docs: align Copilot cost management with AIC and model/billing docs by Copilot · Pull Request #37072 · github/gh-aw

Copilot · 2026-06-05T06:01:10Z

Copilot cost guidance in the AIC documentation lacked direct references to authoritative model and billing sources and still referenced Effective Tokens where Copilot AIC is available. This update adds explicit links and aligns Copilot guidance to AIC-based cost tracking.

AIC provider table updates
- Updated the copilot row in docs/src/content/docs/reference/cost-management.md to include links to:
- Clarified wording to align Copilot pricing guidance with GitHub Copilot model and billing documentation.
Inference cost matrix updates
- Updated the copilot engine entry in the “Inference Costs” table with the same references for consistent guidance across the page.
- Replaced the Copilot cost metric wording from Effective Tokens/AIC unavailable to AIC-based guidance.
Episode usage guidance updates
- Updated Copilot-related usage guidance and example query text to use AIC terminology for Copilot cost analysis.

| `copilot` | ... | AIC (based on GitHub Copilot model and billing documentation — see [models.dev](https://models.dev/), [GitHub Copilot models](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/concepts/about-github-copilot-models), and [Copilot billing](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/about-github-copilot/subscription-plans-for-github-copilot)) |

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

pelikhan · 2026-06-05T06:03:11Z

@copilot copilot pricing based on github copilot models pricing and billing document

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-06-05T06:10:47Z

@copilot copilot pricing based on github copilot models pricing and billing document

Updated in 294eb4f. The Copilot rows now explicitly state pricing is based on GitHub Copilot model and billing documentation, with links retained to models.dev, Copilot models, and Copilot billing.

pelikhan

@copilot AIC are available for copilot . Remove effective tokens mention

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-06-05T06:20:44Z

@copilot AIC are available for copilot . Remove effective tokens mention

Updated in 2e6e0cd. Copilot guidance now uses AIC and removes Effective Tokens mentions in the Copilot cost rows and related Copilot usage guidance.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Updates the cost-management reference docs to treat AI Credits (AIC) as the primary cost metric for Copilot workflows, adding explicit links to authoritative Copilot model/billing sources and updating examples to use AIC terminology.

Changes:

Updates the Copilot entries in provider and inference-cost tables to reference Copilot model/billing documentation.
Shifts Copilot guidance from “Effective Tokens-only” to “Prefer AIC”, including episode-level usage guidance.
Updates the example jq query to rank Copilot usage by AIC instead of effective tokens.

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File	Description
docs/src/content/docs/reference/cost-management.md	Revises Copilot cost guidance and examples to align with AIC-based tracking and adds links to model/billing docs.

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Comments generated: 5

 | `claude` | Based on Anthropic token pricing (prompt + completion + cache read/write + reasoning tokens) |
 | `codex` | Based on OpenAI token pricing |
-| `copilot` | Not available — Copilot does not expose billing-grade pricing data; use Effective Tokens as a proxy |
+| `copilot` | Based on GitHub Copilot usage and billing data surfaced by GitHub documentation; cross-reference [models.dev](https://models.dev/), [GitHub Copilot models](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/concepts/about-github-copilot-models), and [Copilot billing](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/about-github-copilot/subscription-plans-for-github-copilot) docs |



 > [!NOTE]
-> Effective Tokens (ET) remain available for backward compatibility and are still the most reliable proxy for Copilot inference usage. For all other engines, prefer AIC. See [Effective Tokens Specification](/gh-aw/reference/effective-tokens-specification/) for the ET definition.
+> Effective Tokens (ET) remain available for backward compatibility. Prefer AIC for cost monitoring, including Copilot workflows. See [Effective Tokens Specification](/gh-aw/reference/effective-tokens-specification/) for the ET definition.


 | Engine | Billed to | gh-aw cost metric |
 |--------|-----------|-------------------|
-| `copilot` | Account owning [`COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN`](/gh-aw/reference/auth/#copilot_github_token) | Effective Tokens (AIC not available; Copilot does not expose pricing data) |
+| `copilot` | Account owning [`COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN`](/gh-aw/reference/auth/#copilot_github_token) | AIC (based on GitHub Copilot model and billing documentation — see [models.dev](https://models.dev/), [GitHub Copilot models](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/concepts/about-github-copilot-models), and [Copilot billing](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/about-github-copilot/subscription-plans-for-github-copilot)) |


 | `blocked_request_count` | Aggregate blocked-network pressure |

-For Claude and Codex runs, `total_aic` is the preferred cost metric — it reflects actual provider billing in AI Credits (1 AIC = $0.01 USD). For Copilot runs, `total_effective_tokens` is the most reliable proxy for resource usage since Copilot does not expose billing-grade cost data.
+For Claude, Codex, and Copilot runs, `total_aic` is the preferred cost metric — it reflects provider billing in AI Credits (1 AIC = $0.01 USD).


+# Top 10 heaviest Copilot executions by AIC
 gh aw logs --start-date -30d --json | \
-  jq '[.episodes[] | {episode: .episode_id, workflow: .primary_workflow, runs: .total_runs, effective_tokens: (.total_effective_tokens // 0)}]
-      | sort_by(.effective_tokens) | reverse | .[:10]'
+  jq '[.episodes[] | {episode: .episode_id, workflow: .primary_workflow, runs: .total_runs, aic: (.total_aic // 0)}]
+      | sort_by(.aic) | reverse | .[:10]'


docs: add Copilot cost reference links in cost-management guide

51f2584

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and pelikhan Jun 5, 2026

Copilot AI changed the title ~~docs: add Copilot cost reference links in cost management guide~~ docs: add Copilot model/billing references to cost management Jun 5, 2026

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan June 5, 2026 06:01

Copilot created this pull request from a session on behalf of pelikhan June 5, 2026 06:01 View session

Copilot AI requested a review from pelikhan June 5, 2026 06:01

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan June 5, 2026 06:03 View session

docs: align copilot pricing wording with github docs

294eb4f

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan June 5, 2026 06:11

pelikhan reviewed Jun 5, 2026

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Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan June 5, 2026 06:12 View session

docs: switch copilot cost guidance from effective tokens to aic

2e6e0cd

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~docs: add Copilot model/billing references to cost management~~ docs: align Copilot cost management with AIC and model/billing docs Jun 5, 2026

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan June 5, 2026 06:21

Copilot AI requested a review from pelikhan June 5, 2026 06:21

github-actions Bot mentioned this pull request Jun 5, 2026

[Contribution Check Report] Contribution Check — 2026-06-05 #37036

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pelikhan approved these changes Jun 5, 2026

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pelikhan marked this pull request as ready for review June 5, 2026 10:57

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings June 5, 2026 10:57

pelikhan merged commit ec1939f into main Jun 5, 2026

pelikhan deleted the copilot/update-cost-management-aic-docs branch June 5, 2026 10:57

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docs: align Copilot cost management with AIC and model/billing docs#37072

docs: align Copilot cost management with AIC and model/billing docs#37072
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Copilot AI commented Jun 5, 2026 •

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