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GitHub Copilot now runs every session in a cloud sandbox, and sandbox billing starts this month.
That's from a GitHub changelog post dated last Wednesday, October 28. GitHub calls it "one connected experience in the cloud," and it's generally available on paid Copilot plans.
Here's the idea. You start a session on github.com, GitHub Mobile, Copilot CLI, the Copilot app, VS Code, or even Slack and Teams. Every surface shows the same session list, so you can pick the work up somewhere else. The VS Code announcement puts it plainly: "closing your laptop doesn't stop it."
The sandbox is a GitHub-managed environment, separate from your machine. GitHub says there's no one-hour cap on running time. When a sandbox shuts down it saves a snapshot, and you can resume from any surface later. The post doesn't give a retention period for those snapshots, which I'd want to know before leaning on them.
If you'd rather keep work on your own hardware, you can run Copilot CLI with --environment-host to register your computer or a VM as an environment, then steer it from your phone.
Now the part that touches your bill. Sandbox billing begins in November 2026. Until then, usage comes out of your shared compute entitlement. GitHub also changed that entitlement from a fixed number of standard runner minutes to one dollar-based pool, which covers standard runners, cloud sandboxes and larger hosted runners. GitHub says the total value is unchanged. But each product is deducted at its own rate, so a pricier runner or sandbox burns through the pool faster.
A CRM so smart, it updates itself.
HubSpot's CRM is so smart, it now updates itself. Calls get logged and summarized the moment they end. New leads get researched and a first outreach drafted, automatically. Deals move forward on their own, with next steps flagged before you have to ask.
Even the one repetitive task you've been meaning to fix can now run itself, no code required. Customers using it are already seeing the difference.
This isn't the CRM you have to work hard to figure out. It's the one already working before you log in.
If your team uses GitHub Actions heavily, check your usage page this week. Agent sessions are about to compete with your CI minutes for the same pool.
A few things the post leaves out. It doesn't say how premium requests are consumed, and it doesn't list sandbox compute rates (those live in a linked pricing doc). Self-hosted Actions runners and copilot-setup-steps.yml still need Actions as the session environment.
For admins, access sits behind a "Copilot in the cloud" policy. Repository exclusions from the old cloud agent setting carry over, and enterprise MCP server allowlists apply. Chat sessions are scoped to one organization by default, and org members need single sign-on to see session data. Without write access to a repo, Copilot is read-only there.
This is the same question I keep coming back to with agents. Earlier this fall it was identity. Now it's where the agent runs, what it can reach from there, and who pays for the compute. A sandbox you don't control is a sandbox you need a policy for.
If you're studying for an Azure DevOps or GitHub cert, learn how Actions billing, runners and policies interact. A shared entitlement pool is exactly the kind of detail that shows up in cost scenario questions (my guess, not something GitHub said).
And if you manage a GitHub org, open the Copilot settings and read the cloud policy before your developers find the new button.
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