Copilot in JetBrains Air expands to the cloud on existing Copilot plans

GitHub Copilot’s existing local integration in JetBrains Air now extends to Cloud Run. The November 3, 2026 addition lets eligible Air Teams users delegate coding tasks from an IDE or browser using their Copilot subscription rather than JetBrains AI credits.

Cloud access needs an Air Teams business account

For local tasks, install Air in your JetBrains IDE, select GitHub Copilot in the agent picker and connect your Copilot account. This route does not require the separate GitHub Copilot plugin.

Cloud tasks have additional requirements: a JetBrains account in a business organization with Air Teams enabled, a Copilot subscription and Copilot enabled by the Air administrator. A Copilot subscription alone does not provide cloud access through Air.

In the browser, connect GitHub under Settings > VCS Providers, create a task, choose a repository and remote branch, then select GitHub Copilot and enter your prompt. From the Air plugin in your IDE, choose Cloud in the environment selector.

Each cloud task starts in a fresh environment

Copilot runs each cloud task in a Docker container on a fresh virtual machine. All traffic passes through a proxy, and no state carries over between tasks. It can build, test and install packages without modifying your local environment.

The Air integration uses the Agent Client Protocol (ACP). You can track parallel agent sessions, use project context and IDE tools, and review changes alongside your code. Before accepting a result, inspect the diff and any test output; a clean execution environment is not proof that the fix is correct.

Your Copilot plan applies, but Air cannot cap its spending

Air may check subscription or credit availability only when the cloud environment starts. If the required subscription or credits are unavailable, the task fails and an error appears in the session.

You cannot choose whether an individual task uses your personal Copilot plan or your organization’s plan. Air’s governance and analytics features also do not include Copilot usage.

Air administrators can disable Copilot through a governance policy, but they cannot set Copilot spending limits inside Air. Using the Air workspace therefore does not bring Copilot consumption into Air’s usage reporting or spending controls.

The full Copilot plugin still offers features Air does not

Microsoft continues to recommend the separate GitHub Copilot plugin for deeper IDE integration. Agent customizations, the Agent Debug panel, enterprise Managed Settings and Policy Diagnostics, built-in Copilot Code Review and commit message generation are not included in the Air route.

If those features are part of your workflow, Air’s new cloud option does not replace them. Air provides a streamlined agent workspace; using it does not require installing both integrations.