Brittany Ellich, Staff Software Engineer on GitHub's billing team, built a working Electron desktop app in a single day using GitHub Copilot Agent Mode in VS Code. The project, command-center-lite, consolidates fragmented productivity tools into one interface using Electron, React, Vite, Tailwind, and the WorkIQ MCP server for Microsoft 365 data access.
Her workflow is the actual story here. She runs a plan-then-implement loop: Copilot interviews her until a scoped plan exists, then implements against it. She runs up to 2 concurrent agent workflows in VS Code for hands-on work, while Copilot Cloud Agent handles async tasks like bug fixes and tech debt in parallel. She also notes agents add code readily but resist removing it, which forced more manual cleanup when she simplified the repo for public release.
The repo is live at github.com/brittanyellich/command-center-lite and requires Node.js v18 or higher, GitHub Copilot CLI, a Microsoft 365 account, and an ElevenLabs account for voice features. Read the full Q&A for her specific take on why tech stack choice matters less than it used to, and how she structures async versus synchronous AI-assisted development.
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