Copilot code review can now be requested from the REST and GraphQL APIs

GitHub’s changelog for 2 October 2026 says you can request a GitHub Copilot code review through the REST and GraphQL APIs, and you can set the review effort for that request. GitHub says this is generally available to Copilot Pro, Pro+, Max, Business, and Enterprise. The point of the API, in the post’s words, is to start reviews from scripts, workflows, and internal tools instead of only from the GitHub UI.

What the changelog does and does not name

The post says the effort level is optional on each API request. It does not print the REST path or the GraphQL field names. Those live in the docs it points at. What is on the page is the product fact: a review can be asked for over both APIs, and the effort for that one review can differ from the repository default.

Balanced became the default on 28 September

The same note says Balanced is now the default review effort. It points back to an announcement on 28 August 2026 and says the Default level now uses Balanced for new and existing repositories and organizations that use Copilot code review. The change took effect on 28 September 2026. If someone had explicitly chosen Lite, GitHub says that choice was kept. So the 2 October post is doing two jobs: shipping the API, and recording a default that had already switched four days earlier.

Effort is configured in four places, and each level can override the one above it. Enterprise: AI controls, then Agents, then Copilot code review. Organization: Copilot, then Code review. Repository: Copilot, then Code review. Personal accounts: profile picture, Copilot settings, Copilot, Code review. The post says you can move the setting from Default to Lite, or try the other options your plan exposes. Step-by-step clicks are in GitHub’s “Configuring code review by GitHub Copilot” doc.

Practical takeaway

Automation can now ask for a Copilot review without a person opening the pull request UI, on the paid Copilot plans listed above, and can pass an effort value per call. Set the standing default where you already manage Copilot, knowing that a lower level overrides a higher one and that an explicit Lite choice survived the 28 September switch. Look up the current operation names in GitHub’s API docs before you hard-code a path; this changelog does not include them.