Copilot SDK for Java

⚠️ Disclaimer: This is an unofficial, community-driven SDK and is not supported or endorsed by GitHub. Use at your own risk.

Welcome to the documentation for the Copilot SDK for Java — a Java SDK for programmatic control of GitHub Copilot CLI, enabling you to build AI-powered applications and agentic workflows.

Getting Started

Requirements

Java 17 or later
GitHub Copilot CLI installed and in PATH (or provide custom cliPath)

Installation

Add the dependency to your project:

Maven:

<dependency>
    <groupId>io.github.copilot-community-sdk</groupId>
    <artifactId>copilot-sdk</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.5-SNAPSHOT</version>
</dependency>

Gradle:

implementation 'io.github.copilot-community-sdk:copilot-sdk:1.0.5-SNAPSHOT'

Quick Example

import com.github.copilot.sdk.*;
import com.github.copilot.sdk.events.*;
import com.github.copilot.sdk.json.*;
import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;

public class Example {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        try (var client = new CopilotClient()) {
            client.start().get();
            
            var session = client.createSession(
                new SessionConfig().setModel("claude-sonnet-4.5")
            ).get();

            var done = new CompletableFuture<Void>();
            session.on(evt -> {
                if (evt instanceof AssistantMessageEvent msg) {
                    System.out.println(msg.getData().getContent());
                } else if (evt instanceof SessionIdleEvent) {
                    done.complete(null);
                }
            });

            session.send(new MessageOptions().setPrompt("What is 2+2?")).get();
            done.get();
        }
    }
}

Documentation

Document	Description
Documentation	Basic usage, streaming, handling responses, and session management
Advanced Usage	Tools, BYOK, MCP servers, infinite sessions, and more
MCP Servers	Integrating Model Context Protocol servers
Javadoc	Generated API documentation

Try it with JBang

You can quickly try the SDK without setting up a full project using JBang:

# Install JBang (if not already installed)
# macOS: brew install jbang
# Linux/Windows: curl -Ls https://sh.jbang.dev | bash -s - app setup

# Create a simple script
cat > hello-copilot.java << 'EOF'
//DEPS io.github.copilot-community-sdk:copilot-sdk:1.0.5-SNAPSHOT
import com.github.copilot.sdk.*;
import com.github.copilot.sdk.events.*;
import com.github.copilot.sdk.json.*;
import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;

class hello {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        try (var client = new CopilotClient()) {
            client.start().get();
            var session = client.createSession(new SessionConfig()).get();
            var done = new CompletableFuture<Void>();
            session.on(evt -> {
                if (evt instanceof AssistantMessageEvent msg) {
                    System.out.print(msg.getData().getContent());
                } else if (evt instanceof SessionIdleEvent) {
                    done.complete(null);
                }
            });
            session.send(new MessageOptions().setPrompt("Say hello!")).get();
            done.get();
        }
    }
}
EOF

# Run it
jbang hello-copilot.java