Quickstart for GitHub Copilot

You can use Copilot to get answers to coding-related questions, such as how best to code something, how to fix a bug, or how someone else's code works. For full details of what Copilot can do, see What is GitHub Copilot?.

Instructions for using Copilot differ depending on where you are using it. This version of the quickstart is for using Copilot on the GitHub website. Click the tabs above for instructions on using Copilot in other environments.

Sign up for GitHub Copilot

Get started for free

To use Copilot, you’ll need a personal GitHub account with access to a Copilot plan. You can:

• Start with Copilot Free to explore limited features without subscribing to a plan.
• Upgrade to Copilot Pro or Copilot Pro+ to unlock more features, models, and request limits.

For more information about the different plans for GitHub Copilot, see Plans for GitHub Copilot.

Asking your first question

1. On GitHub, navigate to a repository and open a file.

2. Click the Copilot icon () at the top right of the file view.

   

3. Type a question in the "Ask Copilot" box at the bottom of the chat panel and press Enter.

   For example, you could enter:

   • Explain this file.
   • How could I improve this code?
   • How can I test this code?

   Copilot responds to your request in the panel.

4. You can continue the conversation by asking a follow-up question. For example, you could type "tell me more" to get Copilot to expand on its last comment.

Other questions you can ask

There are many more things you can do with GitHub Copilot Chat in GitHub. For example:

• Ask a general question about software development
• Ask exploratory questions about a repository
• Find out about the changes in a pull request
• Ask a question about a specific issue or commit

For more information, see Asking GitHub Copilot questions in GitHub.

Next steps

• Find out more about GitHub Copilot Chat - See Asking GitHub Copilot questions in your IDE.
• Get Copilot inline suggestions in an IDE - See Getting code suggestions in your IDE with GitHub Copilot.
• Learn how to write effective prompts - See Prompt engineering for GitHub Copilot Chat.
• Use Copilot on your mobile device - See Asking GitHub Copilot questions in GitHub Mobile.
• Use Copilot on the command line - See Using the GitHub CLI Copilot extension.