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Learn how to spin up a GitHub Issue, hand it to Copilot, and get a draft pull request in the same workflow you already know.
Software development has always started with a conversation: What problem are we solving, why does it matter, and what does “finished” look like?
On GitHub, that conversation crystallizes in an issue. No matter what tools you’re using or who you’re working with, a well-designed issue still sets the agenda for pull requests (PR), reviews, tests, and deploys.
That principle hasn’t changed—but how we get from idea to issue to PR is changing fast, with Copilot helping to speed things up. By asking Copilot to draft an issue, you can quickly design a clear plan for moving forward. Then (and here’s the fun part) you can assign that issue directly to the new GitHub Copilot coding agent, which will asynchronously work to execute on the task at hand and give you a PR.
This is a new way of working. But the basic developer experience is simple, familiar and—dare I say—GitHubby.
In this blog, we’ll talk about:
Let’s jump in.
GitHub Issues and pull requests are some of the core building blocks on GitHub. Each issue describes a discrete piece of work, and offers helpful details, requirements, and more for whoever picks up that piece of work. PRs bundle the completed work for code reviews and merging.
Even in an AI‑accelerated workflow, these two artifacts are how present and future teams understand what happened and why.
Regardless of who (or what) authors them, well‑structured issues and pull requests deliver four key benefits:
Miss the structure and every downstream step—human or AI—slows down. Need an example? Here’s an issue I’ve been looking at today (and no, I’m not going to name and shame anyone):
Issue #12609: Found broken link. Please fix!
…and that’s it! Just a title with no explanation in the body, no actual link, no context, no environment or version info, and no reproducible example or proposed fix.
As developers, we need well-crafted issues in order to dive into any project we get asked to do, and we need to write good issues to help teammates work effectively. AI is no exception: Large language models perform best when objectives, constraints, and success criteria are explicit. A vague prompt leads to vague output, whether it’s created by a human or a machine.
Here’s the thing: By allowing Copilot to assist with issue creation, you get to focus on clarity, not copy pasting, as Copilot locates the relevant references, builds out the initial issue structure, and even adds labels or project assignments.
Use this checklist when you create—or review—an issue (yes, Copilot writes these for you, but you’re still in charge):
Miss anything and async breaks down. Nail this format and Copilot—and your team—can move fast.
Great issues share two traits: they’re fast to write and rich in context. GitHub Copilot’s Create Issue flow gives you both. Instead of hopping between fields or copy‑pasting snippets, you can open Copilot Chat and describe the problem in plain language:
Copilot drafts the title, body, and even suggests labels and an assignee—drawing on your repository’s preferred template so the issue lands in the right format every time.
Here’s the step-by-step guide:
org/repo) or let Copilot infer it from where you last filed an issue.| What you do | How Copilot helps | Why it matters |
| Lead with context (expected vs. actual, repro steps) | Parses your wording into the right template sections. | Teammates (or Copilot) get clarity. |
| Attach evidence (screens, logs) | “Image‑to‑issue” persists the file in the issue body. | Future debuggers see exactly what you saw. |
| Tag next actions (“assign to Copilot”, “label frontend”) | Adds assignee, labels, milestones in one go. | Keeps boards tidy and workflows automated. |
| Batch related bugs in one prompt | Generates multiple drafts you can individually approve. | Zero tab switching when you’re in triage mode. |
Ok—now that you have a clear issue in hand thanks to Copilot, you can assign it to Copilot via the coding agent (yes, it shows up like any teammate) or ask:
When you hit Create, Copilot takes ownership and starts working on a fix—look for the 👀 reaction on the issue thread. Behind the scenes, here’s what happens:
Here’s why this is helpful:
Next time your brain yells “Ugh, filing this bug will take longer than fixing it,” open Copilot Chat and let the robot handle the form fields while you capture intent. The faster you translate thought to issue to PR, the sooner users get features—and the sooner you get back to the fun bits.
Now go forth, issue wisely, and may your PRs get greenlit.
Happy coding!
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