Copilot Uplink

TL;DR: Control GitHub Copilot CLI from your phone. copilot-uplink is a mobile-friendly PWA that connects to the Copilot CLI running on your machine, giving you a chat interface to Copilot from anywhere — even lying on the couch with your phone while your computer does the coding.

Credit: This project is a fork of MattKotsenas/uplink, who did all the heavy lifting building the original concept. I've added some features to suit my workflow — see the features section.

Installation & Usage

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22.14+
• GitHub Copilot CLI installed and authenticated

Quick Start

# Navigate to your project
cd ~/your/project/

# Start copilot-uplink with remote access
npx @denifia/copilot-uplink@latest --tunnel

That's it! A QR code will appear in your terminal — scan it with your phone to open the chat interface.

Setting Up Dev Tunnels (Required for Remote Access)

To access copilot-uplink from your phone or any device outside your local network, you need Microsoft Dev Tunnels.

Install Dev Tunnels:

Platform	Command
macOS	brew install --cask devtunnel
Linux	curl -sL https://aka.ms/DevTunnelCliInstall | bash
Windows	winget install Microsoft.devtunnel

Authenticate once:

devtunnel user login

Getting the App on Your Phone

1. Start copilot-uplink with --tunnel and wait for startup to complete
2. Scan the tunnel QR code — your terminal shows two QR codes: one for local network, one for the tunnel
3. Add to home screen — your browser will prompt you to install the PWA

The tunnel URL is stable per project — copilot-uplink generates a deterministic tunnel name from your working directory. Reinstalling or restarting always uses the same URL, so your home screen shortcut keeps working.

Features

• 💬 Chat interface with streaming responses
• 🔧 Tool call visibility — see file reads, edits, terminal commands, and more with icons and status
• 🔐 Permission prompts — approve or deny tool actions with tap buttons
• 📋 Plan tracking — view agent plans with priorities and completion status
• 📱 PWA — installable on your phone's home screen, works offline (cached shell)
• 🌐 Remote access via Microsoft Dev Tunnels
• 🔄 Auto-reconnect with exponential backoff (1s → 30s max)
• 🌙 Dark/light/auto theme
• 🤖 Agent modes — /agent, /plan, and /autopilot for different workflows
• 🚀 YOLO mode — auto-approve all permissions when you trust the task

CLI Reference

npx @denifia/copilot-uplink@latest [options]
# or if installed globally:
copilot-uplink [options]

Flag	Description	Default
--port <n>	Port for the bridge server	random
--tunnel	Start a devtunnel for remote access	off
--no-tunnel	Explicitly disable tunnel	—
--tunnel-id <name>	Use a pre-created devtunnel (reads its port)	—
--allow-anonymous	Allow anonymous tunnel access (no GitHub auth)	off
--cwd <path>	Working directory for Copilot	current dir
--verbose	Enable debug logging	off
--help	Show help	—

Using Your Own Tunnel

If you want explicit control over the tunnel name (e.g., to share across machines):

# One-time setup
devtunnel create my-tunnel
devtunnel port create my-tunnel -p 8080

# Every session
npx @denifia/copilot-uplink@latest --tunnel-id my-tunnel

In-App Commands

Type / in the prompt to see all commands:

Command	Description
/model <name>	Switch AI model
/agent	Default agent mode
/plan	Plan mode — Copilot plans before executing
/autopilot	Autonomous mode — auto-continues until done
/theme <dark|light|auto>	Set color theme
/yolo <on|off>	Auto-approve all permission requests
/session <list|rename>	Manage sessions
/clear	Clear conversation history
/debug	Download a debug log

How It Works

graph LR
    PWA["PWA Client<br/>(browser)"] <-->|"HTTPS / WSS<br/>via devtunnel"| Bridge["Bridge Server<br/>(Node.js)"]
    Bridge <-->|"stdio / NDJSON<br/>child process"| Copilot["copilot --acp<br/>--stdio"]
    Bridge -.-|"Serves PWA static files<br/>+ WebSocket endpoint"| PWA

Loading

1. Copilot CLI runs locally in ACP mode, speaking JSON-RPC over stdin/stdout
2. Bridge server spawns the CLI and bridges WebSocket ↔ stdin/stdout
3. PWA connects over WebSocket and renders the chat interface
4. Dev Tunnel (optional) exposes everything over HTTPS for remote access

See ARCHITECTURE.md for the full technical deep-dive.

Limitations

• Single active input — multiple clients can connect, but the app expects user input from one at a time
• No file/terminal proxying — the PWA doesn't provide file system or terminal access back to the agent
• Auth via devtunnel only — no custom authentication layer

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup, testing, and release instructions.

License

MIT — see LICENSE