client := createClientForUser("gho_user_access_token")
	client.Start(ctx)
	defer client.Stop()

	session, _ := client.CreateSession(ctx, &copilot.SessionConfig{
		SessionID: fmt.Sprintf("user-%s-session", userID),
		Model:     "gpt-4.1",
	})
	response, _ := session.SendAndWait(ctx, copilot.MessageOptions{Prompt: "Hello!"})
	_ = response
}

func createClientForUser(userToken string) *copilot.Client {
    return copilot.NewClient(&copilot.ClientOptions{
        GithubToken:     userToken,
        UseLoggedInUser: copilot.Bool(false),
    })
}

// Usage
client := createClientForUser("gho_user_access_token")
client.Start(ctx)
defer client.Stop()

session, _ := client.CreateSession(ctx, &copilot.SessionConfig{
    SessionID: fmt.Sprintf("user-%s-session", userID),
    Model:     "gpt-4.1",
})
response, _ := session.SendAndWait(ctx, copilot.MessageOptions{Prompt: "Hello!"})

.NET

using GitHub.Copilot.SDK;

CopilotClient CreateClientForUser(string userToken) =>
    new CopilotClient(new CopilotClientOptions
    {
        GithubToken = userToken,
        UseLoggedInUser = false,
    });

var userId = "user1";

await using var client = CreateClientForUser("gho_user_access_token");
await using var session = await client.CreateSessionAsync(new SessionConfig
{
    SessionId = $"user-{userId}-session",
    Model = "gpt-4.1",
});

var response = await session.SendAndWaitAsync(
    new MessageOptions { Prompt = "Hello!" });

CopilotClient CreateClientForUser(string userToken) =>
    new CopilotClient(new CopilotClientOptions
    {
        GithubToken = userToken,
        UseLoggedInUser = false,
    });

// Usage
await using var client = CreateClientForUser("gho_user_access_token");
await using var session = await client.CreateSessionAsync(new SessionConfig
{
    SessionId = $"user-{userId}-session",
    Model = "gpt-4.1",
});

var response = await session.SendAndWaitAsync(
    new MessageOptions { Prompt = "Hello!" });

Enterprise & Organization Access

GitHub OAuth naturally supports enterprise scenarios. When users authenticate with GitHub, their org memberships and enterprise associations come along.

flowchart TB
    subgraph Enterprise["GitHub Enterprise"]
        Org1["Org: Engineering"]
        Org2["Org: Data Science"]
    end

    subgraph Users
        U1["👤 Alice<br/>(Engineering)"]
        U2["👤 Bob<br/>(Data Science)"]
    end

    U1 -.->|member| Org1
    U2 -.->|member| Org2

    subgraph App["Your Internal App"]
        OAuth["OAuth + Org Check"]
        SDK["SDK Client"]
    end

    U1 --> OAuth
    U2 --> OAuth
    OAuth -->|"Verify org membership"| GH["GitHub API"]
    OAuth --> SDK

    style Enterprise fill:#161b22,stroke:#f0883e,color:#c9d1d9
    style App fill:#0d1117,stroke:#58a6ff,color:#c9d1d9

Verify Organization Membership

After OAuth, check that the user belongs to your organization:

async function verifyOrgMembership(
    token: string,
    requiredOrg: string
): Promise<boolean> {
    const response = await fetch("https://api.github.com/user/orgs", {
        headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
    });
    const orgs = await response.json();
    return orgs.some((org: any) => org.login === requiredOrg);
}

// In your auth flow
const token = await handleOAuthCallback(code);
if (!await verifyOrgMembership(token, "my-company")) {
    throw new Error("User is not a member of the required organization");
}
const client = createClientForUser(token);

Enterprise Managed Users (EMU)

For GitHub Enterprise Managed Users, the flow is identical — EMU users authenticate through GitHub OAuth like any other user. Their enterprise policies (IP restrictions, SAML SSO) are enforced by GitHub automatically.

// No special SDK configuration needed for EMU
// Enterprise policies are enforced server-side by GitHub
const client = new CopilotClient({
    githubToken: emuUserToken,  // Works the same as regular tokens
    useLoggedInUser: false,
});

Supported Token Types

Token Prefix	Source	Works?
`gho_`	OAuth user access token	✅
`ghu_`	GitHub App user access token	✅
`github_pat_`	Fine-grained personal access token	✅
`ghp_`	Classic personal access token	❌ (deprecated)

Token Lifecycle

flowchart LR
    A["User authorizes"] --> B["Token issued<br/>(gho_xxx)"]
    B --> C{"Token valid?"}
    C -->|Yes| D["SDK uses token"]
    C -->|No| E["Refresh or<br/>re-authorize"]
    E --> B
    D --> F{"User revokes<br/>or token expires?"}
    F -->|Yes| E
    F -->|No| D

    style A fill:#0d1117,stroke:#3fb950,color:#c9d1d9
    style E fill:#0d1117,stroke:#f0883e,color:#c9d1d9

Important: Your application is responsible for token storage, refresh, and expiration handling. The SDK uses whatever token you provide — it doesn't manage the OAuth lifecycle.

Token Refresh Pattern

async function getOrRefreshToken(userId: string): Promise<string> {
    const stored = await tokenStore.get(userId);

    if (stored && !isExpired(stored)) {
        return stored.accessToken;
    }

    if (stored?.refreshToken) {
        const refreshed = await refreshGitHubToken(stored.refreshToken);
        await tokenStore.set(userId, refreshed);
        return refreshed.accessToken;
    }

    throw new Error("User must re-authenticate");
}

Multi-User Patterns

One Client Per User (Recommended)

Each user gets their own SDK client with their own token. This provides the strongest isolation.

const clients = new Map<string, CopilotClient>();

function getClientForUser(userId: string, token: string): CopilotClient {
    if (!clients.has(userId)) {
        clients.set(userId, new CopilotClient({
            githubToken: token,
            useLoggedInUser: false,
        }));
    }
    return clients.get(userId)!;
}

Shared CLI with Per-Request Tokens

For a lighter resource footprint, you can run a single external CLI server and pass tokens per session. See Backend Services for this pattern.

Limitations

Limitation	Details
Copilot subscription required	Each user needs an active Copilot subscription
Token management is your responsibility	Store, refresh, and handle expiration
GitHub account required	Users must have GitHub accounts
Rate limits per user	Subject to each user's Copilot rate limits

When to Move On

Need	Next Guide
Users without GitHub accounts	BYOK
Run the SDK on servers	Backend Services
Handle many concurrent users	Scaling & Multi-Tenancy

Next Steps

Authentication docs — Full auth method reference
Backend Services — Run the SDK server-side
Scaling & Multi-Tenancy — Handle many users at scale

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GitHub OAuth Setup

How It Works

Architecture

Step 1: Create a GitHub OAuth App

Step 2: Implement the OAuth Flow

Step 3: Pass the Token to the SDK

Enterprise & Organization Access

Verify Organization Membership

Enterprise Managed Users (EMU)

Supported Token Types

Token Lifecycle

Token Refresh Pattern

Multi-User Patterns

One Client Per User (Recommended)

Shared CLI with Per-Request Tokens

Limitations

When to Move On

Next Steps

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GitHub OAuth Setup

How It Works

Architecture

Step 1: Create a GitHub OAuth App

Step 2: Implement the OAuth Flow

Step 3: Pass the Token to the SDK

Enterprise & Organization Access

Verify Organization Membership

Enterprise Managed Users (EMU)

Supported Token Types

Token Lifecycle

Token Refresh Pattern

Multi-User Patterns

One Client Per User (Recommended)

Shared CLI with Per-Request Tokens

Limitations

When to Move On

Next Steps