// What's new with the GitHub Copilot coding agent: A look at the updates

This video shows how to create a GitHub Issue directly from Copilot Chat on GitHub.com and immediately assign it to the Copilot coding agent. The core focus is Model Context Protocol (MCP): how the Notion MCP server is configured to give Copilot access to a product requirements document stored in Notion, enabling it to implement a user reviews feature for the 'Copilot Airways' travel guide with full traceability back to the source document. The video also covers how MCP servers are provisioned inside GitHub Actions and how to use Copilot's PR change summary to navigate large code reviews.

GitHub Copilot for Xcode now supports agent mode alongside the existing ask mode, with full Model Context Protocol (MCP) support for extending Copilot with additional tools. This video walks through toggling between ask and agent modes in the Xcode chat pane, configuring the GitHub MCP server via the Xcode MCP settings tab, and using agent mode to look up and prioritize repository issues. A hands-on demo shows Copilot diagnosing and fixing a premature form validation problem in an iOS app, verified in the simulator.

Getting the best results from the GitHub Copilot coding agent requires deliberate setup across four areas. This video covers writing well-scoped GitHub Issues with clear acceptance criteria and file pointers, crafting Copilot custom instructions to enforce team conventions and development flow, configuring a consistent development environment using Copilot setup steps, and extending Copilot's toolset with Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers configured from repository settings.