AI, in your work.

An identity for the service

GitHub announced on October 27 the public preview of server-to-server authentication for Copilot SDK. Agents and services can make requests through a GitHub App installed on an organization, without relying on a signed-in person's credentials. Usage is attributed and billed to that organization, whose model policies also apply.

The administration documentation lists Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise, with management by organization owners. This method supports organization installations; installations on personal accounts and on the enterprise account itself are excluded. The preview is subject to change. The technical guide also requires the organization to be enabled for this authentication method.

How an application authenticates

For services outside GitHub Actions, the technical guide describes creating a GitHub App, granting the `Read-only` organization permission `Copilot Requests`, and installing it. In the child-process example, the token is passed explicitly to the SDK; `useLoggedInUser: false` disables automatic credential discovery.

Installation tokens expire after one hour. The technical guide calls for renewal before expiration and restarting the client or runtime, depending on the deployment.

GitHub Actions has a separate path using `GITHUB_TOKEN` and specific policies. For the GitHub App method, the administration guide clarifies that enabling the “Allow use of Copilot CLI billed to the organization” policy is unnecessary.

What the permission authorizes

Despite its `Read-only` label, this permission allows AI credit consumption, according to the administration guide.

Repository operations require the permissions appropriate to each API. Authorization to request Copilot does not replace authorization to read content or perform other task operations.

When generating an installation token, its permissions and repositories can be restricted. The token cannot obtain more access than the installation was granted.

App usage reporting, organization budgets

The budget documentation confirms that consumption from these installations counts against the organization's budget. Individual app or installation budgets are unavailable. Blocking requests at the limit requires enabling “Stop usage when budget limit is reached”; an alerts-only budget allows spending to continue.

The reports reference defines `app_client_id` as the client ID of the GitHub App associated with consumption. It is used alongside `organization` in the AI usage CSV report. It may be empty, for example, for consumption attributed to users, GitHub Actions, or records predating app attribution.

The administration guide specifies that app attribution is available in CSV exports, rather than GitHub's AI usage view.

Installation management allows an app to be temporarily suspended or uninstalled to block its access to organization resources. That withdrawal affects the installation's overall access.

Hypothetical example: a change-summary assistant

Imagine an internal service preparing change summaries for a development team. This editorial example proposes design decisions; it does not describe a tested implementation or measured results.

• Purpose: start with a test repository and deliver a draft to the team.
• Permissions: inventory Copilot requests, repository reading, and any subsequent writing separately.
• Ownership: assign a team to maintain credentials and review attributed consumption.
• Containment: design request-rate limits and a stop mechanism within the service. These would be application controls, distinct from GitHub's organization budget.
• Removal: rehearse suspending the installation and review which other service functions would lose access.

Nexo's interpretation

Our interpretation is that this preview provides a clearer governance point for automated services: the app installation. Adoption should connect each service to an accountable team and test credential renewal, attribution, and access removal in a pilot. Identifying an application's spending helps with oversight; the budget limit remains shared.