@george.talusan/node-red-contrib-copilot

Embed GitHub Copilot into your Node-RED flows. Send prompts and file attachments to any Copilot model and wire the response into the rest of your automation.

Built on the @github/copilot-sdk — the same engine that powers Copilot CLI.

Requirements

GitHub Copilot subscription

A GitHub Copilot subscription is required. A free tier with limited usage is available — see GitHub Copilot pricing.

Authentication

Two methods are supported:

| Method | When to use | |--------|-------------| | OAuth (default) | You are logged in via gh auth login or the Copilot CLI on the host machine | | Fine-grained PAT | Headless / containerised deployments; token must have the Copilot Requests permission |

⚠️ Classic PATs with the copilot scope do not work. You must use a fine-grained PAT with Copilot Requests permission.

Node.js

Node.js v20 or later is required (matches the @github/copilot-sdk minimum). The @github/copilot CLI binary bundled with the SDK is a native binary that requires a glibc-based (non-musl) environment.

Docker

The recommended container is:

nodered/node-red:latest-debian

This image provides:

• Node-RED (latest stable)
• Node.js v20 — meets the @github/copilot-sdk minimum requirement
• Debian (glibc) — the CLI binary is dynamically linked against glibc; Alpine/musl images are not supported

⚠️ Do not use Alpine-based images (nodered/node-red:latest). The bundled Copilot CLI binary requires glibc and will not run on musl libc.

Quick start

docker run -d \
  --name nodered \
  -p 1880:1880 \
  -v /your/data:/data \
  nodered/node-red:latest-debian

Installation

Via the Node-RED Palette Manager

Search for @george.talusan/node-red-contrib-copilot in the Palette Manager and click Install.

If you are publishing your own fork or a renamed package, note that the Node-RED Flow Library does not auto-index npm packages. After publishing, submit it manually at https://flows.nodered.org/add/node.

Via npm (inside your Node-RED data directory)

cd /your/node-red/data
npm install @george.talusan/node-red-contrib-copilot

In Docker

docker exec nodered npm install @george.talusan/node-red-contrib-copilot --prefix /data
docker restart nodered

Nodes

copilot-config (configuration node)

Holds credentials and connection settings. Referenced by one or more copilot nodes.

| Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | Name | Label for this configuration | | Auth method | oauth — use locally stored gh credentials; token — use a fine-grained PAT | | Token | Fine-grained PAT with Copilot Requests permission (only when auth method is token) | | CLI Path | Override the path to the copilot binary (leave blank to use the bundled binary) | | CLI URL | Connect to an external CLI server instead of spawning a local process |

copilot (prompt node)

Sends a prompt to GitHub Copilot and emits the response.

Inputs

| Property | Type | Description | |----------|------|-------------| | msg.payload | string | Plain string used as the prompt | | msg.payload | object | { prompt: string, attachments: Attachment[] } | | msg.attachments | Attachment[] | Merged with any attachments in msg.payload | | msg.model | string | Override the model for this message only |

Attachment formats

// File path (passed directly to the SDK)
{ type: "file", path: "/absolute/path/to/file.png" }

// Base64-encoded data
{ type: "base64", data: "<base64 string>", name: "image.jpg" }

// Node.js Buffer
{ type: "buffer", data: Buffer.from(...), name: "file.bin" }

// Shorthand — type is inferred as "file"
{ path: "/absolute/path/to/file.txt" }

Outputs

| Output | Property | Type | Description | |--------|----------|------|-------------| | 1 — Response | msg.payload | string | The assistant's response text | | | msg.sessionId | string | Copilot session ID | | | msg.events | array | All events emitted during the session | | 2 — Error | msg.payload | string | Error message | | | msg.error | Error | The error object |

Node configuration

| Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | Config | Select a copilot-config node | | Model | Dynamically populated from the API — shows token cost multiplier, e.g. claude-haiku-4.5 (0x) | | Reasoning | Reasoning effort hint: low, medium, high, xhigh (model-dependent) | | Timeout | Request timeout in milliseconds (default: 60,000) |

Architecture

Node-RED flow
      ↓
 copilot node
      ↓
@github/copilot-sdk (Node.js)
      ↓  JSON-RPC
Copilot CLI (bundled, spawned as subprocess)
      ↓  HTTPS
GitHub Copilot API

The SDK manages the CLI process lifecycle automatically. The CLI binary is bundled with the @github/copilot package (a dependency of @github/copilot-sdk) and is resolved automatically at startup — no manual PATH configuration needed.

Example flow

The example flow used in this README is included in the repository under examples/copilot-test-flow.json.

Development

git clone https://github.com/gtalusan/node-red-contrib-copilot
cd node-red-contrib-copilot
npm install

# Unit tests (mocked, no API key required)
npm test

# Integration tests (real API — requires a fine-grained PAT)
GITHUB_TOKEN=<your-fine-grained-pat> npm run test:integration

Deploying to Docker during development

npm pack
cp george.talusan-node-red-contrib-copilot-*.tgz ~/your/node-red/data/
docker exec nodered npm install /data/george.talusan-node-red-contrib-copilot-*.tgz --prefix /data
docker restart nodered

Dependencies

| Package | Role | |---------|------| | @github/copilot-sdk 0.1.30 | Copilot client — session management, model listing, prompt dispatch | | @github/copilot | Copilot CLI binary (bundled, installed transitively via the SDK) |

Billing

Each prompt counts against your Copilot premium request quota. The model dropdown shows each model's cost multiplier (e.g. (0x) = free/included, (1x) = one premium request). See Requests in GitHub Copilot for details.

License

ISC

Icon derived from primer/octicons — MIT License © GitHub, Inc.