Copilot CLI Shipped Three Releases in Five Days: Vim Mode, GPT-6 Astra, and Auto-Routing Defaults

GitHub’s Copilot CLI shipped three releases in five days, and the changelog reads like a feature roadmap compressed into a sprint. Versions 1.0.85 (September 16), 1.0.86 (September 17), and 1.0.87 (September 21) land vim modal editing, GPT-6 Astra support, a proper configuration UI, and the first managed defaults for automatic model routing.

Vim mode and GPT-6 Astra

The 1.0.85 headline is vim mode for everyone: turn it on with /vim or set editorMode to vim, and the composer gets modal editing with the current mode shown while you type. The same release adds GPT-6 Astra as a supported model in the CLI, extends the /settings command with opt-ins for context-management tools for agents and subagents, and opens a /config sidebar — a configuration screen inside the terminal instead of a JSON file hunt.

Two sandbox changes in 1.0.85 are worth a close read. The CLI fixed a one-command sandbox bypass on Windows, where a policy-blocked write refused for want of a privilege can now run on approved bypass instead of forcing the user to disable the sandbox for the whole session. And streamer mode now masks internal model names in /model, the footer, and startup diagnostics — a small addition for anyone demoing or streaming their terminal.

Custom instruction files and auto-routing

Version 1.0.86 adds one quiet but significant capability: custom agents can opt into repository instruction files — AGENTS.md, copilot-instructions.md, and CLAUDE.md — by setting include-custom-instructions: true in their frontmatter. It is another signal that instruction files are converging on a shared standard, and Copilot CLI is now playing in that world.

Today’s 1.0.87 builds on that governance theme. It adds user and managed startup defaults for the Auto routing tier, including strict and user-overridable organization policies — meaning an enterprise can now set which routing behavior sessions start with, rather than leaving it to each developer. The same release adds prompt recall: press Up in an empty input to take a pending message back for editing, and Ctrl+C now stops the running turn instead of eating pending prompts one at a time.

The pace is the story

Three releases in five days is the cadence of a product still finding its shape. The CLI is accumulating the furniture of a mature terminal tool — modal editing, configuration screens, worktree templates (worktreePathTemplate decides where /worktree creates branches), prompt recall — while the governance layer catches up in parallel: managed sandbox policies, org-wide routing defaults, and /sandbox network rules that no longer force users to replace their upstream proxy.

For developers living in the terminal, the practical upshot is simple: update past 1.0.87 and you get a CLI that edits like your editor, routes like your policy, and stops when you press Ctrl+C. That last one alone is worth the upgrade.