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GitHub Cloud Knowledge Microsoft 365 Copilot connector (Preview)

The GitHub Cloud Knowledge Microsoft 365 Copilot connector allows you to index content from GitHub repositories, making it easily searchable within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. This connector is ideal for organizations that use GitHub Cloud for documentation, project files, or content management. By integrating GitHub data with Microsoft Search, users can access relevant content directly within Microsoft 365 applications, streamlining workflows and reducing the need to switch between platforms.

This article is for Microsoft 365 administrators or anyone who configures, runs, and monitors a GitHub Cloud Knowledge Copilot connector.

Capabilities

  • Index GitHub Cloud repositories and markdown files to make project documentation accessible in Microsoft 365.
  • Enable end users to ask questions in Copilot related to project documentation and technical guides.
    • How do I set up Project Alpha?
    • Where can I find the deployment instructions?
    • What is the architecture overview for this project?
    • Summarize key sections in project documentation for quick reference
  • Use Semantic search in Copilot to enable users to find relevant content based on keywords, personal preferences, and social connections.

Limitations

  • Only repository metadata and markdown files are indexed. Other GitHub entities such as issues, pull requests, and comments aren't indexed.
  • Only markdown files up to 1 MB in size are supported. Larger files aren't indexed.

Prerequisites

  • You must be the search admin for your organization's Microsoft 365 tenant.
  • Make sure that your GitHub instance is accessible via API.
  • Configure and set up the GitHub App for authentication following the steps outlined here.
  • Make sure that users who access indexed GitHub data have corresponding Microsoft Entra ID identities for permission mapping.
  • For enterprise-managed users who authenticate via Single Sign-On (SSO), the account must be signed in before performing any actions, as the GitHub authentication flow does not currently support SSO login.

Set Up a GitHub App for Authentication

Follow the steps below to create a GitHub App for use with your Graph Connector:

  1. In GitHub, click your profile photo (top right), select Your organizations, and choose the organization where the Graph Connector should pull data from.

    Screenshot that shows how to access 'Your organizations'.

  2. On the organization overview page, click Settings.

    Screenshot that shows how to access 'Settings' within the organization page.

  3. In the left sidebar, scroll down to Developer settings and click GitHub Apps.

    Screenshot that shows how to access GitHub Apps.

  4. Click New GitHub App.

    Screenshot that shows entry point to creation of new app.

  5. Configure the app:

    • GitHub App name: Enter a name of your choice.
    • Homepage URL: Copy the URL from your browser’s address bar (refer to the image if needed).
    • Callback URL:

      • For Microsoft 365 Enterprise: https://gcs.office.com/v1.0/admin/oauth/callback

      • For Microsoft 365 Government: https://gcsgcc.office.com/v1.0/admin/oauth/callback

        Screenshot that shows the initial part of the app configuration including name and URLs.

  6. Check Request user authorization (OAuth) during installation and disable the Webhook option.

    Screenshot that of some check boxes required for the app configuration.

  7. Set the following permissions:

    • Repository permissions: Contents (Read-only), Metadata (Read-only)
    • Organization permissions: Members (Read-only)
    • Account permissions: Email addresses (Read-only)

  8. Under Where can this GitHub App be installed, select Any account, then click Create GitHub App.

    Screenshot that shows the final steps of the GitHub app set up.

  9. On the GitHub App’s General page, generate and copy the client secret by clicking Generate a new client secret. Then click Install App.

    Screenshot that shows the credentials of the app including Client Id and Client secret.

  10. Select the organization where you want the app to be installed. After installation, you're ready to configure the connector.

    Screenshot that shows the app installation dialog.

Get Started

1. Display name

A display name is used to identify each citation in Copilot, helping users easily recognize the associated file or item. Display name also signifies trusted content. Display name is also used as a content source filter. A default value is present for this field, but you can customize it to a name that users in your organization recognize.

2. Authentication Type

  • Select GitHub App (on behalf of a user) as the authentication method.
  • Enter the Client ID and Client Secret from the GitHub App you created earlier.
  • Click Authorize to sign in and grant the required access permissions.

3. Roll out to limited audience

Deploy this connection to a limited user base if you want to validate it in Copilot and other Search surfaces before expanding the rollout to a broader audience. To know more about limited rollout, see staged rollout.

Custom Setup

Custom setup is for those admins who want to edit the default values for settings listed. Once you click on the "Custom Setup" option, you see three more tabs - Users, Content, and Sync.

Users

Access Permissions

The GitHub Cloud Knowledge connector supports search permissions visible to Only people with access to this data source (default) or Everyone. If you choose Only people with access to this data source, indexed data will appear in the search results for users who have access to them. If you choose Everyone, indexed data will appear in the search results for all users.

Map Identities

In custom setup you can edit any of the default values for users, content, and sync. To ensure correct permission enforcement, map GitHub user identities to Microsoft Entra ID. The following are the options:

  • Email: Maps GitHub email to Microsoft Entra ID user properties.
  • Login: Maps GitHub logins with Microsoft Entra ID user properties.
  • Name: Maps GitHub name with Microsoft Entra ID user properties.

If direct mapping fails, use regular expressions (regex) to transform the data. For example: [a-zA-Z0-9]+ For personal accounts, mapping accuracy may be impacted due to variations in email domains and individual email visibility settings.

For identity transformation, refer to the Map your non-Azure AD Identities.

For more information about identity transformation, see Map your non-Azure AD Identities.

Content

Choose the repositories and file types (initially markdown files and other non-code documentation) you wish to make searchable.

Under Manage Properties you can add or remove available properties from your GitHub data source, assign a schema to the property (define whether a property is searchable, queryable, retrievable, or refinable), change the semantic label and add an alias to the property.

Sync

The refresh interval determines how often your data is synced between the data source and the Graph connector index. There are two types of refresh intervals - full crawl and incremental crawl. For more information, see refresh settings.

The following are the default values:

  • Incremental crawl runs every 15 minutes by default.
  • Full crawl runs daily to ensure up-to-date indexing.

You can change the default values of refresh interval from here if you want to.

Troubleshooting

After publishing your connection, you can review the status under the Data Sources tab in the admin center. To learn how to make updates and deletions, see Manage your connector.

Note

When using the Index Browser to identify indexed items, repository and file names are case-sensitive. Make sure to match the exact casing to retrieve accurate results.

If you have issues or want to provide feedback, contact Microsoft Graph | Support.