Copilot Code Review's Lite and Balanced Effort Levels Reach GA
GitHub has moved Copilot code review’s configurable effort levels, Lite and Balanced, from public preview to general availability. The feature lets teams choose how much scrutiny Copilot applies to a given pull request instead of getting one-size-fits-all review depth.
Details
- What each level does: Lite gives “feedback on straightforward changes,” while Balanced offers “deeper analysis from a higher-reasoning model” for complex or sensitive code. As GitHub puts it, “not every pull request needs the same scrutiny — documentation updates and small fixes may only need focused feedback”
- Renamed from preview: The Low and Medium effort levels introduced during public preview are now called Lite and Balanced; any prior configuration automatically carries over under the new names
- Two ways to set it: Choose an effort level for an individual review without changing any defaults, or have organization admins set an org-wide default under organization settings → Copilot → Copilot code review, which repositories inherit unless they override it
- Visibility: Review timelines and pull request overview comments now show which effort level was used for a given review, so teams can audit review depth across repositories
- Availability: Generally available for Copilot Pro, Pro+, Max, Business, and Enterprise plans
How to try it
- Pick Lite or Balanced when requesting a Copilot code review on an individual pull request
- Organization admins can set a default under organization settings → Copilot → Copilot code review
- Check the pull request overview or review timeline to see which effort level was applied