Comprehensive guide to all Copilot CLI running modes: Interactive, Plan, Autopilot, Fleet, Research, Chronicle, and Delegate. Use when asked about CLI modes, workflows, or how to use Copilot CLI effectively.
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Comprehensive guide to all Copilot CLI running modes: Interactive, Plan, Autopilot, Fleet, Research, Chronicle, and Delegate. Use when asked about CLI modes, workflows, or how to use Copilot CLI effectively.
source
GitHub Docs — Copilot CLI concepts and best practices
domain
workflows
level
foundational
agents
["backend-dev","gis","ui","orchestrator"]
created_date
2026-04-27
last_validated
validated_by
status
draft
Copilot CLI Running Modes
Overview
Copilot CLI provides 7 distinct running modes, each optimized for different tasks. Understanding when to use each mode is the key to effective AI-assisted development. Modes can be combined — for example, Plan → Autopilot + Fleet is a common power workflow.
Mode Quick Reference
Mode
Trigger
Autonomy
Modifies Code?
Best For
Interactive
Default
Low — asks at every step
Yes (with permission)
Day-to-day coding, Q&A, small changes
Plan
Shift+Tab or /plan
Low — creates plan, waits for approval
No (planning only)
Complex features, multi-file refactors
Autopilot
Shift+Tab (cycle) or --autopilot
High — works until done
Yes (needs --allow-all)
Well-defined tasks, CI, batch ops
Fleet
/fleet prefix
High — parallel subagents
Yes
Large parallelizable tasks
Research
/research
High — autonomous research
No (report only)
Deep technical investigation
Chronicle
/chronicle
N/A — reads history
No
Standups, tips, self-improvement
Delegate
/delegate
Full — runs in cloud
Yes (creates PR)
Async work, other repos
1. Interactive Mode (Default)
What It Is
The standard back-and-forth mode. You prompt, Copilot responds, you guide the next step. Copilot asks for permission before making changes and checks in with you at decision points.
When To Use
Day-to-day coding tasks
Quick bug fixes
Single-file changes
Exploratory questions about the codebase
Tasks where you want control at every step
Usage Scenarios
Codebase onboarding:
How is logging configured in this project?
What's the pattern for adding a new API endpoint?
Explain the authentication flow
Quick fix:
The login form doesn't validate email format. Fix the validation in src/components/LoginForm.tsx
Git operations:
Create a PR for this branch with a detailed description
Rebase this branch against main
Key Commands
Type your prompt and press Enter
Shift+Tab to cycle to other modes
/model to switch AI models mid-session
/clear or /new to start fresh between unrelated tasks
Tips
Keep sessions focused — use /clear between unrelated tasks
Use /context to see how much context window you've used
A structured planning mode where Copilot analyzes your request, asks clarifying questions, and produces a detailed implementation plan with tasks and checkboxes — before writing any code. Plans are saved to plan.md in your session folder.
When To Use
Complex multi-file features
Refactoring with many touch points
New feature implementation
Any task where you want to review the approach before execution
When NOT To Use
Quick bug fixes
Single-file changes
Simple questions
How To Activate
Press Shift+Tab to toggle into plan mode (prompts show "plan" indicator)
Or use /plan command from normal mode
Usage Scenarios
Feature planning:
/plan Add OAuth2 authentication with Google and GitHub providers
Refactoring:
/plan Migrate all class components to functional components with hooks
Architecture change:
/plan Extract the payment processing logic into a separate microservice
What Happens
Copilot analyzes your request and codebase
Asks clarifying questions to align on requirements
Creates a structured plan with checkboxes
Saves plan to plan.md
Waits for your approval before implementing
After approval, you can:
Implement manually — Proceed with the plan
Implement on autopilot — "Accept plan and build on autopilot"
Implement on autopilot + fleet — "Accept plan and build on autopilot + /fleet"
Viewing & Editing Plans
Ctrl+Y — open plan in your default Markdown editor
/session plan — view current plan in CLI
The Power Workflow: Explore → Plan → Code → Commit
1. Explore: "Read the authentication files but don't write code yet"
2. Plan: /plan Implement password reset flow
3. Review: Check the plan, suggest modifications
4. Build: "Proceed with the plan" (or autopilot)
5. Verify: "Run the tests and fix any failures"
6. Commit: "Commit these changes with a descriptive message"
3. Autopilot Mode
What It Is
Hands-off autonomous mode. Copilot works through a task without waiting for your input after each step, continuing until the task is complete, a problem occurs, or you press Ctrl+C.
When To Use
Well-defined tasks with clear goals
Implementing a plan you've already reviewed
Batch operations (writing tests, fixing lints)
CI/CD workflows and scripting
Large tasks that require many steps
When NOT To Use
Open-ended exploration
Tasks requiring nuanced judgment calls
Vague or ambiguous instructions
Tasks where you want to guide each step
How To Activate
Press Shift+Tab to cycle to autopilot mode
Or use --autopilot flag from command line
Or accept a plan with "Accept plan and build on autopilot"
Usage Scenarios
Implement a reviewed plan:
# After creating a plan in plan mode:
"Accept plan and build on autopilot"
Programmatic usage (CI/scripts):
copilot --autopilot --yolo --max-autopilot-continues 10 -p "Write unit tests for all functions in src/utils/"
Batch linting:
copilot --autopilot --allow-all -p "Run the linter, fix all errors, and commit the changes"
Permissions
When entering autopilot, you're prompted:
Enable all permissions (recommended) — equivalent to --allow-all / --yolo
Continue with limited permissions — auto-denies tool requests needing approval
Cancel
Use /allow-all or /yolo mid-session to grant full permissions later.
Safety Controls
--max-autopilot-continues N — cap the number of autonomous steps (prevents runaway loops)
Parallel task execution. The main agent acts as orchestrator, breaking a large task into independent subtasks and assigning them to subagents that run simultaneously. Each subagent has its own context window.
When To Use
Large tasks with multiple independent steps
Writing tests for many modules at once
Refactoring several unrelated files
Updating dependencies across packages
Any parallelizable work where speed matters
When NOT To Use
Sequential tasks where each step depends on the previous one
Small, focused single-step tasks
Tasks where you need fine-grained control over order
How To Activate
Prefix your prompt with /fleet:
/fleet Write comprehensive unit tests for all controllers in src/controllers/
Usage Scenarios
Parallel test writing:
/fleet Write unit tests for UserService, OrderService, and PaymentService. Each test file should cover happy paths, error cases, and edge cases.
Multi-file refactoring:
/fleet Rename all instances of "userId" to "accountId" across the following directories: src/models/, src/services/, src/controllers/
Documentation generation:
/fleet Generate JSDoc comments for all exported functions in src/utils/, src/helpers/, and src/lib/
Using specific agents per subtask:
/fleet Use @tester to create tests for src/auth/. Use @technical-writer to update the API docs in docs/. Use @security-auditor to review src/payments/.
Using specific models per subtask:
/fleet Use Claude Opus 4.5 to refactor the database layer. Use GPT-5.3-Codex to generate the migration scripts.
Combining with Autopilot
The most powerful workflow: Plan → Autopilot + Fleet
Shift+Tab into plan mode
Create a detailed implementation plan
Select "Accept plan and build on autopilot + /fleet"
Copilot decomposes the plan, runs subtasks in parallel, and works to completion
Cost Consideration
Fleet spawns multiple subagents, each consuming premium requests independently. A /fleet task may use more total premium requests than the same task done sequentially. Use /model to check your current model's multiplier.
5. Research Mode (/research)
What It Is
A specialized deep-research agent that produces comprehensive Markdown reports with citations. Unlike normal chat (optimized for quick answers), /research is optimized for thoroughness — reports can be hundreds of lines with architecture diagrams, code snippets, and citations.
When To Use
Deep technical investigation
Understanding codebase architecture
Comparing technologies or approaches
Understanding how a library/framework works internally
Cross-repository research
When NOT To Use
Quick questions ("what does this function do?")
When you need code changes (research produces reports, not edits)
The agent adapts its output format based on query type:
Query Type
Format
Example
Process/how-to
Step-by-step guide
"How do I add an endpoint?"
Conceptual
Narrative + trade-offs
"What's the difference between X and Y?"
Technical deep-dive
Architecture diagrams + code
"How is X implemented?"
Tip: Be explicit about the report type you want. "Give me a technical deep-dive into X with architecture diagrams" produces better results than "What is X?"
6. Chronicle Mode (/chronicle)
What It Is
A session history analysis tool. Copilot records every session locally (prompts, responses, tools used, files modified) in a SQLite database. Chronicle reads this history to generate standups, tips, and self-improving custom instructions.
When To Use
Start of day: generate standup report
Periodically: discover productivity tips
When Copilot keeps making the same mistake: generate corrective instructions
To recall past work: search your coding history
How To Activate
Note: Chronicle is experimental. Enable with /experimental on or --experimental.
Subcommands
Standup report:
/chronicle standup
/chronicle standup last 3 days
→ Summarizes recent work: branch names, PR links, status checks
Personalized tips:
/chronicle tips
→ Analyzes your usage patterns and suggests features/workflows you're underusing
Self-improving instructions:
/chronicle improve
→ Analyzes sessions where Copilot misunderstood you or there was lots of back-and-forth, then generates custom instructions to fix the patterns
Rebuild session index:
/chronicle reindex
→ Rebuilds the session store from disk (after deletion, migration, or corruption)
Usage Scenarios
Monday morning standup:
/chronicle standup last 3 days
→ "Last Friday you worked on the auth refactor (branch: feat/oauth2), created PR #42, and fixed 3 test failures. Thursday you debugged the payment timeout issue..."
Discovering unused features:
/chronicle tips
→ "You rarely use plan mode before complex tasks. Try /plan for multi-file changes — models achieve higher success rates with a concrete plan."
Fixing recurring miscommunication:
/chronicle improve
→ Generates a custom instruction like: "When I say 'fix the tests', I mean fix failing tests only — do not refactor passing tests or add new ones."
Data Location
~/.copilot/session-state/{session-id}/
├── events.jsonl # Full session history
├── workspace.yaml # Metadata
├── plan.md # Plans (if created)
└── research/ # Research reports
~/.copilot/session-store.db # SQLite index for chronicle
Offloads a task to Copilot cloud agent, which runs asynchronously and creates a pull request with the results. You can continue working locally while the cloud agent works in the background.
When To Use
Tangential tasks you don't want to block on
Documentation updates
Refactoring separate modules
Changes to other repositories
Long-running tasks you can review later
When NOT To Use
Core feature work requiring tight control
Active debugging
Interactive exploration
How To Activate
/delegate PROMPT
Usage Scenarios
Tangential task:
/delegate Add dark mode support to the settings page
→ Cloud agent creates a PR while you keep coding locally
Documentation:
/delegate Update the API documentation to reflect the new authentication endpoints
Cross-repo work:
/delegate In the frontend repo, update the API client to use the new /v2/users endpoint
Mode Composition Cheat Sheet
Scenario
Mode Combination
Command
Quick fix
Interactive
Just type the prompt
Complex feature
Plan → Autopilot
Shift+Tab to plan, then "Accept plan and build on autopilot"
Large parallelizable task
Plan → Autopilot + Fleet
Plan, then "Accept plan and build on autopilot + /fleet"
Is the task well-defined?
├── No → Is it a question?
│ ├── Quick question → Interactive mode
│ └── Deep investigation → /research
└── Yes → Is it complex (multi-file)?
├── No → Interactive mode
└── Yes → Plan mode first
└── Plan approved?
├── Parallelizable? → Autopilot + /fleet
├── Sequential? → Autopilot
└── Tangential? → /delegate
