GitHub unifies Teams notifications and Copilot into one app

A channel or chat notification can now become the starting point for an agent-created pull request, while the older Copilot app approaches retirement.

GitHub has brought notifications and Copilot together in a consolidated Microsoft Teams app, connecting the message that reports a problem with the workflow that proposes a code change. The 23 October update lets users receive GitHub notifications in channels, group chats or private chats, then mention GitHub to begin work on an issue.

The resulting workflow ends with a pull request. A team still reviews, tests and merges the proposed change through its normal development process.

Starting work from the notification

GitHub's example begins with a bug report arriving in Teams. A user mentions the GitHub app, which investigates the issue, prepares a fix and creates a pull request. This keeps the initial discussion and the request to the agent together rather than requiring the person to copy the report into another interface.

That is useful when a problem is first noticed by someone outside the engineering repository. Support, operations and product staff often discuss the symptom in a shared conversation. Connecting that discussion to a development task can preserve the original context and make the proposed response visible to the people who raised it.

The important handoff is from a chat message to a repository artifact. Once there is a pull request, the change can receive code review, automated checks and discussion against the actual files. The conversation becomes an entry point into the engineering workflow rather than a separate place where code is approved.

One installation path

The consolidated app was previously called GitHub notifications. Existing users of that app should update it to the latest version; GitHub says their notification capabilities continue to work.

Users of the legacy Copilot-oriented GitHub app need to install the consolidated version. The older app will be renamed “GitHub (deprecated)” and retired on 16 November. In the new app, users mention GitHub and follow the prompts to connect an account and choose a repository.

For an organisation rolling out the change, those are two different migration paths. An employee receiving repository notifications may already have the correct installation and need an update. A colleague using the older integration may need the replacement app. Recognising that difference can avoid duplicate integrations and confusing notifications in the same channel.

Chat as an engineering intake surface

The release builds on a broader pattern in developer tools: requests begin where colleagues already coordinate, while the resulting work is recorded in the system where it can be checked and shipped.

A useful team convention can make the initial request more effective. The message should identify the affected repository, describe the observed behaviour and include a clear expected result. Links to the original issue or relevant logs can keep the task connected to the report as the agent investigates.

The review stage is equally concrete. A proposed fix can be discussed in Teams, but the pull request supplies the diff and the checks needed to decide whether to merge it. That division helps both developers and non-developers follow the work without requiring every participant to use the same interface for every step.

GitHub's October change is consequently more than a notification redesign. It consolidates an intake route and an agent capability, while keeping the familiar repository-based artifact at the centre of the final engineering decision.

Sources

- [Turn notifications into code with GitHub Copilot in Teams](https://github.blog/changelog/2026-10-23-turn-notifications-into-code-with-github-copilot-in-teams/) — GitHub