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GitHub Copilot

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Create a GitHub Account

  • GitHub Account: You need a GitHub account to use GitHub Copilot. Sign up here

  • GitHub Education As a university faculty or staff, you can enroll as an educator through GitHub's Education space. As a student, you can also get access to GitHub features, like Codespaces and Classroom.

  • Supported IDE: You'll need a compatible IDE. Currently, the most popular supported IDEs are:

  • GitHub Copilot Subscription: GitHub Copilot is a paid service. You'll need an active subscription to use it. There are plans for individuals and businesses. There is a limited free trial so you can try it out. GitHub Copilot is free for verified students and maintainers of popular open source projects on GitHub.

Installation and Setup

The installation process varies slightly depending on your IDE. Here's a general overview:

Visual Studio Code (VS Code):

  • Install the Extension:

    1. Open VS Code on your local or virtual machine.

    2. Go to the Extensions Marketplace (click the Extensions icon in the Activity Bar on the side of the window or press Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X).

    3. Search for "GitHub Copilot".

    4. Click "Install" on the official GitHub Copilot extension.

  • Sign in to GitHub:

    • You'll be prompted to sign in to GitHub to authorize the extension. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Visual Studio:

  • Install the Extension:

    Open Visual Studio.

    Go to Extensions > Manage Extensions.

    Search for "GitHub Copilot" in the online tab.

    Click "Download" and follow the prompts to install it. Restart Visual Studio when done.

  • Sign in to GitHub: You will need to sign in to your GitHub account to authorize the extension.