Reusable Workflows

The Copilot PR workflows can be called from any repository using GitHub's workflow_call trigger. This lets you centralize the workflow logic in this tools repo and consume it across your organization without copying files.

Available Reusable Workflows

File	Trigger	What it does
copilot-pr-summary.reusable.yml	workflow_call	Posts a Copilot-generated PR summary comment
copilot-pr-autofill.reusable.yml	workflow_call	Pre-fills the PR description from your template

Inputs & Secrets

Both reusable workflows accept the same interface:

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
inputs.model	string	No	gpt-5-mini	Copilot model to use
secrets.COPILOT_TOKEN	secret	Yes	—	OAuth token (gho_) with active Copilot subscription

Calling from Another Repository

In the caller repo, create a workflow file that references the reusable workflow:

PR Summary

# .github/workflows/copilot-pr-summary.yml  (in your other repo)
name: Copilot PR Summary

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  summary:
    uses: YOUR_ORG/tools/.github/workflows/copilot-pr-summary.reusable.yml@main
    secrets:
      COPILOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.COPILOT_TOKEN }}
    # with:
    #   model: gpt-5-mini   # optional override

PR Template Auto-fill

# .github/workflows/copilot-pr-autofill.yml  (in your other repo)
name: Copilot PR Template Auto-fill

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened]
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  autofill:
    uses: YOUR_ORG/tools/.github/workflows/copilot-pr-autofill.reusable.yml@main
    secrets:
      COPILOT_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.COPILOT_TOKEN }}

Replace YOUR_ORG/tools with your actual repository path (e.g. kevindebenedetti/tools).

Prerequisites

1. COPILOT_TOKEN secret in every caller repo

The token must be an OAuth user access token (gho_ prefix) from an account with an active Copilot Individual or Business subscription.

# Generate a valid token
gh auth login
gh auth token   # copy the gho_... value

Then add it to the caller repo:

Repo → Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → New repository secret

• Name: COPILOT_TOKEN
• Value: the gho_ token

2. tools repo must be public (or same organization)

GitHub allows calling reusable workflows from:

• Public repositories (any caller)
• Private repositories within the same organization (with Actions settings that permit it)

If tools is private and the caller is in a different organization, the call will fail with a permission error.

3. Add your PR template to each caller repo

Place a PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md in the caller repo at one of these paths for the auto-fill to use it:

.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md   ← recommended
PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
docs/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md

The workflow looks for the template in the caller's repository, not in tools.

Centralized Workflows Repository Pattern

If you want to fully centralize workflows for your organization, the standard GitHub pattern is a dedicated repository — conventionally named .github or github-workflows:

your-org/
├── tools/              ← this repo (action source)
├── github-workflows/   ← centralized reusable workflows
│   └── .github/
│       └── workflows/
│           ├── copilot-pr-summary.reusable.yml
│           └── copilot-pr-autofill.reusable.yml
├── service-a/          ← calls from github-workflows
└── service-b/          ← calls from github-workflows

To migrate:

1. Copy the .reusable.yml files from tools/.github/workflows/ into github-workflows/.github/workflows/
2. Update the uses: reference in the reusable workflows from YOUR_ORG/tools/.github/actions/copilot@main to the correct path
3. Update all caller workflows to point to your-org/github-workflows/.github/workflows/...

The tools repo still needs to be accessible for its composite action (.github/actions/copilot) which is referenced by the reusable workflows.

Pinning to a Specific Version

For production use, pin to a commit SHA instead of a branch name for maximum stability:

# Pinned to a specific commit (most secure)
uses: YOUR_ORG/tools/.github/workflows/copilot-pr-summary.reusable.yml@abc1234

# Pinned to a release tag
uses: YOUR_ORG/tools/.github/workflows/copilot-pr-summary.reusable.yml@v1.2.0

# Latest from branch (convenient for dev, less stable)
uses: YOUR_ORG/tools/.github/workflows/copilot-pr-summary.reusable.yml@main

Limitations

Limitation	Detail
Local action path	The reusable workflow references YOUR_ORG/tools/.github/actions/copilot@main. The composite action runs bun install from that repo, so the tools repo must be reachable.
No push context in called workflow	The called workflow inherits the caller's github.event — no extra configuration needed.
Secrets are not inherited automatically	Each secret must be explicitly passed via secrets: in the caller job. Use secrets: inherit to forward all secrets:

jobs:
  summary:
    uses: YOUR_ORG/tools/.github/workflows/copilot-pr-summary.reusable.yml@main
    secrets: inherit   # passes all caller secrets, including COPILOT_TOKEN

See Also

• PR Template Auto-fill
• PR Summary Workflow
• GitHub Docs — Reusing workflows
• GitHub Docs — workflow_call syntax