--- title: Copilot code review: Customization and configurability... description: GitHub Copilot code review has received several customization and configurability improvements. Custom instructions are now read from the pull request's head... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/copilot-code-review-customization-and-configurability-improvements-qggd4q79w twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Copilot code review: Customization and configurability improvements | daily.dev og:description: GitHub Copilot code review has received several customization and configurability improvements. Custom instructions are now read from the pull request's head... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/copilot-code-review-customization-and-configurability-improvements-qggd4q79w og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/qGgD4Q79W.png og:image:alt: Copilot code review: Customization and configurability improvements og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Copilot code review: Customization and configurability improvements **[GitHub Changelog](https://daily.dev/sources/github_updates)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary GitHub Copilot code review has received several customization and configurability improvements. Custom instructions are now read from the pull request's head branch instead of the base branch, enabling iteration and testing in feature branches before merging. Support for additional instruction files (REVIEW.md, GEMINI.md, CLAUDE.md) has been added. A new copilot-code-review.yml workflow file allows teams to define custom setup steps and install dependencies for the review environment. Firewall support is now enabled by default for all repositories, restricting network access during reviews, with the option to configure it independently from Copilot cloud agent. Organization-level runner configurations for Copilot code review and Copilot cloud agent are now split into separate sections for independent control. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Does GitHub Copilot code review read custom instructions from the base branch or the head branch? Copilot code review now reads custom instructions from the head branch of a pull request instead of the base branch. This applies to copilot-instructions.md, *.instructions.md, agent skills, and AGENTS.md files, allowing teams to iterate on and test custom instructions in a feature branch without merging them first. _Teams tuning Copilot review instructions can track configuration changes like this through daily.dev._ ### Is the firewall enabled by default for GitHub Copilot code review, and does it work with self-hosted runners? Yes, the firewall is enabled by default for all repositories running Copilot code review, restricting network access during a review and configurable independently from Copilot cloud agent in repository or organization settings. Self-hosted runners do not currently support the firewall, so reviews on self-hosted runners continue running without it. _Admins locking down CI network access can follow rollouts like this via daily.dev._ ### How do I set up custom environment steps specifically for GitHub Copilot code review? Add a copilot-code-review.yml file inside the .github/workflows/ directory to define setup steps specific to Copilot code review, such as installing dependencies or configuring runners independently of Copilot cloud agent. If no copilot-code-review.yml file exists, Copilot code review falls back to an existing copilot-setup-steps.yml file. _Developers configuring CI environments for AI code review can follow setup guidance like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Copilot code review: New configurations and controls](https://daily.dev/posts/copilot-code-review-new-configurations-and-controls-0sjfd0cdr) · GitHub Changelog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [GitHub Copilot tutorial: How to build, test, review, and ship code faster \(with real prompts\)](https://daily.dev/posts/github-copilot-tutorial-how-to-build-test-review-and-ship-code-faster-with-real-prompts--lyeseh4bm) · GitHub Blog · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Copilot code review: AGENTS.md support and UI improvements](https://daily.dev/posts/copilot-code-review-agents-md-support-and-ui-improvements-sxgpm8epy) · GitHub Changelog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [GitHub Copilot Code Review for Azure Repos: AI vs Human Code Review](https://daily.dev/posts/github-copilot-code-review-for-azure-repos-ai-vs-human-code-review-bf6ubvufv) · C\# Corner · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#github](https://daily.dev/tags/github), [#github-actions](https://daily.dev/tags/github-actions), [#code-review](https://daily.dev/tags/code-review) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/copilot-code-review-customization-and-configurability-improvements-qggd4q79w) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Copilot code review: Customization and configurability improvements","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/copilot-code-review-customization-and-configurability-improvements-qggd4q79w","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/copilot-code-review-customization-and-configurability-improvements-qggd4q79w"},"datePublished":"2026-07-17T21:30:28.748Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T18:51:37.144Z","description":"GitHub Copilot code review has received several customization and configurability improvements. 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