Devin vs GitHub Copilot

Draft a migration plan for one table

Devin handles this as a draft: Columns and the backfill question. Do not run SQL.

Steps: 4
Cost: medium
Time: An hour

Unverified · docs.devin.ai · 16 Oct 2026

Draft commit messages for a split

Devin handles this as a draft: One message per hunk group I describe. Do not commit.

Steps: 4
Cost: free
Time: Fifteen minutes

Unverified · docs.devin.ai · 14 Oct 2026

Review a diff for risky calls

Devin handles this as a draft: Network, auth, and migrations. Quote the lines. Do not approve the PR.

Steps: 4
Cost: low
Time: Forty minutes

Unverified · docs.devin.ai · 13 Oct 2026

Ask Devin for a pull request from a tightly written issue

Devin picks up one issue and opens a PR. The playbook tells it which repo, which commands, and what not to touch.

Steps: 4
Cost: medium
Time: A first implementation pass on an issue that already has repro steps. Review time does not go to zero.

Unverified · docs.devin.ai · 9 Oct 2026

Draft a rollback note

Devin handles this as a draft: The command in the runbook I paste and the signal that means stop. Do not execute it.

Steps: 4
Cost: low
Time: Twenty minutes

Unverified · docs.devin.ai · 8 Oct 2026

Review a Devin session before anyone merges

Use Devin's session output as a review packet: commands run, files touched, and tests actually executed. The playbook is for the reviewer, not a second coding agent.

Steps: 4
Cost: medium
Time: Reconstructing what the agent did, which is often longer than reading a normal PR.

Unverified · docs.devin.ai · 18 Sep 2026

GitHub Copilot playbooks

Write a PR description from a diff summary

GitHub Copilot handles this as a draft: What changed and how to test. Do not open the PR.

Steps: 4
Cost: low
Time: Fifteen minutes

Unverified · docs.github.com · 15 Oct 2026

Check accessibility of a component from the markup

GitHub Copilot handles this as a draft: Name, role, and keyboard notes from the snippet. Do not restyle the app.

Steps: 4
Cost: low
Time: Half an hour

Unverified · docs.github.com · 13 Oct 2026

Draft a pull request summary from the diff

GitHub Copilot writes a PR summary a reviewer can check against the diff: what changed, how to test, and risks. It does not approve the PR.

Steps: 4
Cost: low
Time: Ten minutes of PR-body writing, if you were going to describe the diff anyway.

Unverified · docs.github.com · 12 Oct 2026

Explain a module to a new teammate

GitHub Copilot handles this as a draft: What it owns and what it must not import, from the code. Do not refactor it.

Steps: 4
Cost: low
Time: Half an hour

Unverified · docs.github.com · 11 Oct 2026

Ask Copilot for a test plan, then run it yourself

Copilot lists cases for a change you describe. You run them. The plan is not permission to skip the ones that are slow.

Steps: 4
Cost: low
Time: Remembering edge cases, not executing them.

Unverified · docs.github.com · 2 Oct 2026

Turn a stack trace into a suspect list

GitHub Copilot handles this as a draft: Frames in our code, not the library, first. Do not push a fix.

Steps: 4
Cost: low
Time: Twenty minutes

Unverified · docs.github.com · 30 Sep 2026