diff --git a/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml b/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
index 25cb2c5..efb3807 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
-      - uses: ./.github/workflows/install
+      - uses: api2r/actions/install@v1
         with:
           use-container: "${{ matrix.config.container != '' }}"
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml b/.github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml
index 5360a1e..e1907e1 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
-      - uses: ./.github/workflows/install
+      - uses: api2r/actions/install@v1
         with:
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           cache-version: copilot
diff --git a/.github/workflows/install/action.yml b/.github/workflows/install/action.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index ff4ba5e..0000000
--- a/.github/workflows/install/action.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,118 +0,0 @@
-name: "Install R and dependencies"
-description: "Set up pandoc, R, and package dependencies"
-inputs:
-  token:
-    description: "GitHub token, set to secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN"
-    required: true
-  r-version:
-    description: "R version, passed to r-lib/actions/setup-r@v2"
-    required: false
-    default: release
-  http-user-agent:
-    description: "HTTP user agent, passed to r-lib/actions/setup-r@v2"
-    required: false
-    default: ""
-  needs:
-    description: "Config/Needs tag(s), passed to r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2"
-    required: false
-    default: ""
-  extra-packages:
-    description: "Extra packages, passed to r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2"
-    required: false
-    default: any::rcmdcheck
-  optional-packages:
-    description: "Optional extra packages; installed individually, warn (not error) on failure"
-    required: false
-    default: ""
-  cache-version:
-    description: "Cache version for r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2"
-    required: false
-    default: "1"
-  use-container:
-    description: "Set to 'true' when running inside a pre-warmed container (skips R and pandoc setup)"
-    required: false
-    default: "false"
-
-runs:
-  using: "composite"
-  steps:
-    - if: inputs.use-container != 'true'
-      uses: r-lib/actions/setup-pandoc@v2
-
-    - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r@v2
-      with:
-        install-r: ${{ inputs.use-container != 'true' }}
-        r-version: ${{ inputs.r-version }}
-        http-user-agent: ${{ inputs.http-user-agent }}
-        use-public-rspm: true
-
-    # In pre-warmed containers every package may already be in the system
-    # library, so nothing is ever written to R_LIBS_USER.  Ensure the
-    # directory exists with a sentinel so the actions/cache glob matches
-    # and the "Path Validation Error" warning doesn't fire at cache-save.
-    - if: inputs.use-container == 'true'
-      name: Ensure R_LIBS_USER exists
-      shell: bash
-      run: |
-        lib="$(Rscript -e 'cat(Sys.getenv("R_LIBS_USER"))')"
-        mkdir -p "$lib"
-        touch "$lib/.keep"
-
-    # Container path: call pak::pak() directly so it checks .libPaths() and
-    # only installs/updates packages that are genuinely missing or outdated.
-    # setup-r-dependencies always runs a full lockfile-create → lockfile-install
-    # cycle which reinstalls everything even when the container already has it.
-    - if: inputs.use-container == 'true'
-      name: Update R package dependencies (container)
-      shell: Rscript {0}
-      env:
-        GITHUB_PAT: ${{ inputs.token }}
-      run: |
-        # Replicate needs → Config/Needs/<field> expansion from r-lib/actions
-        needs_parts <- strsplit("${{ inputs.needs }}", "[[:space:],]+")[[1]]
-        needs_parts <- needs_parts[nzchar(needs_parts)]
-        needs <- sprintf("Config/Needs/%s", needs_parts)
-
-        extra_deps <- strsplit("${{ inputs.extra-packages }}", "[[:space:],]+")[[1]]
-        extra_deps <- extra_deps[nzchar(extra_deps)]
-
-        # Over-protect for strangeness in the container
-        if (!requireNamespace("pak", quietly = TRUE)) {
-          install.packages("pak")
-        }
-
-        pak::pak(
-          c("deps::.", extra_deps),
-          dependencies = c(needs, "all"),
-          upgrade = TRUE,
-          ask = FALSE
-        )
-
-    # Non-container path: standard setup-r-dependencies flow with caching.
-    - if: inputs.use-container != 'true'
-      uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2
-      env:
-        GITHUB_PAT: ${{ inputs.token }}
-      with:
-        needs: ${{ inputs.needs }}
-        extra-packages: ${{ inputs.extra-packages }}
-        cache-version: ${{ inputs.cache-version }}
-
-    - if: inputs.optional-packages != ''
-      name: Install optional packages
-      shell: Rscript {0}
-      env:
-        GITHUB_PAT: ${{ inputs.token }}
-      run: |
-        pkgs <- strsplit("${{ inputs.optional-packages }}", "\\s+")[[1]]
-        pkgs <- pkgs[nzchar(pkgs)]
-        for (pkg in pkgs) {
-          tryCatch(
-            pak::pak(pkg),
-            error = function(e) {
-              msg <- sprintf("Failed to install optional package %s: %s", pkg, conditionMessage(e))
-              msg <- gsub("[\r\n]+", " ", msg)
-              cat("::warning::", msg, "\n", sep = "")
-            }
-          )
-        }
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pkgdown.yaml b/.github/workflows/pkgdown.yaml
index afc5f44..7f4f411 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pkgdown.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pkgdown.yaml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
-      - uses: ./.github/workflows/install
+      - uses: api2r/actions/install@v1
         with:
           use-container: "true"
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-commands.yaml b/.github/workflows/pr-commands.yaml
index 8c94262..8c2f575 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-commands.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-commands.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - uses: ./.github/workflows/install
+      - uses: api2r/actions/install@v1
         with:
           use-container: "true"
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/qcthat.yaml b/.github/workflows/qcthat.yaml
index a6ea54c..2adec84 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/qcthat.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/qcthat.yaml
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
-      - uses: ./.github/workflows/install
+      - uses: api2r/actions/install@v1
         with:
           use-container: "true"
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-coverage.yaml b/.github/workflows/test-coverage.yaml
index 6878a49..8b7a5f3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-coverage.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-coverage.yaml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
-      - uses: ./.github/workflows/install
+      - uses: api2r/actions/install@v1
         with:
           use-container: "true"
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 28150a6..c8e9f05 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # pkgskills (development version)
 
+* `use_github_copilot()` now uses the external, stable `api2r/actions/install@v1` composite workflow instead of the local `install` action (#84).
+
 * `use_ai()` no longer fails when `DESCRIPTION` has no `BugReports` field; it now falls back to git remotes (`upstream` then `origin`) to construct the URL and writes it to `DESCRIPTION` automatically (#82).
 
 * `use_github_copilot_whitelist()` configures the Copilot coding agent firewall allowlist (#79).
diff --git a/R/use_github_copilot.R b/R/use_github_copilot.R
index 42cd03b..9301680 100644
--- a/R/use_github_copilot.R
+++ b/R/use_github_copilot.R
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 #' Install GitHub Copilot setup workflow into a project
 #'
-#' Installs a `copilot-setup-steps.yml` workflow and its companion reusable
-#' `install` action into the project's `.github/workflows/` directory. Also
-#' calls [use_github_copilot_whitelist()] to configure the coding agent firewall
-#' allowlist.
+#' Installs a `copilot-setup-steps.yml` workflow into the project's
+#' `.github/workflows/` directory. Also calls [use_github_copilot_whitelist()]
+#' to configure the coding agent firewall allowlist.
 #'
 #' @param overwrite (`logical(1)`) Whether to overwrite existing files. Defaults
 #'   to `FALSE`.
@@ -39,21 +38,12 @@ use_github_copilot <- function(
     ".github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml",
     overwrite
   )
-  path_install_abs <- .path_proj_save_as(
-    ".github/workflows/install/action.yml",
-    overwrite
-  )
 
   .use_template_as_is(
     "workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml",
     ".github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml",
     open = open
   )
-  .use_template_as_is(
-    "workflows/install/action.yml",
-    ".github/workflows/install/action.yml",
-    open = FALSE
-  )
 
   use_github_copilot_whitelist(allowlist = allowlist, gh_token = gh_token)
 
diff --git a/inst/templates/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml b/inst/templates/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml
index ae9a04b..611b08f 100644
--- a/inst/templates/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml
+++ b/inst/templates/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
-      - uses: ./.github/workflows/install
+      - uses: api2r/actions/install@v1
         with:
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           cache-version: copilot
diff --git a/inst/templates/workflows/install/action.yml b/inst/templates/workflows/install/action.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index ff4ba5e..0000000
--- a/inst/templates/workflows/install/action.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,118 +0,0 @@
-name: "Install R and dependencies"
-description: "Set up pandoc, R, and package dependencies"
-inputs:
-  token:
-    description: "GitHub token, set to secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN"
-    required: true
-  r-version:
-    description: "R version, passed to r-lib/actions/setup-r@v2"
-    required: false
-    default: release
-  http-user-agent:
-    description: "HTTP user agent, passed to r-lib/actions/setup-r@v2"
-    required: false
-    default: ""
-  needs:
-    description: "Config/Needs tag(s), passed to r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2"
-    required: false
-    default: ""
-  extra-packages:
-    description: "Extra packages, passed to r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2"
-    required: false
-    default: any::rcmdcheck
-  optional-packages:
-    description: "Optional extra packages; installed individually, warn (not error) on failure"
-    required: false
-    default: ""
-  cache-version:
-    description: "Cache version for r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2"
-    required: false
-    default: "1"
-  use-container:
-    description: "Set to 'true' when running inside a pre-warmed container (skips R and pandoc setup)"
-    required: false
-    default: "false"
-
-runs:
-  using: "composite"
-  steps:
-    - if: inputs.use-container != 'true'
-      uses: r-lib/actions/setup-pandoc@v2
-
-    - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r@v2
-      with:
-        install-r: ${{ inputs.use-container != 'true' }}
-        r-version: ${{ inputs.r-version }}
-        http-user-agent: ${{ inputs.http-user-agent }}
-        use-public-rspm: true
-
-    # In pre-warmed containers every package may already be in the system
-    # library, so nothing is ever written to R_LIBS_USER.  Ensure the
-    # directory exists with a sentinel so the actions/cache glob matches
-    # and the "Path Validation Error" warning doesn't fire at cache-save.
-    - if: inputs.use-container == 'true'
-      name: Ensure R_LIBS_USER exists
-      shell: bash
-      run: |
-        lib="$(Rscript -e 'cat(Sys.getenv("R_LIBS_USER"))')"
-        mkdir -p "$lib"
-        touch "$lib/.keep"
-
-    # Container path: call pak::pak() directly so it checks .libPaths() and
-    # only installs/updates packages that are genuinely missing or outdated.
-    # setup-r-dependencies always runs a full lockfile-create → lockfile-install
-    # cycle which reinstalls everything even when the container already has it.
-    - if: inputs.use-container == 'true'
-      name: Update R package dependencies (container)
-      shell: Rscript {0}
-      env:
-        GITHUB_PAT: ${{ inputs.token }}
-      run: |
-        # Replicate needs → Config/Needs/<field> expansion from r-lib/actions
-        needs_parts <- strsplit("${{ inputs.needs }}", "[[:space:],]+")[[1]]
-        needs_parts <- needs_parts[nzchar(needs_parts)]
-        needs <- sprintf("Config/Needs/%s", needs_parts)
-
-        extra_deps <- strsplit("${{ inputs.extra-packages }}", "[[:space:],]+")[[1]]
-        extra_deps <- extra_deps[nzchar(extra_deps)]
-
-        # Over-protect for strangeness in the container
-        if (!requireNamespace("pak", quietly = TRUE)) {
-          install.packages("pak")
-        }
-
-        pak::pak(
-          c("deps::.", extra_deps),
-          dependencies = c(needs, "all"),
-          upgrade = TRUE,
-          ask = FALSE
-        )
-
-    # Non-container path: standard setup-r-dependencies flow with caching.
-    - if: inputs.use-container != 'true'
-      uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2
-      env:
-        GITHUB_PAT: ${{ inputs.token }}
-      with:
-        needs: ${{ inputs.needs }}
-        extra-packages: ${{ inputs.extra-packages }}
-        cache-version: ${{ inputs.cache-version }}
-
-    - if: inputs.optional-packages != ''
-      name: Install optional packages
-      shell: Rscript {0}
-      env:
-        GITHUB_PAT: ${{ inputs.token }}
-      run: |
-        pkgs <- strsplit("${{ inputs.optional-packages }}", "\\s+")[[1]]
-        pkgs <- pkgs[nzchar(pkgs)]
-        for (pkg in pkgs) {
-          tryCatch(
-            pak::pak(pkg),
-            error = function(e) {
-              msg <- sprintf("Failed to install optional package %s: %s", pkg, conditionMessage(e))
-              msg <- gsub("[\r\n]+", " ", msg)
-              cat("::warning::", msg, "\n", sep = "")
-            }
-          )
-        }
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-use_github_copilot.R b/tests/testthat/test-use_github_copilot.R
index d17da02..15daddf 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-use_github_copilot.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-use_github_copilot.R
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-test_that("use_github_copilot() installs copilot-setup-steps.yml (#25)", {
+test_that("use_github_copilot() installs copilot-setup-steps.yml (#25, #84)", {
   proj_dir <- local_pkg()
   local_gh_mock()
   suppressWarnings(suppressMessages(use_github_copilot(open = FALSE)))
@@ -9,17 +9,6 @@ test_that("use_github_copilot() installs copilot-setup-steps.yml (#25)", {
   )
 })
 
-test_that("use_github_copilot() installs install/action.yml (#25)", {
-  proj_dir <- local_pkg()
-  local_gh_mock()
-  suppressWarnings(suppressMessages(use_github_copilot(open = FALSE)))
-  expect_true(
-    fs::file_exists(
-      fs::path(proj_dir, ".github/workflows/install/action.yml")
-    )
-  )
-})
-
 test_that("use_github_copilot() returns path to copilot-setup-steps.yml invisibly (#25)", {
   proj_dir <- local_pkg()
   local_gh_mock()
@@ -45,19 +34,9 @@ test_that("use_github_copilot() errors if copilot-setup-steps.yml exists and ove
   )
 })
 
-test_that("use_github_copilot() errors if install/action.yml exists and overwrite = FALSE (#25)", {
-  local_pkg(".github/workflows/install/action.yml" = "# existing")
-  local_gh_mock()
-  expect_error(
-    suppressWarnings(suppressMessages(use_github_copilot(open = FALSE))),
-    class = "pkgskills-error-file_exists"
-  )
-})
-
-test_that("use_github_copilot() overwrites files when overwrite = TRUE (#25)", {
+test_that("use_github_copilot() overwrites files when overwrite = TRUE (#25, #84)", {
   proj_dir <- local_pkg(
-    ".github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml" = "# old",
-    ".github/workflows/install/action.yml" = "# old"
+    ".github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml" = "# old"
   )
   local_gh_mock()
   suppressWarnings(suppressMessages(use_github_copilot(
@@ -79,29 +58,3 @@ test_that("use_github_copilot() preserves ${{ }} in copilot-setup-steps.yml (#44
   )
   expect_true(any(grepl("${{", workflow_content, fixed = TRUE)))
 })
-
-test_that("use_github_copilot() preserves ${{ }} in install/action.yml (#44)", {
-  proj_dir <- local_pkg()
-  local_gh_mock()
-  suppressWarnings(suppressMessages(use_github_copilot(open = FALSE)))
-  action_content <- readLines(
-    fs::path(proj_dir, ".github/workflows/install/action.yml")
-  )
-  expect_true(any(grepl("${{", action_content, fixed = TRUE)))
-})
-
-test_that("use_github_copilot() checks both paths before writing either (#25)", {
-  # install/action.yml exists, copilot-setup-steps.yml does not
-  # Should error before writing copilot-setup-steps.yml
-  proj_dir <- local_pkg(".github/workflows/install/action.yml" = "# existing")
-  local_gh_mock()
-  expect_error(
-    suppressWarnings(suppressMessages(use_github_copilot(open = FALSE))),
-    class = "pkgskills-error-file_exists"
-  )
-  expect_false(
-    fs::file_exists(
-      fs::path(proj_dir, ".github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml")
-    )
-  )
-})
diff --git a/vignettes/pkgskills.Rmd b/vignettes/pkgskills.Rmd
index 5bfb566..f9eb3ba 100644
--- a/vignettes/pkgskills.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/pkgskills.Rmd
@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ This call installs three things:
    agent reads. It describes the repository layout, standard workflow, and where
    to find skills.
 2. **A GitHub Copilot workflow file** (via `use_github_copilot()`): a
-   `copilot-setup-steps.yml` workflow and its companion reusable `install`
-   action, so Copilot Coding Agent can work on your repository.
+   `copilot-setup-steps.yml` workflow so Copilot Coding Agent can work on your
+   repository.
 3. **Seven skills** installed to `.github/skills/` by default:
    `create-issue`, `document`, `github`, `implement-issue`, `r-code`,
    `search-code`, and `tdd-workflow`.