GitHub Copilot CLI by GitHub

# Fix list: GitHub Copilot CLI

From Anchor Terminal's listing at https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/github-copilot-cli, the October 2026 research run, assessed 1 October 2026. Grade C, 57.9 out of 100.

This is everything the published grade says the listing lacks, the biggest possible gain to the total first. It comes from the reason given for each score, the checklist each category was scored against (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist), the provenance checks, the deductions, what we couldn't check and what the review panel asked for. A fix counts at the next check, once it's public.

For a coding agent working on GitHub Copilot CLI: work through the items below in the product, its docs and its public pages. Each category gives the reason for its score, with the points each checklist item earned, and the checklist itself, so the gap is the items that earned less than their points. Change the product, not the wording, and keep a note of what you changed and where it's published.

## 1. Reliability, 55 out of 100, up to 9 more on the total

Why it scored 55: Local-package reading. npm, Homebrew, WinGet and an install script for Linux, macOS and Windows, with PowerShell 6 or newer named for Windows, though the npm package declares no engines (20). No public CI or test suite, since the source isn't published, and the repository's workflows manage issues and WinGet publishing (0). About 1,900 open issues and 28 open pull requests, labelled by area and platform with a triage label and no-response automation (12). A dated changelog for every release that marks breaking changes with BREAKING, though they ship in 1.0.x patch versions (8). 1.0 since March 2026 (15). Same reading as Claude Code and Cursor CLI, which are also closed source.

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-reliability):

Hosted APIs, MCP servers, models and platforms.

- 20, a public status page with component history (Statuspage, Instatus, BetterStack or the vendor's own).
- 0 to 30, the incident record for the last 90 days on that page. 30 for a clean record or trivial incidents only, 20 for minor incidents only, 10 for one major outage (an hour or more of a core API down, or errors across the board), 0 for several. 5 when there's no history we could read, and the note says so.
- 15, rate limits documented with numbers.
- 15, documented 429 or overload handling (Retry-After, backoff guidance), and idempotency keys or safe-retry guidance where writes are involved.
- 10, an SLA published for any paid tier.
- 10, the surface agents use is generally available, not beta or preview.

Local packages, SDKs, frameworks and stdio MCP servers.

- 20, installs from an official package with supported runtimes stated.
- 25, a public CI and test suite, passing on the default branch.
- 0 to 25, open crash or regression issues relative to activity (25 for few and handled, 0 for many, old and unanswered).
- 15, semver discipline and breaking changes called out in a changelog.
- 15, version 1.0 or later, or declared stable.

Protocols are read from their reference implementations, the public facilitators or servers, spec stability and test vectors.

## 2. Payments & pricing, 40 out of 100, up to 7.5 more on the total

Why it scored 40: Harness reading of the published rubric. No payment protocol (0). Plan prices and the AI credit price ($0.01) are public without a login (20). Copilot Free includes the CLI with 50 chat requests a month and no card (20). A person signs in to GitHub or creates the token, and we didn't confirm whether bring-your-own-key providers work without a Copilot sign-in (0).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-payments):

The published rubric, also on the [x402 page](https://www.anchorterminal.com/x402/).

- 40, a machine payment protocol (x402, MPP or L402) on the tool's own endpoints. 10 to 30 when it covers only some endpoints or only goes through a third party, and the note says which.
- 20, per-call or per-unit pricing published without a login. 10 for public plan-only pricing, 0 for "contact sales" or prices behind a login.
- 20, a free tier or trial that doesn't need a card.
- 20, autonomous onboarding, meaning an agent can get access without a person signing up in a browser (keyless use, x402, a programmatic key API).

Payment platforms and agent wallets rarely charge for their own API over a machine protocol, so the first line has steps for them, and the highest one that applies counts. 40 when x402, MPP or L402 runs on all their own endpoints, 30 when it runs on part of their own API, 25 when their merchants can accept one, 20 for running a facilitator, 15 for paying as a buyer, and 0 when the only protocol is their own. Merchant acceptance sits above a facilitator because the platform's own customers can charge agents through it, while a facilitator settles for sellers who wire up the protocol themselves. The counter-argument (a facilitator does more for the protocol as a whole) has a point. Each note says which step applied.

Open-source software you run yourself is scored on its hosted or paid option if it has one. A free, self-hosted package with nothing to buy gets 20, 20 and 20 for the last three lines, and 0 to 40 for the first only if it ships a payment protocol.

## 3. Security & auth, 60 out of 100, up to 7 more on the total

Why it scored 60: Framework reading (telemetry defaults, approvals, guardrails, sandboxing), five lines. The CLI sends product telemetry (the 1.0.91 changelog flushes it on exit) and we found no opt-out. Since 24 April 2026 Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max interactions train GitHub's models by default, with an opt-out, and Business and Enterprise data is excluded. A fine-grained token with only the Copilot Requests permission works for CI (14). Asks before the first use of each modifying tool, deny rules that beat `--allow-all-tools`, URL and path permissions, trusted directories and enterprise managed settings, but the sandbox is an opt-in preview, the CLI can't enforce organisation MCP policies, and until 1.0.88 ACP and `--server` sessions skipped managed settings (14). The sandbox proxy filters hosts and content exclusion applies, and we found no prompt-injection guidance for the CLI (9). OpenTelemetry export with GenAI spans, opt-in, and session logs (13). Two advisories with CVEs published in 2026, but no SECURITY.md in the repository and an expired security.txt on github.com per the 26 September check. We didn't check GitHub's bug bounty this run (10). SOC 2 isn't scored on the framework reading.

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-security):

- 0 to 30, the credential model. 30 for OAuth 2.1 with scopes, or scoped and revocable keys with rotation. 20 for plain revocable API keys. 10 for one all-powerful key. 10 off when a secret can travel in a URL query string as a documented option.
- 0 to 20, read-only or least-privilege modes, and confirmation or approval for destructive actions.
- 0 to 15, prompt-injection posture where the tool returns untrusted content (documented mitigations or guidance). A tool that returns no untrusted content gets 10.
- 0 to 15, audit logs or per-call visibility for the operator.
- 0 to 20, a security programme. security.txt or a disclosure policy, a bug bounty, SOC 2 or ISO 27001, advisories handled in public.

Models are read for retention, whether API data trains models (and whether that's off by default), zero-retention options and certifications. Frameworks for telemetry defaults, approval hooks, guardrails and sandboxing.

## 4. Schema & documentation, 72 out of 100, up to 4.6 more on the total

Why it scored 72: Framework reading. A command reference that lists every option, and JSON output, but no published schema for settings or output that we found (12). docs.github.com/llms.txt lists the Copilot CLI and cloud agent pages, and an article API returns any page as Markdown (10). The concept page says what each approval option does, that `--deny-tool` wins, and what the risks of automatic approval are (14). Tool patterns such as `shell(COMMAND)` are validated, and malformed ones are rejected since 1.0.x (10). Examples on the concept and reference pages, and we found no documented error format (11). A dated changelog per release with breaking changes marked (15).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-schema):

APIs and MCP servers.

- 25, a machine-readable contract (a public OpenAPI file or similar; for MCP, typed JSON Schema inputs on every tool).
- 10, llms.txt or Markdown docs served for agents.
- 0 to 20, descriptions that say what a tool is for, when to use it and when not to, read from the tool definitions in the source or the API reference.
- 0 to 15, typed inputs with enums, constraints and required fields, and no free-form JSON blobs.
- 0 to 15, examples and documented error responses.
- 15, versioning and a public changelog.

Models are read from the API reference, the OpenAPI file, llms.txt, the structured-output and tool-use docs and the model cards. Frameworks from docs a model can follow, typed interfaces, examples and the API reference.

## 5. Agent ergonomics, 72 out of 100, up to 4.6 more on the total

Why it scored 72: Framework reading, adapted to a harness driven by a pipeline. `--available-tools` and `--excluded-tools` shape the tool list and `--deny-tool` removes tools, and MCP tool discovery recovers without a restart (20). `--max-autopilot-continues` caps autopilot, and a turn timeout applies to background work in `-p` (15). JSON output, and a 2026 release replaced a misleading auth error with the real cause (12). `--resume` and `--continue`, and permission prompts survive a resumed session (15). An SDK exists, per the changelog, but we didn't check its languages, and a headless run needs explicit allow flags to do anything (10).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-ergonomics):

- 0 to 25, context cost. For MCP, the number and size of the tool definitions (25 for ten or fewer compact tools, 15 for 11 to 30, 5 for more than 30, plus up to 10 back for toolsets, dynamic loading or read-only subsets). For APIs, whether responses can be sized (field selection, limits, summaries).
- 20, pagination, filtering and output-size controls.
- 20, actionable, documented error responses, codes and messages an agent can recover from.
- 20, idempotency or safe retries, and for MCP the `readOnlyHint` and `destructiveHint` annotations.
- 15, sensible defaults, few required parameters, and official SDKs in at least two languages.

Models are read for tool use, structured output, prompt caching, context length, batch and SDKs. Frameworks for how much code and how many defaults a tool-calling agent with MCP needs.

## 6. Transparency & trust, 72 out of 100, up to 2.5 more on the total

Made of editorial 49, provenance 94.

Why it scored 72: Proprietary licence with clear terms for running and redistributing (15). The data-use page dates the training change (24 April 2026), says which plans it covers and how to opt out, and says Business and Enterprise data isn't used, but we didn't find retention periods for CLI sessions (18). Breaking changes are marked in a dated changelog, but there's no deprecation policy or advance notice (10). OpenTelemetry export is documented, but the product telemetry the CLI sends isn't described and we found no switch for it (6).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-transparency):

- 0 to 30, source availability and licence clarity. 30 for open source under an OSI licence, 15 for closed with clear terms, 0 for unclear terms.
- 0 to 30, data handling and retention statements that agree with each other (privacy policy, DPA, retention periods, subprocessors).
- 0 to 20, a deprecation policy or notices with dates.
- 0 to 20, telemetry disclosed with an opt-out (local software), or subprocessors and data locations disclosed (hosted).

The other half of Transparency and trust is the provenance score, computed from checked facts (below). The category score is the mean of the two.

Provenance checks not met in full (half of this category, computed from checked facts):

- security.txt: published but past its Expires date (5 of 10)

## 7. Maintenance & community, 77 out of 100, up to 2 more on the total

Why it scored 77: 1.0.91 on 2026-10-01 (30). 22 releases between 3 July and 1 October (20). Issues are labelled and triaged, with automation for stale and unanswered reports, though about 1,900 stay open (14). An SDK the changelog keeps updating (session APIs, MCP management, OAuth tokens), languages unchecked (10). Closed source and a bundled npm build, so no CI or dependency health to read (3).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-maintenance):

- 0 to 30, time since the last release, or the last published model or API change for a closed service. 30 within 30 days, 20 within 90, 10 within 180, 0 older.
- 20, at least three releases or dated changelog entries in the last 90 days.
- 0 to 25, responsiveness. Issues and pull requests answered on GitHub (the open issues and how recent the replies are). For closed services, a public changelog and a support or community channel that answers, 0 to 15.
- 15, presence in the official MCP registry under a verified namespace (MCP servers), or current official SDKs (APIs and models).
- 10, package health, current dependencies and CI.

Models are read for deprecation notice periods and model churn rather than release counts.

## Deductions

Each comes off the total. A fixed and documented problem counts for less at the next check.

- 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

## What we couldn't check

What we couldn't read counted as absent. Publishing it on a page a plain HTTP fetch can read (not only in a browser) lets the next check count it.

- What product telemetry the CLI sends and whether it can be turned off
- unchecked: GitHub's bug bounty coverage of the CLI
- Whether bring-your-own-key model providers work without a Copilot sign-in
- npm's latest tag showed 1.0.89 while the changelog and git tags show 1.0.91 on 1 October 2026
- The issue page our reader loaded listed issues from 17 and 18 July 2026, so the counts may be cached

## 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

## What costs an agent a turn today

The notes we give agents before they call it. Each one is a workaround an agent shouldn't need.

- 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

## What the review panel asked for

- migration for renamed keys
- notice before breaking changes
- advisories for policy gaps
- telemetry opt-out

## When it's done

Send what changed and where it's published as a dispute (https://www.anchorterminal.com/builders/#disputes, or `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/contact` with `"kind": "dispute"`). Disputes are answered in public, and the listing is checked again by the same checklist. Paying for an audit or a listing claim changes nothing here.