Run AI inference in workflows using the GitHub Copilot CLI.

Usage

The action is Copilot-only. The provider input defaults to copilot, and copilot is the only supported value.

Because the Copilot CLI is not pre-installed on GitHub-hosted runners, install and authenticate it before invoking this action.

name: AI inference
on: workflow_dispatch
jobs:
  inference:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
      - name: Install Copilot CLI
        run: npm install -g @github/copilot
      - name: Run AI Inference via Copilot
        id: inference
        uses: actions/ai-inference@v1
        with:
          prompt: Summarize the latest changes in this repository.
          model: gpt-4.1
        env:
          COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.COPILOT_PAT }}
      - name: Print output
        run: echo "${{ steps.inference.outputs.response }}"

Prompt Files

You can provide prompt content inline or from files.

Text prompt file

steps:
  - name: Run AI Inference with Text File
    id: inference
    uses: actions/ai-inference@v1
    with:
      prompt-file: ./.github/prompts/prompt.txt

Structured .prompt.yml file

steps:
  - name: Run AI Inference with Prompt YAML
    id: inference
    uses: actions/ai-inference@v1
    with:
      prompt-file: ./.github/prompts/sample.prompt.yml
      input: |
        repo: actions/ai-inference
      file_input: |
        diff: ./artifacts/diff.txt

Example:

messages:
  - role: system
    content: Be concise and concrete.
  - role: user
    content: Summarize changes for {{repo}} using this diff:\n{{diff}}
model: gpt-4.1

System Prompt File

steps:
  - name: Run AI Inference with System Prompt File
    id: inference
    uses: actions/ai-inference@v1
    with:
      prompt: Hello
      system-prompt-file: ./.github/prompts/system.txt

Response File Output

The action writes the model response to a temporary file and exposes the path via response-file.

steps:
  - name: Run AI Inference
    id: inference
    uses: actions/ai-inference@v1
    with:
      prompt: Hello
  - name: Use Response File
    run: |
      echo "Response saved to: ${{ steps.inference.outputs.response-file }}"
      cat "${{ steps.inference.outputs.response-file }}"

Inputs

Inputs are defined in action.yml.

Name	Description	Default
`prompt`	Inline user prompt.	`""`
`prompt-file`	Path to prompt file (`.txt` or `.prompt.yml`). When both are set, this takes precedence over `prompt`.	`""`
`input`	YAML template variables for `.prompt.yml` files.	`""`
`file_input`	YAML map of template variable names to file paths; file contents are injected into templates.	`""`
`model`	Model to pass to Copilot CLI (for example `gpt-4.1`, `claude-sonnet-4.5`). Set empty to let CLI choose its default.	`gpt-4.1`
`system-prompt`	Inline system prompt.	`You are a helpful assistant`
`system-prompt-file`	Path to system prompt file. When both are set, this takes precedence over `system-prompt`.	`""`
`token`	Token value masked by the action. Defaults to `github.token`.	`github.token`
`provider`	Inference provider. Only `copilot` is supported.	`copilot`
`copilot-cli-path`	Path to Copilot CLI binary. If empty, uses `copilot` on `PATH`.	`""`
`copilot-allow-tools`	Comma-separated list of `--allow-tool` values passed to Copilot CLI.	`""`

Outputs

Name	Description
`response`	Model response text.
`response-file`	Path to temp file containing the response text.

Notes

The action invokes Copilot CLI with -p <prompt> -s --no-ask-user.
No --allow-tool flags are passed unless you set copilot-allow-tools.
Ensure Copilot CLI authentication is configured on the runner, typically via COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN.

Publishing a New Release

This project includes a helper script, script/release, to streamline tagging and pushing new releases for GitHub Actions. For more information, see Versioning in the GitHub Actions toolkit.