Michael JohnsonGitHub Copilot administrators can now see activity in Copilot Chat and the VS Code Agents window in organization reports. GitHub announced the change on November 6, 2026: the two additional tools are now included in the engagement chart and 28-day reports for organizations and enterprises. However, the rules for assigning users to Copilot adoption stages have not changed.
What the reports now show
The Agent adoption chart now covers nine Copilot features. The API field copilot_feature_engagement.totals_by_feature now includes the values chat and vscode_agent. Previously, teams might not have seen separate engagement with chat and the VS Code Agents window in this view, even though both tools were being used.
Along with the metric, GitHub renamed the “Passive users” group to “Chat-first users.” This better describes users who are active in Copilot but have not used a feature counted toward adoption stages for at least two days during a 28-day period. The segment’s name changed; its criteria and size did not.
Why the new metrics do not change adoption stages
Feature data and user classification answer different questions. The new fields help administrators see where people interacted with Copilot. However, Chat and VS Code Agents count as feature engagement, not as a basis for moving between adoption stages. In the API, users in the renamed group still receive the value No Cohort.
This distinction matters when comparing reports from before and after the update: adding two categories gives a more detailed picture of usage, but does not by itself mean that the number of users in adoption groups has changed. In addition, one user may be counted in more than one feature. GitHub also notes that the Chat metric includes Copilot Chat usage recorded by the usage metrics system, including agent mode.
Who can access the data and how to use it
The update is intended for organization and enterprise owners, enterprise billing managers, and users whose roles grant the relevant permissions to view Copilot metrics. The Copilot usage metrics policy must be enabled. The new information is available in reports for 28-day periods; earlier reports contain the previous seven features.
For teams assessing Copilot adoption, the practical step is to separate two levels of analysis. First, review engagement with Chat and the VS Code Agents window separately to understand which ways of working employees use. Then examine adoption phases and their associated metrics separately: the added categories do not change the grouping rules, so they should not be interpreted as an independent increase in the number of users at more advanced stages.
GitHub presents the impact dashboard as a way to connect the depth of Copilot usage with pull request activity. The new categories make visible some interactions that were previously absent from the chart. When making management decisions, it is important to read them as a more detailed view of activity: the conditions for a user to become “agent-first” or enter another phase are defined separately.
GitHub describes the launch date, metric definitions, and access in its Copilot impact dashboard update. Feature definitions and policy requirements are available in the impact dashboard documentation and the Copilot metrics API reference.
