GitHub Copilot: Cloud Agent for Linear Now GA, Next MCP Spec Support, and Agent Automation Controls in Issues

What is new

• Cloud Agent for Linear GA: The Copilot agent can be assigned to Linear issues, analyzes content, opens a draft PR, and streams progress into Linear activity timeline. Teams choose AI models, set target branches, steer sessions via comments; the agent automatically requests code review when done.
• GitHub MCP Server — next MCP spec: Stateless core architecture, Redis sessions removed, deep packet inspection eliminated. GitHub is first to implement the upcoming MCP specification before its official release.
• Agent automation controls in Issues (public preview): Three new controls — Approvals (suggestions held for manual review), Confidence Ratings (auto-apply based on confidence threshold), Rationale (audit trail for every agent change). Searchable via has:suggestions.
• GitHub Mobile — Fix Actions checks: Fix with Copilot button in GitHub Mobile for iOS/Android triggers the cloud agent to repair failing CI checks from the phone.

Why it matters

The Copilot and Linear integration closes the loop from issue to code to PR without manual context switching. Next MCP spec support gives GitHub an early-mover advantage. Automation controls move Copilot beyond a coding tool into project management assistance.

How to try it

Cloud Agent for Linear requires Copilot Pro / Pro+ / Business / Enterprise plus GitHub owner and Linear workspace admin permissions.