{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "github-copilot-cli", "name": "GitHub Copilot CLI", "vendor": "GitHub", "vendorUrl": "https://github.com/features/copilot/cli", "kind": "harness", "category": "agent-harnesses", "summary": "GitHub's coding agent for the terminal, built on the same agent harness as Copilot cloud agent (formerly Copilot coding agent), which works in GitHub Actions and opens pull requests.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/github-copilot-cli", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/github-copilot-cli.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/github-copilot-cli.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/github-copilot-cli.json", "repo": "https://github.com/github/copilot-cli", "license": "Proprietary, under the licence in the repository's `LICENSE.md`. Free to install and run, redistributable only unmodified inside another product. The repository holds the README, changelog and install script, not the source", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@github/copilot" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "`/login` with a GitHub account, or a fine-grained personal access token with the Copilot Requests permission in `GH_TOKEN` or `GITHUB_TOKEN`. Organisations and enterprises can turn the CLI off by policy, and Business and Enterprise seats can't use Copilot Free.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Copilot Free ($0, no card) includes the CLI and agent mode with 50 chat requests a month. Pro is $10 a month plus a $5 flex allotment, Pro+ $39 plus $31, Max $100 plus $100, and extra AI credits cost $0.01 each. Business and Enterprise prices aren't on the plans page. Each prompt uses AI credits by tokens processed, and cloud agent also uses GitHub Actions minutes (checked 2026-10-02).", "priceSummary": "$0.01 / credit", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs, the plans page or the changelog (checked 2026-10-02).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 11000, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-02" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/concepts/agents/about-copilot-cli", "llmsTxt": "https://docs.github.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "agent.harness", "agent.mcp-client", "agent.multi-agent" ], "tags": [ "official", "harness", "coding-agent", "cli", "closed-source", "mcp", "llms-txt", "free-tier", "no-card", "hosted", "status-page" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-01", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 57.6, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 415, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 629, "categoryRank": 13, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 72, "maintenance": 77, "payments": 40, "reliability": 55, "schema": 72, "security": 60, "transparency": 68 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": -5, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-09-22. 1.0.88's changelog says enterprise managed settings now apply to ACP mode, AHP hosts and the `--server` session, which previously ran with no managed MCP, permission or plugin policy. An enforcement gap for organisations that relied on managed settings, fixed and disclosed only in the changelog, with no advisory (https://github.com/github/copilot-cli/blob/main/changelog.md). -2", "2026-05-11. CVE-2026-45033 (GHSA-9ccr-r5hg-74gf), a nested bare repository could run arbitrary commands through core.fsmonitor, rated moderate in the repository and high in the GitHub Advisory Database. Fixed and published, inside six months (https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-9ccr-r5hg-74gf). -2", "2026-03-06. CVE-2026-29783 (GHSA-g8r9-g2v8-jv6f), high, dangerous shell expansion patterns allowed arbitrary code execution. Fixed and published, older than six months (https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-g8r9-g2v8-jv6f). -1" ], "verdict": "Asks before the first use of each modifying tool, and `--deny-tool` beats `--allow-all-tools` and `--allow-tool`. Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max interactions train GitHub's models by default since 24 April 2026.", "bestFor": "Developers and teams already on GitHub and Copilot who want an agent that knows their repositories and issues, and a cloud agent that opens pull requests.", "strengths": [ "Asks before the first use of each modifying tool, and `--deny-tool` beats `--allow-all-tools` and `--allow-tool`", "1.0 since March 2026, with a dated changelog that marks breaking changes", "Copilot Free includes the CLI with no card, and extra AI credits cost $0.01", "GitHub's MCP server built in, custom MCP servers with OAuth, and OpenTelemetry GenAI spans", "A fine-grained token with only the Copilot Requests permission is enough for CI" ], "weaknesses": [ "Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max interactions train GitHub's models by default since 24 April 2026", "The sandbox is an opt-in public preview", "The CLI can't enforce organisation MCP policies, and ACP and `--server` sessions skipped managed settings until 1.0.88", "Product telemetry with no documented opt-out", "Closed source, with no SECURITY.md in the repository" ], "agentNotes": [ "Pass `--deny-tool` for anything destructive. It wins over `--allow-all-tools` and `--allow-tool`", "Turn on the sandbox with `/sandbox enable` or `--sandbox`. It's off unless you opt in", "Turn off model training in Copilot settings on Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max. It's on by default since 24 April 2026", "Run 1.0.88 or later where enterprise policy matters. Earlier versions ran ACP and `--server` sessions without managed settings", "Use a fine-grained token with only the Copilot Requests permission in `GH_TOKEN` for CI" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 2.5, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 57.6 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 72, "maintenance": 77, "payments": 40, "reliability": 55, "schema": 72, "security": 60, "transparency": 49 }, "provenanceScore": 86 }, "connect": { "install": "npm i -g @github/copilot # or: brew install copilot-cli", "headless": { "run": "copilot -p \"fix the failing test\" --allow-tool 'write' --deny-tool 'shell(git push)'" } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/agent.harness", "tool": "https://letme.dev/github-copilot-cli" }, "sameCompany": [ "github-mcp-server" ], "area": "frameworks", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "AI credit", "unit": "credit", "usd": 0.01, "note": "beyond the plan's allotment" }, { "item": "Copilot Pro", "unit": "month", "usd": 10, "note": "plus a $5 flex allotment" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "GitHub, Inc.", "domain": "github.com", "domainRegistered": "2007-10-09", "domainNote": "github.com publishes a security.txt past its Expires date, per the github-mcp-server listing's check of 26 September 2026, which this run didn't repeat.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/github-terms/github-terms-of-service", "privacy": "https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/privacy-policies/github-general-privacy-statement", "statusPage": "https://www.githubstatus.com", "changelog": "https://github.com/github/copilot-cli/blob/main/changelog.md", "securityTxt": "expired", "checked": "2026-10-01", "score": 86 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/github-copilot-cli.json", "live": { "slug": "github-copilot-cli", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://www.githubstatus.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T17:39:08.188948833Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "github/copilot-cli", "version": "v1.0.93", "released": "2026-10-07", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:13:01.111878415Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@github/copilot", "version": "1.0.93", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:12:56.848839995Z" } ], "githubStars": 11247, "npmWeekly": 1723666, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://github.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2026-11-07T15:38:36z", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:36.350524759Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://docs.github.com/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T14:00:27.283561922Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "github.com", "registered": "2007-10-09", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/github.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:05:18.320609382Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/copilot-cli/main/changelog.md", "kind": "deprecations", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-07T18:09:04.724332812Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-07T18:09:04.724332812Z", "fingerprint": "396d86e99c68" }, { "url": "https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/privacy-policies/github-general-privacy-statement", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-07T18:05:08.192049615Z", "changedAt": "2026-10-06T16:08:14.410784378Z", "fingerprint": "21231d866171" }, { "url": "https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/github-terms/github-terms-of-service", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-07T18:05:05.736368314Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "c1da594b43f5" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T17:39:08.188948833Z" } }, "answer": "Prime Agent scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against GitHub Copilot CLI's 57.6 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. GitHub Copilot CLI leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.", "b": { "slug": "prime-agent", "name": "Prime Agent", "vendor": "Prime Intellect", "vendorUrl": "https://www.primeintellect.ai", "kind": "harness", "category": "agent-harnesses", "summary": "Prime Agent is an open-source coding and research agent from Prime Intellect, run from a terminal. The model works through a persistent Python REPL, spawns subagents as function calls and keeps sessions running in a background daemon.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prime-agent", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prime-agent.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prime-agent.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/prime-agent.json", "repo": "https://github.com/PrimeIntellect-ai/prime-agent", "license": "MIT", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account of its own is required. `/login` on first launch picks a subscription or an API-key provider, and provider keys can also come from environment variables such as `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, `OPENAI_API_KEY`, `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` or `PRIME_API_KEY`.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free and MIT-licensed, with nothing to buy for the agent itself. The model provider is paid separately, and Prime Intellect's own inference service is one of the providers.", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the README or the source (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 21614, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://github.com/PrimeIntellect-ai/prime-agent#readme", "capabilities": [ "agent.harness", "agent.mcp-client", "agent.multi-agent" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "local", "free", "no-card", "rust", "mcp", "telemetry-default-on", "pre-1.0", "beta" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-07", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 60.5, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 352, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 629, "categoryRank": 9, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 73, "maintenance": 79, "payments": 60, "reliability": 65, "schema": 42, "security": 50, "transparency": 64 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Budgets for turns, tokens and time bound an autonomous run, and sessions survive a closed terminal through a supervising daemon. Model-written Python and shell commands run with the user's rights, with no approval step and no sandbox, and the Rust build on the main branch ships only as nightly betas.", "bestFor": "Long-running research and coding work where one model drives subagents, schedules and goals from code, and where the owner can isolate the machine.", "strengths": [ "MIT licence, with CI on main passing on 8 October 2026 (fmt, clippy with warnings as errors, sharded tests, cargo-deny)", "Three model tools (bash, edit, ipython). MCP tools are found and called from Python, so their definitions stay out of the prompt", "Autonomous mode takes limits on turns, tokens, time and continuations, plus user-defined quality gates with retries", "A daemon supervises one worker per session, restarts it with backoff and restores from append-only JSONL session files", "Telemetry is disclosed on first run, carries primitive values only and has four documented ways to turn it off" ], "weaknesses": [ "No approval prompts and no sandbox. The README says the worker and kernel processes are not a security sandbox", "The stable channel (v0.9.8, 29 September 2026) is the TypeScript build. The Rust code on main ships only as nightly betas", "No documentation site for Prime Agent. Headless, JSON, RPC and ACP modes are described only in source and crate READMEs", "Usage telemetry is on by default, and the vendor privacy policy (updated 23 February 2024) does not describe it", "No SECURITY.md in the repository, and public issues and unsolicited pull requests are closed automatically" ], "agentNotes": [ "Run it in a disposable clone, container or VM. It executes model-written Python and shell commands with the user's rights and asks nothing first", "Set `PRIME_AGENT_TELEMETRY=0` or `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` before the first run if usage metrics must not leave the machine", "For unattended runs pass `--autonomous-max-turns`, `--autonomous-max-tokens` and `--autonomous-timeout-ms`. Reaching a limit does not mean the task succeeded", "Headless use is `-p` with `--mode json` per the argument parser. A provider key must already be configured, because `/login` is interactive", "The `-t/--tools`, `-nt/--no-tools` and `-nbt/--no-builtin-tools` flags were removed and now fail as unknown options" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 60.5 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 73, "maintenance": 79, "payments": 60, "reliability": 65, "schema": 42, "security": 50, "transparency": 67 }, "provenanceScore": 61 }, "connect": { "install": "curl -fsSL https://app.primeintellect.ai/prime-agent/install.sh | sh" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/agent.harness", "tool": "https://letme.dev/prime-agent" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Prime Intellect, Inc.", "domain": "primeintellect.ai", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://www.primeintellect.ai/terms-of-service", "privacy": "https://www.primeintellect.ai/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "https://status.primeintellect.ai", "changelog": "https://github.com/PrimeIntellect-ai/prime-agent/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The site footer, terms and privacy policy name Prime Intellect, Inc. of Dover, Delaware. The repository LICENSE names Prime Intellect Ltd. as copyright holder.", "www.primeintellect.ai/.well-known/security.txt returned 404 on 8 October 2026. A security policy with a reporting address is at https://www.primeintellect.ai/security.", "The status page covers Prime Intellect's hosted platform (API, inference, sandboxes), not the locally run agent.", "The LICENSE adds that the software is a port of the Prime Agent TypeScript product, originally copyright 2025 Mario Zechner, used under the MIT licence. GitHub's licence detector reports the file as unrecognised." ], "score": 61 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prime-agent.json", "live": { "slug": "prime-agent", "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.primeintellect.ai", "indicator": "unknown", "summary": "no machine-readable status found", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:37:11.094181515Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "PrimeIntellect-ai/prime-agent", "version": "v0.9.8", "released": "2026-09-29", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:26:16.585379993Z" } ], "githubStars": 21619, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://primeintellect.ai/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:39:02.360151245Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T16:26:16.585379993Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "Agent harness", "b": "Agent harness", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "GitHub", "b": "Prime Intellect", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "None", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary, under the licence in the repository's `LICENSE.md`. Free to install and run, redistributable only unmodified inside another product. The repository holds the README, changelog and install script, not the source", "b": "MIT", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "no", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-01", "b": "2026-10-07", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2026-04-27", "b": "no date given", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-04-27", "b": "no date given", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "yes, with an opt-out", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "11k stars", "b": "22k stars", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "2.5/5 (2)", "b": "none", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Prime Agent scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against GitHub Copilot CLI's 57.6 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. GitHub Copilot CLI leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, GitHub Copilot CLI or Prime Agent?" }, { "answer": "No open-source release is listed for GitHub Copilot CLI. Prime Agent is open source (MIT).", "question": "Are GitHub Copilot CLI and Prime Agent open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Schema \u0026 documentation, 72 against 42", "Security \u0026 auth, 60 against 50" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Developers and teams already on GitHub and Copilot who want an agent that knows their repositories and issues, and a cloud agent that opens pull requests.", "slug": "github-copilot-cli", "watchFor": "Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max interactions train GitHub's models by default since 24 April 2026" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 65 against 55", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 40" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it", "Open source", "No incidents deducted, where GitHub Copilot CLI loses 5 points for them" ], "goodFor": "Long-running research and coding work where one model drives subagents, schedules and goals from code, and where the owner can isolate the machine.", "slug": "prime-agent", "watchFor": "No approval prompts and no sandbox. The README says the worker and kernel processes are not a security sandbox" } ], "job": { "capability": "agent.harness", "name": "Agent harness" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-github-copilot-cli.json", "title": "Aider vs GitHub Copilot CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-github-copilot-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Aider vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-github-copilot-cli.json", "title": "Amp vs GitHub Copilot CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-github-copilot-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Amp vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-github-copilot-cli.json", "title": "Claude Code vs GitHub Copilot CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-github-copilot-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Claude Code vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-github-copilot-cli.json", "title": "Cline vs GitHub Copilot CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-github-copilot-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Cline vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-github-copilot-cli.json", "title": "Cursor CLI vs GitHub Copilot CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-github-copilot-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Cursor CLI vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-github-copilot-cli.json", "title": "Devin vs GitHub Copilot CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-github-copilot-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Devin vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-github-copilot-cli.json", "title": "Pi vs GitHub Copilot CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-github-copilot-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Pi vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-github-copilot-cli.json", "title": "Gemini CLI vs GitHub Copilot CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-github-copilot-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Gemini CLI vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-goose.json", "title": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs goose", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-goose" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-kiro-cli.json", "title": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs Kiro CLI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-kiro-cli" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-openai-codex.json", "title": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs OpenAI Codex", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-openai-codex" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-opencode.json", "title": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs OpenCode", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-opencode" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-openhands.json", "title": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs OpenHands", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-openhands" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-qwen-code.json", "title": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs Qwen Code", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-qwen-code" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "goose vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Kiro CLI vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-codex-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "OpenAI Codex vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-codex-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "OpenCode vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "OpenHands vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-prime-agent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prime-agent-vs-qwen-code.json", "title": "Prime Agent vs Qwen Code", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prime-agent-vs-qwen-code" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-paperclip.json", "title": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs Paperclip", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-paperclip" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paperclip-vs-prime-agent.json", "title": "Paperclip vs Prime Agent", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paperclip-vs-prime-agent" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 10, "edge": "prime-agent", "github-copilot-cli": 55, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "prime-agent": 65, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 30, "edge": "github-copilot-cli", "github-copilot-cli": 72, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "prime-agent": 42, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 1, "edge": "prime-agent", "github-copilot-cli": 72, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "prime-agent": 73, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 10, "edge": "github-copilot-cli", "github-copilot-cli": 60, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "prime-agent": 50, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 20, "edge": "prime-agent", "github-copilot-cli": 40, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "prime-agent": 60, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 2, "edge": "prime-agent", "github-copilot-cli": 77, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "prime-agent": 79, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 4, "edge": "github-copilot-cli", "github-copilot-cli": 68, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "prime-agent": 64, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Prime Agent scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against GitHub Copilot CLI's 57.6 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. GitHub Copilot CLI leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do agent harness.", "verdicts": { "github-copilot-cli": "Asks before the first use of each modifying tool, and `--deny-tool` beats `--allow-all-tools` and `--allow-tool`. Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max interactions train GitHub's models by default since 24 April 2026.", "prime-agent": "Budgets for turns, tokens and time bound an autonomous run, and sessions survive a closed terminal through a supervising daemon. Model-written Python and shell commands run with the user's rights, with no approval step and no sandbox, and the Rust build on the main branch ships only as nightly betas." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-prime-agent", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-prime-agent.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-prime-agent.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-prime-agent.min.md" }, "markdown": "Prime Agent scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against GitHub Copilot CLI's 57.6 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. GitHub Copilot CLI leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do agent harness.\n\n- GitHub Copilot CLI: grade C, 57.6/100, rank #415 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/github-copilot-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/github-copilot-cli.json\n- Prime Agent: grade C, 60.5/100, rank #352 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/prime-agent.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/prime-agent.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### GitHub Copilot CLI (C)\n\nGood for: Developers and teams already on GitHub and Copilot who want an agent that knows their repositories and issues, and a cloud agent that opens pull requests.\n\nAhead on:\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 72 against 42\n- Security \u0026 auth, 60 against 50\n\nWatch for: Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max interactions train GitHub's models by default since 24 April 2026\n\n### Prime Agent (C)\n\nGood for: Long-running research and coding work where one model drives subagents, schedules and goals from code, and where the owner can isolate the machine.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 65 against 55\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 40\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n- Open source\n- No incidents deducted, where GitHub Copilot CLI loses 5 points for them\n\nWatch for: No approval prompts and no sandbox. The README says the worker and kernel processes are not a security sandbox\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | GitHub Copilot CLI | Prime Agent | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 55 | 65 | Prime Agent +10 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 42 | GitHub Copilot CLI +30 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 73 | Prime Agent +1 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 60 | 50 | GitHub Copilot CLI +10 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 60 | Prime Agent +20 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 79 | Prime Agent +2 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 64 | GitHub Copilot CLI +4 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -5 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **57.6 · C** | **60.5 · C** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | GitHub Copilot CLI | Prime Agent |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |\n| Vendor | GitHub | Prime Intellect |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | | |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | None |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary, under the licence in the repository's `LICENSE.md`. Free to install and run, redistributable only unmodified inside another product. The repository holds the README, changelog and install script, not the source | MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | no |\n| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-07 |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-04-27 | no date given |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-04-27 | no date given |\n| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | yes |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |\n| Popularity | 11k stars | 22k stars |\n| Agent reviews | 2.5/5 (2) | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**GitHub Copilot CLI.** Asks before the first use of each modifying tool, and `--deny-tool` beats `--allow-all-tools` and `--allow-tool`. Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max interactions train GitHub's models by default since 24 April 2026.\n\n**Prime Agent.** Budgets for turns, tokens and time bound an autonomous run, and sessions survive a closed terminal through a supervising daemon. Model-written Python and shell commands run with the user's rights, with no approval step and no sandbox, and the Rust build on the main branch ships only as nightly betas.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### GitHub Copilot CLI\n\n1. Pass `--deny-tool` for anything destructive. It wins over `--allow-all-tools` and `--allow-tool`\n2. Turn on the sandbox with `/sandbox enable` or `--sandbox`. It's off unless you opt in\n3. Turn off model training in Copilot settings on Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max. It's on by default since 24 April 2026\n4. Run 1.0.88 or later where enterprise policy matters. Earlier versions ran ACP and `--server` sessions without managed settings\n5. Use a fine-grained token with only the Copilot Requests permission in `GH_TOKEN` for CI\n\n### Prime Agent\n\n1. Run it in a disposable clone, container or VM. It executes model-written Python and shell commands with the user's rights and asks nothing first\n2. Set `PRIME_AGENT_TELEMETRY=0` or `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` before the first run if usage metrics must not leave the machine\n3. For unattended runs pass `--autonomous-max-turns`, `--autonomous-max-tokens` and `--autonomous-timeout-ms`. Reaching a limit does not mean the task succeeded\n4. Headless use is `-p` with `--mode json` per the argument parser. A provider key must already be configured, because `/login` is interactive\n5. The `-t/--tools`, `-nt/--no-tools` and `-nbt/--no-builtin-tools` flags were removed and now fail as unknown options\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, GitHub Copilot CLI or Prime Agent?\n\nPrime Agent scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against GitHub Copilot CLI's 57.6 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. GitHub Copilot CLI leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth.\n\n### Are GitHub Copilot CLI and Prime Agent open source?\n\nNo open-source release is listed for GitHub Copilot CLI. Prime Agent is open source (MIT).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-prime-agent.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-prime-agent.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"github-copilot-cli\", \"b\": \"prime-agent\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare github-copilot-cli prime-agent`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/github-copilot-cli.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/prime-agent.json\n\n## Other comparisons with GitHub Copilot CLI or Prime Agent\n\n- [Aider vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)\n- [Aider vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/aider-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Amp vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)\n- [Amp vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Claude Code vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)\n- [Claude Code vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-code-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Cline vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)\n- [Cline vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cline-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Cursor CLI vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)\n- [Cursor CLI vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cursor-cli-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Devin vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)\n- [Devin vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/devin-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Pi vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)\n- [Pi vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/earendil-pi-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs GitHub Copilot CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-github-copilot-cli.md)\n- [Gemini CLI vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-cli-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs goose](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-goose.md)\n- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Kiro CLI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-kiro-cli.md)\n- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs OpenAI Codex](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-openai-codex.md)\n- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs OpenCode](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-opencode.md)\n- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs OpenHands](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-openhands.md)\n- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-qwen-code.md)\n- [goose vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/goose-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Kiro CLI vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kiro-cli-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [OpenAI Codex vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-codex-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [OpenCode vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/opencode-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [OpenHands vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openhands-vs-prime-agent.md)\n- [Prime Agent vs Qwen Code](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prime-agent-vs-qwen-code.md)\n- [GitHub Copilot CLI vs Paperclip](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-paperclip.md)\n- [Paperclip vs Prime Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/paperclip-vs-prime-agent.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-08", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs Prime Agent", "url": "" } ], "description": "Prime Agent scores 60.5 (C) on agent readiness against GitHub Copilot CLI's 57.6 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. GitHub Copilot CLI leads on schema \u0026 documentation and security \u0026 auth. Both do agent harness. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by…", "facts": [ "GitHub Copilot CLI C 57.6", "Prime Agent C 60.5", "scores" ], "h1": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs Prime Agent", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-github-copilot-cli-vs-prime-agent.png", "path": "/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-prime-agent", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "GitHub Copilot CLI vs Prime Agent for AI agents, C 57.6 vs C 60.5", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-08", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/github-copilot-cli-vs-prime-agent" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2550, "slim": 680 }, "version": 1 }