GitHub Co-pilot for Visual Studio Code

Tarique Akhtar
2 min readJan 11, 2023

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GitHub Copilot is a new feature in Visual Studio Code (VS Code) that allows developers to get suggestions and assistance while they code. With Copilot, developers can take advantage of GitHub’s vast codebase and the knowledge of other developers to write better code and improve their workflow.

One of the main benefits of Copilot is that it provides context-aware suggestions while you code. As you type, Copilot suggests variable names, function names, and other code snippets that are relevant to your current task. This can save a lot of time and help you avoid common mistakes.

Copilot also helps you find and fix errors in your code. If you make a mistake, such as a syntax error or a reference to an undefined variable, Copilot will highlight the problem and suggest a fix. This can save you time and make it easier to find and fix bugs in your code.

Another feature of Copilot is the ability to view and navigate through different parts of a codebase easily. You can search and browse through the codebase and understand how different parts of the code work together. You can also easily navigate between different files and directories in a project, making it easier to find what you’re looking for.

Configure Copilot on VS Code

To configure GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code, you will first need to make sure that you have the latest version of VS Code installed on your machine. You will also need to have a GitHub account, as Copilot is integrated with GitHub’s codebase.

Here are the steps to configure Copilot:

  1. Open Visual Studio Code and go to the Extensions tab by clicking on the Extensions button on the left sidebar or by pressing Ctrl + Shift + X (Cmd + Shift + X on macOS).
  2. Search for “GitHub Copilot” in the Extensions Marketplace, and click on the extension to install it.
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3. After installing the extension, you will need to sign in to your GitHub account by clicking on the “Sign in to GitHub” button that appears in the bottom right corner of the screen.

4. Once you have signed in, you will need to enable the Copilot feature for your current workspace. You can do this by clicking on the “Enable Copilot” button in the bottom right corner of the screen.

5. You should now see the Copilot icon in the bottom left corner of the screen. Clicking on it will open the Copilot pane, where you can access all of its features.

6. You are now ready to start using Copilot, you should notice the suggestions coming in as you type the code and you will be able to access the other features via the Copilot pane.

Thanks for reading.

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Tarique Akhtar

Data Science Professional, Love to learn new things!!!We can get connected through LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarique-akhtar-6b902651/)