GitHub Copilot CLI in Actions: Drop the PAT, Use GITHUB_TOKEN

GitHub announced on July 2 that Copilot CLI running inside GitHub Actions no longer requires a personal access token, as the built-in GITHUB_TOKEN now handles authentication. This change simplifies setup for teams using Copilot across multiple repositories by eliminating the need to manage and encrypt PATs.

On July 2, GitHub shipped a quiet but meaningful change: Copilot CLI running inside GitHub Actions no longer needs a personal access token. The built-in GITHUB TOKEN now handles authentication on its own. For teams running Copilot at any kind of scale across multiple repositories, that one-line permission change has real operational weight behind it. The Old Setup — and Why It Was a Problem Before this change, wiring Copilot CLI into a GitHub Actions workflow meant the same ritual every team knew: mint a PAT with the right Copilot scopes, encrypt it as a repo or org secret, reference it … The post