GitHub has shipped the first release candidate for GitHub Enterprise Server 3.22, giving self-hosted customers an early look at the features that will define the platform’s next quarterly feature release GitHub Changelog. Release candidates are complete feature sets meant for test and staging only; GitHub explicitly warns against running them in production or upgrading an existing instance to one GitHub Enterprise Server 3.22 upgrade docs.
The most notable change for operations teams is Copilot CLI support inside disconnected and air-gapped GHES deployments. An administrator configures a single model provider once, after which any user across the enterprise can run Copilot CLI using their existing GHES credentials, with no link to GitHub Cloud required GitHub Changelog. GitHub labels the capability a technical preview and recommends waiting until 3.22 reaches general availability before validating it.
Enterprise Teams, which had been in public preview, is now generally available. Enterprise owners can manage users and repository access across every organization from one centralized team structure, cutting the overhead of coordinating permissions org by org GitHub Changelog.
Secret-scanning reviewers gain practical sorting: push-protection bypass and alert-dismissal requests can now be ordered by date at the repo, org, and enterprise levels, a fix aimed at high-volume security queues GitHub Changelog. Repository rulesets pick up finer control too, with bypass allowed for individual users and required-reviewers rules that can demand sign-off from specific teams on matched branches or files.
On the upgrade path itself, phased execution lets administrators run the pre-upgrade stage outside the maintenance window, trimming in-maintenance time by as much as 20 minutes on affected upgrades GitHub Changelog GitHub Enterprise Server 3.22 release notes. GitHub notes that between feature releases, hotpatch and bug-fix updates typically need under five minutes of downtime GitHub Changelog GitHub Enterprise Server 3.22 upgrade docs.
For developers, linked pull requests now surface a “Latest release” or “Pre-release” badge in the issue sidebar, and public-repo PR lists show contributor role labels such as “First-time contributor.” Teams already extending Copilot across their toolchain can follow how the assistant is broadening in our coverage of GitHub Copilot for JetBrains gaining memory and Ollama support.
The 3.22 RC is available to download now, with GitHub asking operators to test in clean environments and report feedback before the stable release.
