Training course · GitHub Copilot · API Development

GitHub Copilot for API Developers

Use GitHub Copilot professionally: completions, chat, agent mode, the coding agent for issues and PRs, code review and enterprise policies.

Duration
2 days (14 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

“GitHub Copilot for API Developers” is designed for roles such as Backend developers building REST, GraphQL or gRPC interfaces, API architects and owners of API governance and Integration developers connecting partners and platforms and shows step by step how to use GitHub Copilot productively, safely and transparently in API Development – from the fundamentals to advanced workflows.

GitHub Copilot has grown from simple code completion into a broad AI platform that supports the entire development lifecycle. In the editor you work with inline suggestions, next edit suggestions and Copilot Chat; in agent mode Copilot handles tasks across multiple files and runs commands. On GitHub itself, the coding agent picks up assigned issues and delivers pull requests. In this two-day course you will learn how to use each of these building blocks deliberately and fit them cleanly into your existing development process.

Beyond hands-on editor work, the course covers control and quality. Custom instructions and prompt files give Copilot the project knowledge it needs, MCP adds further tools, and Copilot code review complements human reviewers. For those responsible for teams and organisations, we look at policies at organisation and enterprise level, content exclusions, model availability and usage reporting. Together, these lay the groundwork for a secure, transparent and genuinely effective Copilot rollout across the entire company.

APIs form the backbone of modern software landscapes and are increasingly the interface through which AI agents interact with systems. AI coding assistants speed up the entire API lifecycle, from drafting an OpenAPI or AsyncAPI specification to generating server stubs, clients and contract tests, through to documentation and versioning. At the same time, demands for consistency, security and backward compatibility keep rising, because APIs are consumed by many teams, partners and automated agents. In this course you learn to practise API-first development with AI support, enforce design guidelines automatically, catch breaking changes early and expose existing interfaces to AI agents through the Model Context Protocol or tool definitions.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • Backend developers building REST, GraphQL or gRPC interfaces
  • API architects and owners of API governance
  • Integration developers connecting partners and platforms
  • Platform engineering teams running API gateways and developer portals
  • Developers making company data available to AI agents

Typical challenges we address

  • Inconsistent API design across teams with differing conventions for errors, pagination and versioning
  • Specification, implementation and documentation drift apart
  • Breaking changes are only discovered by consumers
  • Securing authentication, authorisation and rate limiting as users and agent traffic grow

What you will be able to do

  • You use Copilot completions, chat and agent mode purposefully for your everyday development tasks.
  • You capture project knowledge in custom instructions and prompt files to improve output quality.
  • You delegate suitable issues to the coding agent and review its pull requests properly.
  • You integrate Copilot code review sensibly into your existing review process.
  • Practise API-first development with AI support, from specification to clients, tests and documentation.
  • Automate design governance, contract testing and breaking-change detection in your pipeline.
  • Make existing APIs available to AI agents securely and in a controlled way, for example via the Model Context Protocol.

Course outline

Day 1

Module 1 Copilot in the editor: completions and chat
  • Accepting, rejecting and steering inline and next edit suggestions efficiently
  • Using Copilot Chat for explanations, debugging and test generation
  • Setting context precisely with files, selections, workspace and chat variables
  • Model selection and differences between VS Code, Visual Studio and JetBrains IDEs
Module 2 Agent mode and extensions
  • Planning multi-step tasks in agent mode and executing them under control
  • Feeding terminal commands, test runs and error output into the agent loop
  • Connecting MCP servers for additional tools and data sources
  • Reviewing changes, accepting them partially or rolling them back
Module 3 Project knowledge through custom instructions
  • Writing repository-wide instructions on architecture, style and testing
  • Creating path-specific instructions and reusable prompt files
  • Combining personal and organisation-wide guidance sensibly
  • Refining instructions continuously based on output quality
Module 4 Coding agent and code review on GitHub
  • Writing issues the coding agent can implement reliably
  • Reviewing, commenting on and iterating over the agent’s pull requests
  • Using Copilot code review as an additional check in the PR process
  • Configuring the agent’s development environment with setup steps and Actions

Day 2

Module 5 Administration, policies and security
  • Licence assignment and policies at organisation and enterprise level
  • Content exclusions, model availability and public code filters
  • Using audit logs and usage metrics to steer adoption
  • Clarifying security risks, secrets and accountability for AI-generated code
Module 6 Practice lab: API Development
  • Generating OpenAPI specs
  • Generating servers and clients
  • Building contract tests
  • Detecting breaking changes
  • Reviewing API security
  • Opening APIs to AI agents
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • APIs frequently carry personal and confidential data: you learn to create specifications and sample data without real customer records, keep API keys and tokens out of the AI context and apply data protection by design under the GDPR as well as NIS2 requirements.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Generating OpenAPI specs

Draft complete OpenAPI specifications with schemas, examples, error objects and security schemes from requirements, domain models or existing code, and check them against your style guide rules.

Generating servers and clients

Derive controller scaffolding, validation logic and type-safe client SDKs for several languages from a specification, keeping generated parts cleanly separated from hand-written business logic. Regenerating after spec changes is simple.

Building contract tests

Define consumer-driven contracts, generate test cases for edge values, error paths and authentication, and run them automatically in CI against both the specification and the live implementation.

Detecting breaking changes

Compare two versions of a specification, identify incompatible changes, write migration notes for consumers and plan deprecation strategies using versioning and sunset headers. The check runs on every pull request.

Reviewing API security

Analyse endpoints for typical weaknesses from the OWASP API Security Top 10, such as broken object-level authorisation, mass assignment or missing rate limits, and propose fixes.

Opening APIs to AI agents

Expose existing interfaces as MCP servers or tool definitions, phrase descriptions and parameters so agents use them correctly and scope permissions so agents can only perform approved actions.

Possible hands-on projects

API linter with house rules

A command-line tool that checks OpenAPI files against your design guidelines and posts clear improvement suggestions directly on the pull request.

Mock server from spec

A small service that generates realistic sample responses from a specification so frontend teams can work in parallel with backend development.

MCP server for an internal API

An MCP server that exposes selected endpoints of an internal REST API as tools for AI assistants, with authentication and logging.

Prerequisites

You develop software regularly, work with Git and GitHub issues and pull requests, and use a modern IDE. You build backend applications in a mainstream language such as Java, C#, TypeScript, Python or Go and understand HTTP, JSON and REST fundamentals.

Technical requirements

Your own laptop with VS Code or a JetBrains IDE, the Copilot extension installed and a GitHub account with an active Copilot licence; the coding agent requires a suitable plan.

Data protection & compliance

APIs frequently carry personal and confidential data: you learn to create specifications and sample data without real customer records, keep API keys and tokens out of the AI context and apply data protection by design under the GDPR as well as NIS2 requirements.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Wed, 25 November 2026 – Thu, 26 November 2026 Online Request
  • Thu, 10 December 2026 – Fri, 11 December 2026 Salzburg Request
  • Thu, 17 December 2026 – Fri, 18 December 2026 Online Request
  • Thu, 7 January 2027 – Fri, 8 January 2027 Online Request
  • Wed, 13 January 2027 – Thu, 14 January 2027 Bremen Request
  • Mon, 25 January 2027 – Tue, 26 January 2027 Online Request

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between agent mode and the coding agent?

Agent mode runs inside your IDE: you work interactively with Copilot, see every step and approve commands. The coding agent, by contrast, works autonomously on GitHub once you assign it an issue, uses its own execution environment and opens a pull request that you then review just as you would a contribution from a colleague.

How can we make sure Copilot complies with our company policies?

At organisation and enterprise level you can enable or block specific features, models and extensions. Content exclusions keep sensitive files out of the context, and audit logs make usage traceable. During the course we show how to align these controls with data protection, information security requirements and your internal coding standards.

Is the course worthwhile if we already use Copilot?

Yes, especially then. Many teams rely on completions alone and barely touch chat, agent mode, custom instructions or the coding agent. The course shows how to use these features in a structured way, improve results with project knowledge and avoid common pitfalls. Experienced users benefit most from the sections on review and governance.

Is spec-first still worth it when AI writes code so quickly?

More than ever. A precise specification is the best context you can give an AI assistant: it pins down data structures, error cases and security requirements, serves as a contract for consumers and underpins your tests. Without one, AI quickly produces inconsistent endpoints. In the course you use the spec as the single source for generation and validation.

What is the difference between a REST API and an MCP server?

A REST API is aimed at developers and applications, whereas an MCP server exposes capabilities in a standardised format for AI assistants and agents, including descriptions the model can interpret. An MCP server is often a thin layer on top of existing APIs. You learn when that step pays off and how to implement it securely.

How much does “GitHub Copilot for API Developers” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 2 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

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