GitHub just added Anthropic and OpenAI's coding agents
What's the story
GitHub, the Microsoft-owned platform, has integrated Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's Codex AI coding agents into its services. The new public preview is available for users with a Copilot Pro Plus or Copilot Enterprise subscription on GitHub, GitHub Mobile, and Visual Studio Code. This integration is part of Agent HQ, GitHub's vision to make AI agents an integral part of developers' daily work on the platform.
Feature introduction
Developers can now assign multiple AI coding agents
The new feature lets developers choose between Copilot, Claude, Codex, or other custom agents while creating a task. Each coding agent will consume a premium request and can be assigned to issues and pull requests. This way, developers can evaluate how each AI coding agent has generated a solution for their tasks.
Strategic move
GitHub's Copilot now supports various AI models from different companies
GitHub has been quick to adopt rival AI models and agents in order to enhance its own Copilot offering. The platform already supports models from Anthropic, Google, xAI, and OpenAI in GitHub Copilot. Now, the integration of rival AI coding agents seems like a natural progression for GitHub's strategy.
Expansion plans
GitHub is working to expand access to more AI agents
GitHub plans to expand access to Claude and Codex to more Copilot subscription types in the near future. The platform is also working with Google, Cognition, and xAI to integrate more agents into its services. This move comes as Microsoft continues to test Anthropic's Claude Code tool internally with developers comparing it against GitHub Copilot for further improvements.