Guides for SE student projects »

VS Code - Using GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot is an AI Tool that is well-integrated with VS Code, because both tools are from the same parent company (Microsoft).

Signing Up for GitHub Copilot

• 1
  Filling in your billing information

  • Go to the billing information for your GitHub account.
  • Fill in only your billing information (Payment method and other details are not required).
    
  • Click on Save billing information to save.
• 2
  Enabling Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). You can skip this step if you have already done so.

  • Go to the Two-factor authentication page for your GitHub account.
  • Click on Enable two-factor authentication.
  • Open the Microsoft Authenticator App on your phone.
  • Tap the scan QR code button at the bottom right.
    
  • Scan the QR code displayed on the GitHub page.
  • Complete the remaining setup steps.
  • You should see the following page when 2FA is enabled.
    
• 3
  Linking your university email to GitHub (for Education benefits).

  • Go to the emails settings page in GitHub account.
  • Add your university-issued email under the Add email address field.
  • Verify your email using the link sent to your inbox.
  • Once verified, you will see your school email in the list of emails.
• 4
  Applying for GitHub Education benefits

  • Go to the GitHub Education page.
  • Click on Start an application.
  • Select your role as Student.
  • Choose university as your school (e.g., National University of Singapore).
  • Follow the instructions and complete the application form.
  • Once your application is approved, it will show that you have a current student coupon applied.

Installing GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code

• 1
  Updating Visual Studio Code

  • Open Visual Studio Code.
  • Go to Help → Check for Updates.
  • If updates are available, it should now say "Installing update…".
  • Once it finishes installing, go to Help → Restart to Update.
• 2
  Install the Extension Pack for GitHub Copilot and the Extension Pack for GitHub Copilot Chat extension, to enable support for AI autocompletion.

  • Click on both of the extension links above.
  • Click on the Install button on the page that opens.
  • It should prompt you with Open Visual Studio Code? and click Open Visual Studio Code.
  • You will be redirected to the extension page in Visual Studio Code.
  • Click on Install to install the extension.
  • Make sure to install the Extension Pack for GitHub Copilot Chat as well with the same steps above.

Signing in to GitHub Copilot

• 1
  Verify prerequisies

  • Ensure you followed the section Installing GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code above.
• 2
  Sign in to GitHub Copilot

  • Open Visual Studio Code.
  • Click on the GitHub Copilot icon at the top.
    
  • Click on Sign in in the pop up.
  • You will be redirected to GitHub login page, where you can login or select the account linked to GitHub Education.
  • It should prompt you with Open Visual Studio Code? and click Open Visual Studio Code.
  • Once signed in, the GitHub Copilot icon will now say "Toggle Chat" when hovered over.
  • Clicking on the GitHub Copilot icon will open the Copilot chat window.
• 3
  Verifying the installation of GitHub Copilot

  • Open a new text file using File → New File or / Ctrl+N | Cmd+N.
  • You should see an automatic suggestion appear in the empty text file.
    

Using GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code

Basic Code Completion

• In a Java file, type a comment like // print Hello World inside the main method.

  public class Main {
      public static void main(String[] args) {
          // print Hello World
      }
  }
  
      
  
      Copy
      
  
      
  
  
      
      
      

• GitHub Copilot will automatically suggest code to complete or implement the comment.
  
• Press Tab to accept the suggestion, or continue typing to refine it.

Copilot Chat

• Open the Copilot Chat using / Ctrl+Alt+I | Cmd+Alt+I or using the Copilot icon.
• Ask something like: "Write a main method that calculates the factorial of N".
• Copilot will generate a response in the chat window.
  
• You can directly insert or copy code chunks using the buttons in the top right corner.
• From left to right: Insert automatically into the current file, Insert at cursor, Copy to clipboard.
  

Copilot Inline Chat

• Go to the line or section where you want to ask Copilot for assistance.
• Use the inline chat feature using the shortcut / Ctrl+I | Cmd+I.
• Type your request such as "Add a print log here" and press Enter.
• The generated lines of code will be highlighted in yellow, and you can insert them by clicking on accept.
  

Prompting Copilot in the Terminal

1. Open a terminal in Visual Studio Code.
2. Press Ctrl+I to bring up Copilot’s terminal prompt input.
   

Some common project-related prompts you might find useful:

• Run the checkstyle
• Compile and run the Java program
• Run JUnit tests
• Perform Git operations (possible but not recommended; if you are new to Git, we discourage using Git inside the IDE -- it is better for beginners to learn Git independent of other tools)

Contributors: Norbert Loh (@NorbertLoh )