GitHub has made agent skills and MCP server support generally available in Copilot code review, giving automated reviews more access to team-specific instructions and external context.
The July 29 changelog says the feature is available for Copilot Pro, Pro+, Business, and Enterprise users. Agent skills use a SKILL.md file under .github/skills, while MCP server connections can pull context from tools such as issue trackers, documentation systems, and service catalogs.
GitHub says Copilot code review MCP tool calls are read-only. It also says comments generated using agent skills or MCP context now show attribution so reviewers can tell when added context shaped a comment.
Model governance is changing at the same time
GitHub also announced a default model enablement policy for Copilot Business and Enterprise. For the next 28 days, the setting is configurable but does not change user access. On August 26, generally available models that admins have not explicitly configured will follow the default policy.
If the policy remains enabled, those models become available to users. If an organization disables the policy, they stay off. GitHub says explicit enablement or disablement choices are preserved, and that open-weight models and models not covered by GitHub’s data-retention agreement are excluded.
Read together, the two changelogs show Copilot becoming more platform-like. Code review is not only a model prompt. It is a bundle of team instructions, connected context, model availability settings, attribution, and administrative policy.
The review surface needs its own controls
Automated code review has a different risk profile from autocomplete. It produces comments other engineers may treat as review evidence, and it can look across code, issues, docs, and service metadata before deciding what to flag.
That makes read-only MCP a useful constraint but not a full governance answer. Teams still need to decide which sources are appropriate for review, how sensitive context is exposed, and whether Copilot comments are advisory or blocking.
For administrators, the August 26 model-policy date is the near-term action item. If a company wants every generally available model to require explicit approval, it should change the default policy before that date.
