--- title: How canvases make agentic workflows visible, steerable,... description: A GitHub Developer Advocate describes using 'canvases' in the GitHub Copilot app as a durable, shared surface for agentic workflows, contrasting them with chat... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/how-canvases-make-agentic-workflows-visible-steerable-and-cost-efficient-krjkyqawf twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: How canvases make agentic workflows visible, steerable, and cost-efficient | daily.dev og:description: A GitHub Developer Advocate describes using 'canvases' in the GitHub Copilot app as a durable, shared surface for agentic workflows, contrasting them with chat... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/how-canvases-make-agentic-workflows-visible-steerable-and-cost-efficient-krjkyqawf og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/kRjkyqawF.png og:image:alt: How canvases make agentic workflows visible, steerable, and cost-efficient 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. # How canvases make agentic workflows visible, steerable, and cost-efficient **[GitHub Blog](https://daily.dev/sources/ghblog)** · 5 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A GitHub Developer Advocate describes using 'canvases' in the GitHub Copilot app as a durable, shared surface for agentic workflows, contrasting them with chat interfaces that bury important context in a long scroll. He shares two examples he built: Java Modernization Studio (for assessing, planning, and validating Java migrations) and Site Studio (for managing personal site content), both available in the awesome-copilot repo. He outlines a blueprint of defining workflow states, surfacing key decisions, persisting progress, and keeping human approval points explicit. He notes the cost of building these canvases (about 2,000-3,000 AI credits each) but argues the investment pays off for repeated workflows by reducing rework and coordination overhead. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is a canvas in the GitHub Copilot app and how does it help with agentic workflows? A canvas is a durable, shared surface within the GitHub Copilot app where developers and agents interact on persistent state instead of relying on chat history. It makes workflow stages, decisions, drafts, and approval points explicit and inspectable, so teams can verify what happened rather than reconstruct it from a long chat scroll, and human reviewers can focus on high-signal judgments while agents keep executing. _daily.dev surfaces practical approaches like this for teams figuring out how to structure agent-assisted workflows._ ### How much does it cost in AI credits to build a custom Copilot canvas like a modernization or site management tool? Building a Java Modernization Studio canvas cost about 3,000 AI credits, while a Site Studio canvas for managing personal site content cost about 2,000 AI credits. These are treated as upfront investments in workflow architecture that pay back over time on repeated workflows by reducing repeated prompting, context loss, and rework. _developers weighing AI credit costs against long-term efficiency gains can track real-world examples like this on daily.dev._ ### What are Java Modernization Studio and Site Studio in awesome-copilot? Java Modernization Studio and Site Studio are example canvases built for the GitHub Copilot app, published in the awesome-copilot repository for others to use, adapt, or learn from. Java Modernization Studio manages assessment, migration tasks, and validation gates for legacy Java code; Site Studio manages section-based content editing and review loops for personal site content, both keeping state persistent and human approval points explicit. _daily.dev helps developers exploring open agent-workflow templates like awesome-copilot discover real examples._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Build with Azure Canvases: a shared workspace for agents](https://daily.dev/posts/build-with-azure-canvases-a-shared-workspace-for-agents-9lbrst1qf) · DevBlogs · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Expanded technical preview availability for the GitHub Copilot app](https://daily.dev/posts/expanded-technical-preview-availability-for-the-github-copilot-app-w758b2dzo) · GitHub Changelog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [GitHub adds new Copilot features as usage-based billing takes effect](https://daily.dev/posts/github-adds-new-copilot-features-as-usage-based-billing-takes-effect-khyqnwsy7) · InfoWorld · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#github](https://daily.dev/tags/github), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#productivity](https://daily.dev/tags/productivity), [#code-review](https://daily.dev/tags/code-review) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/how-canvases-make-agentic-workflows-visible-steerable-and-cost-efficient-krjkyqawf) ```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":"How canvases make agentic workflows visible, steerable, and cost-efficient","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-canvases-make-agentic-workflows-visible-steerable-and-cost-efficient-krjkyqawf","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-canvases-make-agentic-workflows-visible-steerable-and-cost-efficient-krjkyqawf"},"datePublished":"2026-08-17T16:02:53.356Z","dateModified":"2026-09-13T19:07:45.304Z","description":"A GitHub Developer Advocate describes using 'canvases' in the GitHub Copilot app as a durable, shared surface for agentic workflows, contrasting them with chat...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/eb3c9630ba6993582f9f7e3baf1d68bf?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/eb3c9630ba6993582f9f7e3baf1d68bf?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"GitHub Blog","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"GitHub Blog","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/106cf162b88840808484d4b5429b59b1","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/ghblog"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-canvases-make-agentic-workflows-visible-steerable-and-cost-efficient-krjkyqawf","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"github,ai-agents,productivity,code-review","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"GitHub Blog","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/ghblog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How canvases make agentic workflows visible, steerable, and cost-efficient"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/how-canvases-make-agentic-workflows-visible-steerable-and-cost-efficient-krjkyqawf#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is a canvas in the GitHub Copilot app and how does it help with agentic workflows?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A canvas is a durable, shared surface within the GitHub Copilot app where developers and agents interact on persistent state instead of relying on chat history. It makes workflow stages, decisions, drafts, and approval points explicit and inspectable, so teams can verify what happened rather than reconstruct it from a long chat scroll, and human reviewers can focus on high-signal judgments while agents keep executing. daily.dev surfaces practical approaches like this for teams figuring out how to structure agent-assisted workflows."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How much does it cost in AI credits to build a custom Copilot canvas like a modernization or site management tool?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Building a Java Modernization Studio canvas cost about 3,000 AI credits, while a Site Studio canvas for managing personal site content cost about 2,000 AI credits. These are treated as upfront investments in workflow architecture that pay back over time on repeated workflows by reducing repeated prompting, context loss, and rework. developers weighing AI credit costs against long-term efficiency gains can track real-world examples like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What are Java Modernization Studio and Site Studio in awesome-copilot?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Java Modernization Studio and Site Studio are example canvases built for the GitHub Copilot app, published in the awesome-copilot repository for others to use, adapt, or learn from. Java Modernization Studio manages assessment, migration tasks, and validation gates for legacy Java code; Site Studio manages section-based content editing and review loops for personal site content, both keeping state persistent and human approval points explicit. daily.dev helps developers exploring open agent-workflow templates like awesome-copilot discover real examples."}}]} ```