Copilot SDK capability inventory (@github/[email protected])

Public preview audit for the 1.0.0-beta.4 pin. Per task contract, treat this as the current latest dist-tag snapshot and re-generate this document whenever the pinned SDK version changes.

This inventory documents the shipped TypeScript surface that the bundled copilot plugin pins against, instead of guessing. Every claim below is tied to the installed SDK's .d.ts files and bundled docs; where the inventory is silent, this document says so explicitly.

1. Package metadata

• Package name: @github/copilot-sdk.
• Version: 1.0.0-beta.4.
• Export map:
  • . -> ESM ./dist/index.js, CJS ./dist/cjs/index.js, types ./dist/index.d.ts.
  • ./extension -> ESM ./dist/extension.js, CJS ./dist/cjs/extension.js, types ./dist/extension.d.ts.
• Primary type barrel dist/index.d.ts re-exports CopilotClient, CopilotSession, AssistantMessageEvent, helpers like defineTool/approveAll, and the full public type surface from dist/types.d.ts.
• Declared runtime deps:
  • @github/copilot ^1.0.46 (bundled CLI/runtime dependency)
  • vscode-jsonrpc ^8.2.1
  • zod ^4.3.6

Sources: package.json (on-disk install): 2-32, 58-62; dist/index.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:1033-1042).

2. Lifecycle methods on CopilotClient

Public methods/getters visible in dist/client.d.ts:

| Member | Signature | Return shape | What it does | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | | rpc | get rpc(): ReturnType<typeof createServerRpc> | typed server RPC facade | Low-level server-scoped RPC surface; throws if not connected. | | start | start(): Promise<void> | void | Starts/spawns the CLI server and connects. | | stop | stop(): Promise<Error[]> | cleanup errors array | Graceful shutdown: closes sessions, JSON-RPC connection, then spawned CLI; preserves on-disk session state. | | forceStop | forceStop(): Promise<void> | void | Force-kills client state/process without graceful cleanup. | | createSession | createSession(config: SessionConfig): Promise<CopilotSession> | CopilotSession | Creates a new conversation session; auto-starts when enabled. | | resumeSession | resumeSession(sessionId: string, config: ResumeSessionConfig): Promise<CopilotSession> | CopilotSession | Re-attaches to a persisted session; returns workspacePath when infinite sessions were enabled. | | getState | getState(): ConnectionState | "disconnected" \| "connecting" \| "connected" \| "error" | Returns client connection state. | | ping | ping(message?: string): Promise<{ message: string; timestamp: number; protocolVersion?: number; }> | echo payload | Connectivity/protocol sanity check. | | getStatus | getStatus(): Promise<GetStatusResponse> | { version: string; protocolVersion: number } | Returns CLI package version and negotiated protocol version. | | getAuthStatus | getAuthStatus(): Promise<GetAuthStatusResponse> | { isAuthenticated, authType?, host?, login?, statusMessage? } | Returns current auth mode/status. | | listModels | listModels(): Promise<ModelInfo[]> | model metadata array | Lists models; caches first successful result unless overridden by onListModels. | | getLastSessionId | getLastSessionId(): Promise<string | undefined> | optional session id | Returns most recently updated session id. | | deleteSession | deleteSession(sessionId: string): Promise<void> | void | Irreversibly deletes persisted session data from disk. | | listSessions | listSessions(filter?: SessionListFilter): Promise<SessionMetadata[]> | session metadata array | Lists persisted sessions, optionally filtered by cwd/git context. | | getSessionMetadata | getSessionMetadata(sessionId: string): Promise<SessionMetadata | undefined> | optional metadata | O(1)-style lookup for one session's metadata. | | getForegroundSessionId | getForegroundSessionId(): Promise<string | undefined> | optional session id | TUI+server-only: returns current foreground session. | | setForegroundSessionId | setForegroundSessionId(sessionId: string): Promise<void> | void | TUI+server-only: asks the TUI to foreground a session. | | on (typed) | on<K extends SessionLifecycleEventType>(eventType: K, handler: TypedSessionLifecycleHandler<K>): () => void | unsubscribe fn | Subscribes to one lifecycle event type. | | on (catch-all) | on(handler: SessionLifecycleHandler): () => void | unsubscribe fn | Subscribes to all lifecycle events. |

Lifecycle event types for client.on(...): session.created, session.deleted, session.updated, session.foreground, session.background.

Sources: dist/client.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:1081-1518), especially 1112-1477; dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:3421-3528); README API docs (sdk-inventory.txt:96-199).

3. Lifecycle methods on CopilotSession

Public properties/getters/methods visible in dist/session.d.ts:

| Member | Signature | Return shape | Notes | | ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | rpc | get rpc(): ReturnType<typeof createSessionRpc> | typed session RPC facade | Low-level session RPC surface. | | workspacePath | get workspacePath(): string | undefined | optional path | Present only when infinite sessions are enabled; workspace contains checkpoints/, plan.md, files/. | | capabilities | get capabilities(): SessionCapabilities | { ui?: { elicitation?: boolean } } | Host capability snapshot; auto-updated on capability change events. | | ui | get ui(): SessionUiApi | convenience UI API | Exposes elicitation, confirm, select, input; requires capabilities.ui?.elicitation. | | send | send(options: MessageOptions): Promise<string> | message id | Queues a user prompt and returns immediately. | | sendAndWait | sendAndWait(options: MessageOptions, timeout?: number): Promise<AssistantMessageEvent | undefined> | final assistant message or undefined | Waits for session.idle; timeout defaults to 60000ms and does not abort in-flight work. | | on (typed) | on<K extends SessionEventType>(eventType: K, handler: TypedSessionEventHandler<K>): () => void | unsubscribe fn | Subscribes to one event type. | | on (catch-all) | on(handler: SessionEventHandler): () => void | unsubscribe fn | Subscribes to all session events. | | getMessages | getMessages(): Promise<SessionEvent[]> | complete event history | Returns the full persisted conversation/event stream. | | disconnect | disconnect(): Promise<void> | void | Releases in-memory resources but preserves on-disk session state for resume. | | destroy | destroy(): Promise<void> | void | Deprecated alias for disconnect(). | | [Symbol.asyncDispose] | [Symbol.asyncDispose](): Promise<void> | void | Enables await using. | | abort | abort(): Promise<void> | void | Cancels the currently processing message without invalidating the session. | | setModel | setModel(model: string, options?: { reasoningEffort?: ReasoningEffort; modelCapabilities?: ModelCapabilitiesOverride; }): Promise<void> | void | Switches model for future turns while preserving history. | | log | log(message: string, options?: { level?: "info" \| "warning" \| "error"; ephemeral?: boolean; }): Promise<void> | void | Writes timeline messages; docs explicitly say to use this instead of console.log(). |

MessageOptions supports prompt, attachments, optional mode (enqueue or immediate), and per-turn requestHeaders.

Sources: dist/session.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:1520-2003); dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:3292-3339); docs/examples.md (sdk-inventory.txt:3829-3894).

4. Event types

4.1 Harness-relevant event types with inspected payloads

Streaming deltas / assistant turn

Event	Payload shape	Sources
assistant.turn_start	{ interactionId?, turnId }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 1633-1668
assistant.intent	{ intent: string }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 1670-1699
assistant.reasoning	{ content: string, reasoningId: string }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 1700-1735
assistant.reasoning_delta	{ deltaContent: string, reasoningId: string }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 1737-1770
assistant.streaming_delta	{ totalResponseSizeBytes: number }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 1771-1800
assistant.message_start	{ messageId: string, phase?: string }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 1927-1960
assistant.message_delta	{ deltaContent: string, messageId: string, parentToolCallId? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 1961-1999
assistant.message	{ content, messageId, model?, outputTokens?, toolRequests?, reasoningText?, reasoningOpaque?, encryptedContent?, interactionId?, requestId?, phase?, turnId?, anthropicAdvisorBlocks?, anthropicAdvisorModel?, parentToolCallId? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 1801-1926
assistant.turn_end	{ turnId: string }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 2000-2032
assistant.usage	usage metrics including { model, inputTokens?, outputTokens?, reasoningTokens?, reasoningEffort?, duration?, cost?, cacheReadTokens?, cacheWriteTokens?, ttftMs?, interTokenLatencyMs?, quotaSnapshots?, copilotUsage? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 2033-2215

Tool execution

Event	Payload shape	Sources
tool.execution_start	{ toolCallId, toolName, arguments?, mcpServerName?, mcpToolName?, parentToolCallId?, turnId? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 2323-2382
tool.execution_partial_result	{ partialOutput: string, toolCallId: string }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 2383-2416
tool.execution_progress	{ progressMessage: string, toolCallId: string }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 2417-2450
tool.execution_complete	{ success: boolean, toolCallId: string, result?, error?, model?, interactionId?, isUserRequested?, toolTelemetry?, turnId?, parentToolCallId? }; result is { content, contents?, detailedContent? }; error is { code?, message }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 2451-2665

Interactivity / permissions / user prompts

Event	Payload shape	Sources
permission.requested	{ requestId: string, permissionRequest, promptRequest?, resolvedByHook? }; permissionRequest is a rich union, not just a bare kind	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 3293-3628
permission.completed	{ requestId: string, result: PermissionResult, toolCallId? } where result kinds include approved, approved-for-session, approved-for-location, cancelled, denied-by-rules, denied-no-approval-rule-and-could-not-request-from-user, denied-interactively-by-user, denied-by-content-exclusion-policy, denied-by-permission-request-hook	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 3909-4120
user_input.requested	{ question: string, choices?, allowFreeform?, requestId: string, toolCallId? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 4121-4166
user_input.completed	{ answer?, requestId: string, wasFreeform? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 4167-4204
elicitation.requested	{ message: string, requestId: string, elicitationSource?, mode?, requestedSchema?, toolCallId?, url? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 4205-4257
elicitation.completed	{ requestId: string, action?, content? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 4273-4308
command.execute	{ commandName, command, args, requestId }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 4588-4629
commands.changed	{ commands: Array<{ name: string, description?: string }> }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 4732-4765
capabilities.changed	{ ui?: { elicitation?: boolean } }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 4766-4801

Lifecycle / error / compaction

Event	Payload shape	Sources
session.start	session bootstrap metadata including { sessionId, startTime, copilotVersion, producer, selectedModel?, reasoningEffort?, remoteSteerable?, context? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 135-238
session.resume	{ eventCount, resumeTime, selectedModel?, reasoningEffort?, continuePendingWork?, sessionWasActive?, context? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 239-300
session.error	{ errorType: string, message: string, errorCode?, eligibleForAutoSwitch?, providerCallId?, stack?, statusCode?, url? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 334-394
session.idle	{ aborted?: boolean }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 395-424
session.usage_info	{ currentTokens, tokenLimit, messagesLength, conversationTokens?, systemTokens?, toolDefinitionsTokens?, isInitial? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 1116-1169
session.compaction_start	{ conversationTokens?, systemTokens?, toolDefinitionsTokens? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 1170-1210
session.compaction_complete	{ success, checkpointNumber?, checkpointPath?, summaryContent?, messagesRemoved?, preCompactionTokens?, postCompactionTokens?, tokensRemoved?, compactionTokensUsed?, error?, requestId? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 1211-1308
model.call_failure	{ source, model?, statusCode?, durationMs?, apiCallId?, providerCallId?, errorMessage?, initiator? }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 2195-2249
abort	{ reason: "user_initiated" | "remote_command" | "user_abort" }	dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 2250-2279

4.2 Full SessionEvent union members

The generated SessionEvent union is authoritative and currently includes all of these members:

• StartEvent, ResumeEvent, RemoteSteerableChangedEvent, ErrorEvent, IdleEvent, TitleChangedEvent, ScheduleCreatedEvent, ScheduleCancelledEvent, InfoEvent, WarningEvent, ModelChangeEvent, ModeChangedEvent, PlanChangedEvent, WorkspaceFileChangedEvent, HandoffEvent, TruncationEvent, SnapshotRewindEvent, ShutdownEvent, ContextChangedEvent, UsageInfoEvent, CompactionStartEvent, CompactionCompleteEvent, TaskCompleteEvent, UserMessageEvent, PendingMessagesModifiedEvent, AssistantTurnStartEvent, AssistantIntentEvent, AssistantReasoningEvent, AssistantReasoningDeltaEvent, AssistantStreamingDeltaEvent, AssistantMessageEvent, AssistantMessageStartEvent, AssistantMessageDeltaEvent, AssistantTurnEndEvent, AssistantUsageEvent, ModelCallFailureEvent, AbortEvent, ToolUserRequestedEvent, ToolExecutionStartEvent, ToolExecutionPartialResultEvent, ToolExecutionProgressEvent, ToolExecutionCompleteEvent, SkillInvokedEvent, SubagentStartedEvent, SubagentCompletedEvent, SubagentFailedEvent, SubagentSelectedEvent, SubagentDeselectedEvent, HookStartEvent, HookEndEvent, SystemMessageEvent, SystemNotificationEvent, PermissionRequestedEvent, PermissionCompletedEvent, UserInputRequestedEvent, UserInputCompletedEvent, ElicitationRequestedEvent, ElicitationCompletedEvent, SamplingRequestedEvent, SamplingCompletedEvent, McpOauthRequiredEvent, McpOauthCompletedEvent, ExternalToolRequestedEvent, ExternalToolCompletedEvent, CommandQueuedEvent, CommandExecuteEvent, CommandCompletedEvent, AutoModeSwitchRequestedEvent, AutoModeSwitchCompletedEvent, CommandsChangedEvent, CapabilitiesChangedEvent, ExitPlanModeRequestedEvent, ExitPlanModeCompletedEvent, ToolsUpdatedEvent, BackgroundTasksChangedEvent, SkillsLoadedEvent, CustomAgentsUpdatedEvent, McpServersLoadedEvent, McpServerStatusChangedEvent, ExtensionsLoadedEvent.

For OpenClaw harness work, the inspected payloads above are the important ones; the remaining union members exist in the shipped schema but are not otherwise documented in the README.

Source: dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 5.

5. Tool contract

• Public tool shape:
  • name: string
  • description?: string
  • parameters?: ZodSchema<TArgs> | Record<string, unknown>
  • handler: ToolHandler<TArgs>
  • overridesBuiltInTool?: boolean
  • skipPermission?: boolean
• ToolHandler<TArgs> signature: (args: TArgs, invocation: ToolInvocation) => Promise<unknown> | unknown.
• ToolInvocation carries { sessionId, toolCallId, toolName, arguments, traceparent?, tracestate? }.
• Return values:
  • A plain string
  • A ToolResultObject with { textResultForLlm, binaryResultsForLlm?, resultType, error?, sessionLog?, toolTelemetry? }
  • README/examples also state any JSON-serializable handler return is accepted and auto-wrapped; extension docs add that undefined becomes an empty success and throwing becomes a failure/error message.
• ToolResultType is "success" | "failure" | "rejected" | "denied" | "timeout".
• Built-in tool override semantics: using a built-in tool name without overridesBuiltInTool: true throws.
• Permission bypass semantics: skipPermission: true suppresses permission prompts for that custom tool.
• Helper: defineTool(name, config) exists purely to preserve type inference from Zod schemas.

Sources: dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:2203-2304); README tools section (sdk-inventory.txt:430-485); docs/agent-author.md (sdk-inventory.txt:3708-3745, 3905).

6. Permission contract (onPermissionRequest)

• Session config requires onPermissionRequest: PermissionHandler for both createSession and resumeSession.
• Declared handler type in dist/types.d.ts:
  • type PermissionHandler = (request: PermissionRequest, invocation: { sessionId: string }) => Promise<PermissionRequestResult> | PermissionRequestResult
  • PermissionRequest is typed only as { kind: "shell" | "write" | "mcp" | "read" | "url" | "custom-tool" | "memory" | "hook"; toolCallId?: string }
  • PermissionRequestResult is PermissionDecisionRequest["result"] | { kind: "no-result" }
• README claims the runtime supplies richer fields such as toolName, fileName, and fullCommandText to custom handlers; the generated permission.requested event schema confirms a richer union exists with per-kind payloads:
  • shell: fullCommandText, commands[], possiblePaths[], possibleUrls[], hasWriteFileRedirection, intention, warning, canOfferSessionApproval
  • write: fileName, diff, newFileContents?, intention, canOfferSessionApproval
  • read: path, intention
  • mcp: serverName, toolName, toolTitle, args?, readOnly
  • url: url, intention
  • memory: action?, fact, subject?, citations?, direction?, reason?
  • custom-tool: toolName, toolDescription, args?
  • hook: toolName, toolArgs?, hookMessage?
  • plus extension-specific extension-management and extension-permission-access variants in the event schema.
• Result kinds explicitly documented in README: approved, denied-interactively-by-user, denied-no-approval-rule-and-could-not-request-from-user, denied-by-rules, denied-by-content-exclusion-policy, no-result.
• Protocol-v2 caveat: NO_RESULT_PERMISSION_V2_ERROR = "Permission handlers cannot return 'no-result' when connected to a protocol v2 server."
• Timeout behavior: not documented in the public types/docs inspected.

Sources: dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:2608-2619); README permission handling (sdk-inventory.txt:804-879); dist/session.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:1529, 1813-1822, 1866-1873); dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 3293-3628, 3909-4120.

7. User-input contract (onUserInputRequest)

• Session config field: onUserInputRequest?: UserInputHandler.
• Declared handler type: (request: UserInputRequest, invocation: { sessionId: string }) => Promise<UserInputResponse> | UserInputResponse.
• UserInputRequest fields:
  • question: string
  • choices?: string[]
  • allowFreeform?: boolean (default true)
• UserInputResponse fields:
  • answer: string
  • wasFreeform: boolean
• README says providing the handler enables the ask_user tool.
• The event stream adds request/response correlation fields not present in the handler type:
  • user_input.requested includes requestId and optional toolCallId
  • user_input.completed includes requestId, optional answer, optional wasFreeform
• Timeout behavior is not documented in the inspected public surface.

Sources: dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:2624-2657, 3091-3095); README user-input section (sdk-inventory.txt:881-905); dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 4121-4204.

8. Infinite sessions

• SessionConfig.infiniteSessions?: InfiniteSessionConfig controls the feature.
• InfiniteSessionConfig fields:
  • enabled?: boolean (default true)
  • backgroundCompactionThreshold?: number (default 0.80)
  • bufferExhaustionThreshold?: number (default 0.95)
• README says infinite sessions are the default, automatically manage context limits, and persist state to a workspace directory.
• CopilotSession.workspacePath is populated only when infinite sessions are enabled.
• The workspace is explicitly documented as containing checkpoints/, plan.md, and files/.
• README example shows the default location as ~/.copilot/session-state/{sessionId}/.
• Auto-compaction trigger semantics:
  • background compaction starts at the configured backgroundCompactionThreshold
  • the session blocks at bufferExhaustionThreshold until compaction finishes
  • events emitted: session.compaction_start and session.compaction_complete
• Compaction result payload includes checkpoint metadata (checkpointNumber, checkpointPath), summary text (summaryContent), before/after token counts, messages removed, tokens removed, and nested compactionTokensUsed usage breakdown.

Sources: README infinite sessions section (sdk-inventory.txt:627-660); dist/session.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:1594-1598); dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:2980-3006, 3168-3172); docs/examples.md (sdk-inventory.txt:4330-4346); dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 1170-1308.

9. Reasoning effort

• Declared enum/type: type ReasoningEffort = "low" | "medium" | "high" | "xhigh".
• Session config field: reasoningEffort?: ReasoningEffort.
• It is only valid when ModelCapabilities.supports.reasoningEffort is true.
• Discovery/model metadata surface:
  • ModelInfo.supportedReasoningEfforts?: ReasoningEffort[]
  • ModelInfo.defaultReasoningEffort?: ReasoningEffort
• The README repeatedly points callers to listModels() to discover support/defaults rather than assuming a global SDK default.
• Runtime/event reflection:
  • session.start / session.resume metadata may include reasoningEffort?: string
  • assistant.usage may also include reasoningEffort?: string plus reasoningTokens?

Sources: README API docs (sdk-inventory.txt:116-123, 118); dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:3003-3006, 3023-3027, 3445-3498); dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 181-183, 281-283, 2115-2121.

10. Telemetry

• TelemetryConfig shape:
  • otlpEndpoint?: string
  • filePath?: string
  • exporterType?: string ("otlp-http" or "file" in README)
  • sourceName?: string
  • captureContent?: boolean
• CopilotClientOptions.telemetry?: TelemetryConfig configures CLI-process telemetry by setting environment variables on the spawned CLI.
• TraceContextProvider signature: () => TraceContext | Promise<TraceContext>.
• TraceContext shape: { traceparent?: string; tracestate?: string }.
• CopilotClientOptions.onGetTraceContext?: TraceContextProvider is called before session.create, session.resume, and session.send RPCs to inject distributed trace headers.
• Tool handlers receive inbound trace context on ToolInvocation.traceparent and ToolInvocation.tracestate.
• dist/telemetry.d.ts exports getTraceContext(provider?) as a helper that returns {} when no provider is configured.

Sources: README telemetry section (sdk-inventory.txt:759-803); dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:2020-2049, 2137-2167, 2253-2262); dist/telemetry.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:3560-3574).

11. Auth modes

Client-level auth/config

• gitHubToken?: string: explicit GitHub token; takes priority over other auth methods.
• useLoggedInUser?: boolean: default true, but defaults to false when gitHubToken is provided.
• copilotHome?: string: base directory for Copilot data; only used when the SDK spawns the CLI process.
• cliUrl?: string: connect to an existing server instead of spawning the CLI.
• useLoggedInUser cannot be used with cliUrl; copilotHome is ignored with cliUrl.
• getAuthStatus() returns { isAuthenticated, authType?, host?, login?, statusMessage? }, where authType can be user, env, gh-cli, hmac, api-key, or token.

Session-level auth/BYOK

• SessionConfig.gitHubToken?: string is separate from client auth. The docs say it is resolved into a full GitHub identity used for content exclusion, model routing, and quota checks, enabling multitenant sessions.
• SessionConfig.provider?: ProviderConfig switches the session to a custom API provider (openai, azure, or anthropic) with baseUrl, optional apiKey, optional bearerToken (takes precedence over apiKey), optional wireApi, optional azure.apiVersion, optional headers, modelId, wireModel, maxInputTokens, maxOutputTokens.
• README explicitly says model is required when using provider.
• enableSessionTelemetry is always disabled when a custom provider is configured.

Legality / unresolved combinations

• Explicitly documented illegal/mutually exclusive combos:
  • cliUrl with useLoggedInUser
  • constructor rejects mutually exclusive options such as cliUrl with useStdio or cliPath
• The inspected inventory does not explicitly document whether provider may be combined with client-level/session-level GitHub auth, so treat that as an open probe.

Sources: README options/custom-provider docs (sdk-inventory.txt:83-94, 116-123, 696-757); dist/client.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:1121-1123, 1304-1308); dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:2051-2167, 3077-3085, 3174-3183, 3223-3288, 3430-3441).

12. copilotHome

What is explicit in the inventory:

• copilotHome is the base directory for Copilot data: "session state, config, etc."; it sets COPILOT_HOME on the spawned CLI process.
• If omitted, the CLI defaults to ~/.copilot.
• workspacePath examples place per-session state under ~/.copilot/session-state/{sessionId}/, with checkpoints/, plan.md, and files/ inside that session directory.

What is not explicit in the inventory:

• Exact full directory tree under copilotHome
• File/lock semantics for multiple CopilotClient instances sharing the same copilotHome
• Whether same-process sharing is safe under concurrent session creation/resume/delete

OpenClaw implication: the docs are not strong enough to justify shared copilotHome pools. Q5's per-agent-pool decision should therefore keep isolated copilotHome directories until spike-app proves concurrency safety.

Sources: README options/infinite-session docs (sdk-inventory.txt:90-94, 627-660); dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:2067-2073); dist/session.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:1594-1598).

13. Replay / resume

• resumeSession(sessionId, config) re-attaches to a previous session and keeps conversation history.
• disconnect() preserves on-disk session state; stop() also preserves it; deleteSession() is the destructive operation.
• getMessages() returns the complete session event history (SessionEvent[]).
• listSessions(filter?) returns persisted session metadata including sessionId, startTime, modifiedTime, summary?, isRemote, context?.
• getSessionMetadata(sessionId) is a targeted metadata lookup.
• getLastSessionId() returns the most recently updated session id.
• Resume-specific semantics in ResumeSessionConfig:
  • disableResume?: boolean skips emitting session.resume
  • continuePendingWork?: boolean resumes in-flight permissions/tool work; otherwise pending work is treated as interrupted and permissions are re-emitted as permission.requested
• Resume event metadata distinguishes hot vs cold attach:
  • sessionWasActive?: boolean means the runtime already had the session in memory
  • false/missing means a cold resume reconstructed from persisted event log

Sources: README API docs (sdk-inventory.txt:128-170, 281-287, 867-875); dist/client.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:1246-1395); dist/session.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:1892-1944); dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:3200-3221, 3409-3417); dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 266-299.

14. Models advertised

Explicit model ids mentioned in the inspected inventory:

• gpt-5
• gpt-4
• gpt-4.1
• claude-sonnet-4.5
• claude-sonnet-4.6
• example BYOK/Ollama model: deepseek-coder-v2:16b

Discovery API:

• client.listModels(): Promise<ModelInfo[]> is the authoritative discovery path.
• ModelInfo carries id, name, capabilities, optional policy, optional billing, optional supportedReasoningEfforts, optional defaultReasoningEffort.
• CopilotClientOptions.onListModels can override discovery entirely (useful for BYOK mode).

What is not in the inspected inventory:

• A static canonical built-in model catalog beyond the handful of examples above.

Sources: README/examples (sdk-inventory.txt:38, 65, 117-118, 633-665, 713-749); dist/client.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:1310-1320); dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:2130-2135, 3483-3498); dist/session.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:1975-1982).

15. Error surface

Public methods

• Public methods generally document @throws Error; the SDK does not expose a rich public exception-class hierarchy in the inspected .d.ts files.
• stop() is unusual: instead of throwing cleanup failures, it resolves to Error[].
• Constructor may throw on mutually exclusive options.
• createSession() can throw if auto-start is disabled and the client is disconnected.
• resumeSession() can throw if the session does not exist or the client is not connected.
• sendAndWait() throws on timeout or connection/disconnect failure.
• Tool registration can throw for built-in name collisions unless overridesBuiltInTool: true is set.
• README says missing model with custom provider throws.
• Protocol-v2 permission adapter throws the exported NO_RESULT_PERMISSION_V2_ERROR if a handler returns no-result.

Event / telemetry error reporting

• session.error carries { errorType, message, errorCode?, statusCode?, providerCallId?, stack?, url?, eligibleForAutoSwitch? }.
• model.call_failure carries failed model-call telemetry (source, model?, statusCode?, durationMs?, providerCallId?, errorMessage?).
• tool.execution_complete.error carries { code?, message }.
• Hook APIs expose explicit recovery output: onErrorOccurred may return errorHandling: "retry" | "skip" | "abort" plus retryCount?.

Retryability

• Explicitly retry-like signals in the inspected surface:
  • session.error.eligibleForAutoSwitch for rate-limit flows
  • auto_mode_switch.requested / auto_mode_switch.completed events
  • onErrorOccurred hook output errorHandling: "retry"
• The SDK does not publish a general retryable/non-retryable error enum for all thrown errors. Anything beyond the rate-limit/auto-switch path needs probing.

Sources: README/tool/provider/error docs (sdk-inventory.txt:459-480, 753-757, 1013-1021); dist/client.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:1119-1123, 1147-1214, 1222-1225, 1252-1255, 1284-1288, 1346-1355); dist/session.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:1529, 1645-1650, 1813-1822, 1866-1889); dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 361-393, 2195-2279, 2478-2529; dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:2822-2871).

16. Open SDK questions

Concrete gaps to answer in spike-app before landing a real harness:

1. Permission handler typing mismatch: README says onPermissionRequest receives rich per-kind fields (toolName, fileName, fullCommandText), but dist/types.d.ts types PermissionRequest as just { kind, toolCallId? }. What object shape does runtime actually deliver to JS/TS handlers?
2. Permission timeouts: what happens if onPermissionRequest never resolves? Is there a default timeout, cancellation, or session hang?
3. User-input timeouts/cancellation: same question for onUserInputRequest.
4. copilotHome concurrency: can multiple CopilotClient instances in one process safely share one copilotHome, or are there lock/race hazards around session-state/ and config files?
5. Exact copilotHome layout: beyond session-state/<id>/{checkpoints,plan.md,files}, what other top-level files/directories are created, and which are session-global versus client-global?
6. Provider/auth combination matrix: what combinations of client-level gitHubToken, session-level gitHubToken, useLoggedInUser, and provider are accepted or rejected in practice?
7. Resume behavior for encrypted reasoning fields: assistant.message notes encryptedContent/reasoningOpaque are session-bound and stripped on resume. What survives after process restart versus live reconnect?
8. Event coverage needed by OpenClaw: do we need additional exact-string handling for non-core events like ToolsUpdatedEvent, SkillsLoadedEvent, McpServersLoadedEvent, ExtensionsLoadedEvent, or is the harness safe to ignore them?
9. Cold-resume pending work: with continuePendingWork: true, what concrete low-level RPCs are required to finish previously pending external tool calls in an SDK-only consumer?
10. Model discovery under BYOK: when provider is set without onListModels, what does listModels() return, if anything?

Sources: dist/types.d.ts (sdk-inventory.txt:2608-2619, 2624-2657, 3203-3221, 3174-3183, 3226-3288); README permission/user-input/provider docs (sdk-inventory.txt:823-845, 883-905, 696-757); dist/generated/session-events.d.ts: 266-299, 1828-1889, 3293-3628.