James Montemagno
James Montemagno

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James Montemagno

5 Ways I Use Background Coding Agents Every Day

Coding agents are different from in-editor chat and agent modes for AI assisted programming. They run asynchronously—often in the cloud—tackling tasks while you focus locally. I rely heavily on the GitHub Copilot coding agent and its VS Code integration to spin up multiple parallel workflows. Below are five everyday patterns I use to offload work, speed up development, and keep my repos in top shape.


1. Assign Issues Directly to GitHub Copilot

When a new issue or idea lands, I immediately hand it off to Copilot so it can start coding while I tackle higher-level planning or work on any tasks. I have worked on huge issues, small bugs, and complete re-designs with this flow. What is great is that you can give it a lot of context in the issue to help guide it along. You can see everything directly in VS Code, stop it, ask it for changes, and even get a diff view without leaving the code editor.

By assigning an issue to the coding agent:

Key benefits:

Easy setup:

Learn more:
• GitHub Copilot Coding Assistant overview: https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/concepts/agents/coding-agent
• VS Code integration with GitHub Pull Requests & Issues: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/copilot-coding-agent


2. Delegate Ad-Hoc Tasks from VS Code Chats

Spotted an improvement in your code or UI? Instead of stopping to implement it, or open an issues, you can simply delegate from your chat panel or from GitHub.com and get back to flow. This is maybe one of my favorite ways to use coding agents as I can even spin up a

How it works:

Why I love it:

Tip: You can also trigger these tasks from the mobile apps, GitHub.com on your repo, or the Copilot dashboard at https://github.com/copilot/agents without hopping into each repo.


3. Continue Work Across Branches and Chat Sessions

Sometimes I am working on a bug or new features and I have it half-implemented locally. Or sometimes I ideate in Ask mode and don't really want to open up an issue or work on it right now. Well, you can simply push your local changes and chat context into a new agent session so Copilot can finish while you move on.

Step by step:

  1. On your feature branch (or main), start a Copilot chat to outline next steps (e.g., add docs, refactor helpers).
  2. Make local edits but don’t commit everything.
  3. Click Delegate to coding agent, choose Include changes, and let Copilot fork a sibling branch with your pending code.
  4. Copilot completes the work—documentation, tests, cleanup—and issues a pull request ready for review.

Advantages:


4. Iterate on Pull Requests with Interactive Comments

When I work with the coding agents it isn't always going to get it right the first time. Sometimes it is the coding agent, sometimes it is because I didn't give it enough context, and sometimes I just ended up wanting it a bit different . I like to treat Copilot like a teammate and file a review comment and then watch it push fixes in real time.

Workflow:

Perks:

Docs to explore:
• Using Copilot in pull requests: https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/extend-your-editor-with-copilot-chat#use-copilot-in-pull-requests


5. Keep Dependencies Secure and Up-to-Date with Dependabot

Dependabot isn’t AI-driven, but it embodies the same “background agent” principle. It quietly opens PRs to bump libraries and fix vulnerabilities.

Setup highlights:

Why it matters:

Get started: https://docs.github.com/en/code-security/supply-chain-security/keeping-your-dependencies-updated-automatically


Setting Up Your Environment for Background Coding Agents

Before you reap these benefits, configure both GitHub and your local IDE:

  1. Enable the Copilot Coding Agent
  2. Install VS Code Extensions
  3. Activate Chat & Agent Sessions
    • In VS Code Settings, search “Agent Sessions View Location” and switch from Disabled to View.
    • This adds the Chat Sessions icon for monitoring all local and active background tasks.
  4. Add Copilot Setup Workflows (optional but recommended)
  5. Configure Dependabot
    • Add a .github/dependabot.yml specifying ecosystems, directories, and schedules.
    • Enable security updates and auto-merge rules under Settings > Advanced Security.

With those pieces in place, you’ll have a fleet of coding agents— GitHub Copilot and Dependabot—working around the clock to keep your code moving forward.


How are you leveraging background agents in your workflow? Hit me on X or leave a comment on YouTube and let me know.

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