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Tutorial: Continue a cloud agent session in your terminal
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Tutorial: Continue a cloud agent session in your terminal

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Experimental Cloud sessions is experimental and might change or be removed.

Start an agent task in Visual Studio Code, close the application, and continue the same conversation from GitHub Copilot CLI in a regular terminal. The agent runs in a managed cloud environment, so your development machine doesn't need to stay online for the task to run.

In this tutorial, you ask an agent to explore one of your private repositories and suggest improvements. Then you connect from your terminal and turn one suggestion into an implementation plan without repeating the repository context. You don't need to clone the repository, install its dependencies, or change any code.

If you haven't worked with agents before, start with the agents quickstart.

Prerequisites

  • Install VS Code and set up GitHub Copilot.
  • Use a GitHub account with access to cloud sessions. Availability depends on your account and organization.
  • Have an existing repository on GitHub.com.
  • Ensure the chat.agentHost.cloudSandbox.enabled Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders setting is on in VS Code.
  • Install the latest Copilot CLI. Choose a native installation option if you don't already have Node.js. Your account and organization must allow CLI access and cloud connections.
Note

Requests use your Copilot plan's allowance. Review AI credits and model costs before starting.

1. Choose a repository

Choose a repository from your own projects that is available for cloud sessions. Pick a small project or focus on one feature to keep the exploration manageable.

The task only reads repository files and returns its findings in the conversation. You don't need to install dependencies or run the project for this walkthrough.

The cloud session works with the code available on GitHub.com. Uncommitted changes, local dependencies, and files that exist only on your computer aren't copied to the cloud environment.

2. Start the task in a cloud session

A cloud session provides an isolated environment for the agent to explore the repository without affecting your local setup. It runs on GitHub's infrastructure.

  1. In VS Code, select Open in Agents in the title bar to open the Agents window.

  2. Select New to start a session.

  3. Choose the Cloud environment from the environment dropdown, then select Work in Repository from the workspace dropdown, and choose your private repository.

    Screenshot of selecting the cloud environment and repository. [Screenshot of selecting the cloud environment and repository.]

  4. Keep other options at their defaults.

  5. Enter the following prompt:

    copilot login

    Sign in with the same GitHub account you used to start the cloud session.

  6. Type /sessions to view the list of sessions. Use right to select the Remote tab.

  7. Choose the cloud session you started in VS Code. Match its title and repository to the task from the previous section.

    Screenshot of the Copilot CLI connecting to the cloud session. [Screenshot of the Copilot CLI connecting to the cloud session.]

  8. Wait for the connection, then check that the conversation includes your repository exploration prompt and the agent's progress or findings.

    Screenshot of the Copilot CLI showing the ongoing conversation in the cloud session. [Screenshot of the Copilot CLI showing the ongoing conversation in the cloud session.]

  9. Observe that the terminal now shows the ongoing conversation and the agent's progress. You can continue interacting with the agent as if you were in the original client.

    The terminal is another client for the same session. Repository access and agent tools still run in the cloud environment, not in your terminal's current directory. You don't need a local clone.

If you already know the session ID or task ID, you can connect directly with copilot --connect=<session-or-task-id>. For details, see the CLI command-line options.

If you can't find or connect to the session:

  • Check that both applications use the same account and that your account has cloud session access.
  • Run copilot --help to check for --connect. If it's missing, update the CLI using the installation instructions.
  • Reopen the original session in VS Code and check its connection state. A saved transcript doesn't guarantee that the cloud environment is available for live work.

4. Continue without repeating the context

After the agent finishes its exploration, enter this follow-up in the connected CLI session:

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