A canvas — also called a canvas extension — is a customizable interface shared by you and the agent in the GitHub Copilot app. It can take the shape of a kanban board, an issue triage board, a release checklist, a dashboard, a form, or a spreadsheet. The point is to start from the workflow you want rather than from a fixed set of screens.

The interface is bidirectional. The agent can update the canvas as it works, and you can make changes through buttons, cards, filters, and other controls, much like a live shared whiteboard.

Generating one with /create-canvas

No coding or hand design is required. Open an agent session, enter the /create-canvas skill, and describe what you want in plain English.

A prompt should cover three things:

  • The workflow the canvas should support.
  • What you should be able to do in the interface.
  • What the agent should be able to do.

For example, you could enter:

/create-canvas Create a release notes canvas for tracking new feature work completed across GitHub Copilot app sessions. Include controls for reviewing and organizing entries and allow the agent to add and update them.

The agent then builds the interface and opens it in the right-side panel. You never write files or adjust the layout by hand; one description becomes a ready-to-use custom tool.

Refining and reusing the result

Since the interface is generated from your description, the first version is only a starting point. Ask the agent to add a column or filter, pull in your open pull requests, or turn the whole canvas into a checklist for your day — the agent revises the canvas to match. There is no fixed menu of layouts, but if you can describe a workflow, you can likely turn it into a canvas.

A finished canvas is saved as an extension so you can use it again. Keep it with the project so your team can share it, or save it as a personal extension for yourself.

Concurrent editing instead of command-and-wait

You and the agent both work on the canvas at the same time. Clicking a button, updating a field, or moving a card changes the shared state immediately, and the agent sees that update without any separate send or sync step.

The reverse holds as well. You can ask the agent to use the canvas' own capabilities — the same actions available to you — to add a release note or move a card, then watch the change appear in the interface. Rather than issuing a command and waiting for a response, both of you steer the work together.

Starting points

Three questions get a useful canvas off the ground:

  • What information do I want to see?
  • What do I want to change directly?
  • What should the agent be able to update or do?

If you would rather not start from scratch, the community has shared ready-made canvas extensions through Awesome Copilot, including release notes tools, kanban boards, and issue triage workflows. Install one that is close to what you need, then ask the agent to customize it the same way you would refine a canvas you built yourself.

A short session, /create-canvas, and a description of a simple board or checklist for something you are working on now is enough to begin.