You can set up GitHub Copilot to automatically review your pull requests. You need a branch ruleset: go to your repo’s Settings → Rules → Rulesets, create a new branch ruleset, and check “Automatically request Copilot code review.” Pick which branches to target (default branch, all branches, or a pattern). Two options worth knowing about:
- Review new pushes — Copilot re-reviews on each push, not just the first one
- Review draft PRs — catch issues before you even mark the PR as ready
Don’t want to go all-in yet? You can also invoke Copilot as a reviewer manually on any PR — just add “Copilot” as a reviewer from the Reviewers menu.
The review uses full project context and leaves comments with suggested fixes you can apply in a couple of clicks. Copilot always leaves a “Comment” — never “Request changes” — so it won’t block your merge. It’s a first pass, not a gatekeeper.
The DNA team (Finland) have made this mandatory on all PRs — freeing human reviewers to focus on architecture and logic rather than the basics.
💡 Try this: Pick one repo and enable automatic Copilot review on e.g feature branches. See what it catches on the next few PRs.
🔗 Setup guide: Configuring Automatic Code Review for a Single Repository
What is your experience with Github Copilot code reviews?
🟢 We have already set up automatic reviews
🟡 We are invoking Copilot as a reviewer on a case by case basis
🔴 We haven’t looked at this yet
⚪ This is not applicable to our work
Tried this already? What’s been your experience — useful signal or just noise?