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GitHub Copilot Train-the-Trainer
Overview

Session M7-03: Plan work with GitHub Issues and MCP

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Module: Product and Delivery Teams

Difficulty: Intermediate

Prerequisites: Sessions M7-01 to M7-02, GitHub Copilot app access, and an approved GitHub MCP connection

Duration: 3 hours (1 hour trainer content + 2 hours lab)

Overview

Continue the Delivery Decision Studio path by turning the approved Session M7-02 decision brief into a GitHub issue hierarchy. Check the GitHub MCP connection and inspect the repository before you plan any writes. Use Markdown to preview the full issue set, then create the approved issues. Read them back from GitHub to check and correct the result. The created GitHub issues are authoritative.

The session teaches safe tool use. Learners do not develop an MCP server.

Important

The GitHub MCP connection and write access to the training repository are required. Stop if the learner cannot inspect tools, preview the write, or check the created issues.

Learning outcomes

In this session, you will:

  1. Explain what an MCP server lets Copilot do.
  2. Inspect the GitHub tools available to the current session.
  3. Split an approved outcome into a parent issue and child issues with defined scope.
  4. Review issue titles, descriptions, acceptance criteria, dependencies, and ownership.
  5. Approve a GitHub write operation only after checking its target and arguments.
  6. Retrieve the created issues and compare them with the approved plan.
  7. Preview, apply, and check a focused correction.
  8. Classify concrete existing issues as duplicate, partial overlap, conflict, or unrelated.
  9. Leave a checked live issue set that Session M7-04 can read directly.

Session structure

Block Duration Material
Trainer content 1 hour Trainer guide
Lab 2 hours Lab guide

Materials

Resource Location
Slides slides.md
Approved brief and templates lab/starter/
Reference preview lab/solution/

Boundaries

  • Use only the approved training repository.
  • Read before writing.
  • Ask Copilot to show the complete proposed issue set before creation.
  • Treat issue-plan Markdown as a temporary preview. Do not use it as the source of record after creation.
  • Keep issue creation within the agreed count and labels.
  • Check every created issue through a fresh GitHub read.
  • Use an optional Azure Boards route only when it remains the approved system of record.
  • GitHub MCP supplies tools. A plugin may package an MCP server, but plugin installation does not prove that the approved GitHub connection is active.
  • Keep the lab no-code and free of customer or source organization names.