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An owner without developer skills can export the agent and restore it working on a runtime or host the provider does not operate, within minutes of asking and without provider approval. Running the runtime on the owner's own machine counts as not provider-operated.

The CLI keeps configuration, instructions, skills, agents, hooks and session history as files under ~/.copilot (relocatable with COPILOT_HOME), so a copy is available at once and runs on the owner's own machine. There is no export/import command or documented migration procedure: restoring means copying a hidden directory (and repository .github files), re-authenticating, and optionally running /chronicle reindex, which is the 'restore is not a single documented action' shortfall. Sources

Export is immediate (the agent is one .adf file; copying it and using Open is documented), but restoring a working agent on another machine takes several documented steps: import the owner seed phrase to unlock sealed keys, re-add a model provider key (app-level keys are not in the file), re-register app-level MCP servers, then review and accept the file. One shortfall (restore is not a single action). Sources

The export contains everything that defines the agent: configuration, instructions, memory, action history, logic, schedules and triggers, files, any identity, and credentials or a way to re-link each integration without any provider-registered client or broker. Derived data (embeddings, indexes, summaries) is accompanied by the source it was derived from.

Copilot Memory (on by default for paid individual plans) is held only on GitHub; the docs offer export of preferences only to Business/Enterprise administrators, not to individuals. Copilot cloud agent session logs and cloud automations (schedules and triggers) also live only on GitHub, and the CLI session-sync copy is separate. That leaves two or more classes of agent state with the provider. Sources

The spec places config, instructions, memory, loops, timers, triggers, lambdas, files, messages, audit, logs, sealed identity keys and per-agent credentials in the .adf file; the project holds nothing. Items outside the file (app-level provider keys, app-scoped MCP credentials, WhatsApp session directory, runtime settings) can be re-linked by the owner without any ADF-registered client (MCP OAuth uses dynamic client registration; subscriptions use OpenAI/xAI client ids). A customised global base prompt is an app setting and does not travel; recorded, not counted, because the default install uses the shipped prompt. Sources

With a non-provider model configured per P4, the exported agent runs indefinitely without any service, account, licence or payment controlled by the original provider, and the owner holds a perpetual, irrevocable right to run it. No provider action, inaction or disappearance can disable or degrade it.

With BYOK and COPILOT_OFFLINE=true, the CLI is documented to run without a GitHub account and without contacting GitHub servers. GitHub-hosted services are lost (/delegate, GitHub MCP server, code search, Copilot Memory, session sync). The proprietary CLI licence is not stated to be perpetual or irrevocable: it terminates on non-compliance and requires the user to cease use, and the README still lists an active Copilot subscription as a prerequisite. No technical path is documented that enforces termination offline. Sources

The runtime is MIT-licensed with no licence check, account or ADF-run relay; the only ADF-project endpoints (GitHub update check, MCP registry, skill catalog, online docs) are optional, have off switches or bundled fallbacks, and are not needed to start or act. Mesh uses LAN, tailnet or owner-chosen addresses. Desk grade; a provider-blocked run is required at certification. Sources

The owner can choose any model that meets a documented minimum, including a local open-weight model, without provider involvement, and every capability of the agent (tools, triggers, messaging, memory, automation) keeps working. A swap may lower reasoning quality but never removes a capability.

Local BYOK is documented for OpenAI-compatible endpoints including Ollama, vLLM and Foundry Local, with a published minimum (tool calling and streaming). The docs do not state that every capability works on BYOK models. Background features run on GitHub-hosted 'utility models' that cannot be selected, and Auto model selection works only with hosted models, so parity off GitHub models is not shown. Sources

Tool calling is the documented minimum and local open-weight models (Ollama, LM Studio, vLLM, llama.cpp) are first-class provider options; triggers, timers, lambdas and middleware run in the runtime. However, video input is implemented by injecting OpenAI-format video_url parts and is documented only for hosted providers (OpenRouter, Gemini), and no test against a local model is published, so under G12 at least one capability is not shown to survive a local model. Sources

Whatever the P2 export contains stays obtainable, current to the moment of termination, after account suspension or ban, a lapsed subscription, a price change, an acquisition, or the provider shutting down.

The P2 export route is the local ~/.copilot directory, which the CLI keeps on the owner's machine continuously, so a current copy stays in the owner's hands if the GitHub account is suspended or closed. Provider-held state that is not in that export (Memory, cloud sessions) is graded in P2. Sources

State is local-first: the agent is a SQLite file on the owner's disk with no ADF account or hosted copy, so no termination, ban or shutdown by the project can remove access to it. Sources