Copilot Lands in Xcode, Claude Code Tightens Auto Mode, Codex Adds an Agent Command Center

Executive Summary

• GitHub Copilot is now in public preview inside Xcode's built-in coding assistant (Xcode 27.3 beta) and is available in JetBrains Air. (GitHub changelog: Xcode, GitHub changelog: JetBrains Air)
• The Copilot app adds Agent Merge, which merges a pull request once required checks and rules are satisfied. (Weekly releases)
• Claude Code 2.1.319 changes how auto mode behaves without telemetry or feature flags, adds new permission settings, and fixes three permission-check bugs. (Weekly digest)
• Codex v0.167.0 adds an agent command center, backend switching in the session picker and a Vertex AI setup wizard. (Weekly digest)
• Gemini CLI v0.67.0 (November 4) adds a models command.

GitHub Copilot spreads to more editors

Xcode 27.3 beta

Xcode 27.3 beta 1 adds GitHub Copilot to the built-in coding assistant. The release notes say simply, "GitHub Copilot is now available in the coding assistant." It matters most for teams that already pay for Copilot and want to use it inside Xcode. Xcode already supports ChatGPT, Claude and Codex agents, and Gemini, so 27.3 adds no new vendor beyond Copilot. Xcode 27.3 itself is expected in December. Sources: 9to5Mac and the GitHub changelog.

JetBrains Air

Copilot is also available in JetBrains Air. You can track multiple agent sessions and run tasks locally or in the cloud through Air Teams. See the GitHub changelog entry.

Copilot app, CLI and VS Code 1.145

The November 2 weekly release notes cover several changes:

• Agent Merge is set up from a pull request. Copilot merges it once it is ready, and the setting stays on while required checks or rules are pending.
• Assisted approval is an opt-in set of personal instructions that tells Copilot which tool requests to approve without asking, for local sessions.
• Session management gets archiving of pinned sessions whose pull requests have merged or closed, bulk pin and unpin, and more than ten custom views in My Work.
• Copilot CLI: /settings now opens a searchable dashboard for plugins, MCP servers and other settings.
• VS Code 1.145 adds experimental chat view modes, remote browser support, cron expressions for local automations and custom workspace agents. See the VS Code release notes.

Also listed that week: @GitHub in Slack and Teams is generally available, and new usage metrics API fields for code review.

Claude Code 2.1.317 to 2.1.319

Three releases landed this week, summarized in the weekly digest. The digest gives no release dates, so check the Claude Code release notes for exact timing.

2.1.319: auto mode and permissions

• Auto mode no longer falls back to the built-in classifier when telemetry or feature flags are off, including behind LLM gateways. Calls the server can't check are asked about or denied. Bedrock, Vertex and Foundry are unchanged.
• Set CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_MODE_SERVER=0 to restore the classifier.
• New controls: permissions.denyInsteadOfPrompting, CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_FEATURE_FLAGS and CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_MCP_TASK_BACKGROUND. MCP tasks now run in the terminal and move to the background.
• Security fixes: a sed command could skip the permission check in accept-edits and auto mode, Bash deny and ask rules missed commands with quoted words, and /rewind could act on a file through a directory symlink.

If you run Claude Code behind a gateway, test auto mode after updating. Here is a minimal way to keep the previous behavior:

export CLAUDE_CODE_AUTO_MODE_SERVER=0

2.1.317 and 2.1.318

• 2.1.317 asks before a web or shell tool call sends your account email address to the network.
• 2.1.318 exposes the sign-in expiry as loginExpiresAt in claude auth status and credential_expires_at in claude -p JSON output, with a warning starting 10 days before. It also fixes configuration and login corruption on network home directories.

OpenAI Codex v0.167.0

The weekly digest lists these changes:

• codex agents --no-daemon opens the agent command center and marks unread results.
• Backend switching in the terminal session picker keeps your drafts.
• Image previews for local attachments on supported terminals.
• gcp_setup_wizard sets up Google Cloud Vertex AI with Application Default Credentials or a credential file.
• Opt-in macOS and Windows system proxy settings under /experimental.
• Fixes for saved chats disappearing after a provider switch, network approval prompts, and compaction accounting for failed responses.

Gemini CLI v0.67.0

Released November 4, it adds a models command and fixes a Claude hook timeout that was migrated 1000 times too small. The digest only details these two items out of 27 entries. See the Gemini CLI v0.67 write-up.

My take

The pattern this week is distribution and control. Copilot now follows developers into Xcode and JetBrains Air, while Claude Code and Codex both spend their effort on permissions, approvals and background agents. If you run agents unattended, review your approval settings before you update.

Sources

• GitHub Copilot weekly releases, November 2
• GitHub Copilot in Xcode's coding assistant
• GitHub Copilot in JetBrains Air
• 9to5Mac on Xcode 27.3
• VS Code 1.145 release notes
• This week in Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI
• Claude Code updates on Releasebot