Skip to content

Hosted agent ops

This chapter collects runtime contracts that only become obvious when the CLI is viewed as a hosted coding-agent worker: job environment variables, hosted settings construction, GitHub MCP defaults, OIDC token exchange, feature gates, diagnostics, debug bundles, OpenTelemetry, firewall logs, trajectory output, and shutdown behavior.

Read this chapter when the question is: how does the same agent runtime behave inside a hosted GitHub/coding-agent job, and which operational surfaces control or observe it?

Source-anchor policy

This page is a chapter guide. Linked implementation pages carry concrete app.js anchors.

Semantic alias	Minified anchor	Scope
Hosted agent ops chapter	N/A — navigation page	Groups hosted-agent environment contracts, MCP/OIDC bootstrap, feature gates, diagnostics, debug bundles, OTel switches, support artifacts, and shutdown.
Hosted implementation pages	See linked source-anchor tables	Concrete bundle anchors live in the destination pages.

Hosted operations map

flowchart TD
    Env[Hosted env vars] --> Settings[Settings envelope]
    Settings --> MCP[Default GitHub MCP policy]
    Settings --> Model[Model/provider config]
    Settings --> Validation[Validation toggles]
    MCP --> OIDC[OIDC token injection]
    Settings --> Gates[Feature gates]
    Settings --> Logs[Events/logs/trajectory]
    Logs --> Diagnostics[Diagnostics and debug bundles]
    Logs --> OTel[OpenTelemetry]
    Firewall[Firewall JSONL] --> Trajectory[Trajectory/final output]
    OTel --> Shutdown[Shutdown and flush]
    Diagnostics --> Redaction[Redaction boundary]

    click Env "./hosted-agent-environment/" "Open hosted agent environment"
    click Gates "./feature-gates/" "Open feature gates"
    click Diagnostics "./diagnostics-feedback-debug-bundles/" "Open diagnostics"
    click Redaction "./debug-bundle-redaction-boundaries/" "Open redaction boundaries"
    click OTel "./telemetry-update-and-shutdown/" "Open observability and shutdown"

Primary reading order

Order	Page	Hosted/runtime question answered
1	Hosted agent environment	Which `COPILOT_AGENT_*` settings, MCP/OIDC bootstrap values, OTel switches, firewall logs, trajectory outputs, and managed-agent SDK watchpoints are real runtime surfaces?
2	Feature gates and rollout logic	How do static gates, env/settings overrides, remote experiments, repo/team allowlists, and MCP permission gates affect behavior?
3	Diagnostics, feedback, and debug bundles	How do `/diagnose`, `/feedback`, `/bug`, `/collect-debug-logs`, local archives, and secret gist uploads work?
4	Debug bundle and redaction boundaries	What can enter a diagnostic bundle, which redaction layers apply, and where support-sharing caveats remain?
5	Telemetry, update, and shutdown	How are logging, telemetry, OpenTelemetry, update/version behavior, debug artifacts, signal handling, and graceful shutdown coordinated?

Operational boundaries

Boundary	Primary page	Notes
Hosted settings construction	Hosted agent environment	`TWe()` turns job/env state into a settings envelope.
Default hosted MCP policy	Hosted agent environment and MCP host, transports, and tools	Hosted defaults overlay generic MCP host behavior.
Redaction and support artifacts	Debug bundle and redaction boundaries	Debug bundles are operational artifacts, not guaranteed clean-room exports.
Runtime telemetry	Telemetry, update, and shutdown	OTel can be enabled by Copilot-specific or standard OTLP env vars.

Handoffs

Generic tool/MCP implementation is covered by Tools, integrations, and security.
Remote/cloud session behavior outside the hosted environment envelope is covered by Sessions, persistence, and remote.

Created and maintained by Yingting Huang.