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GitHub Copilot Quick Reference Guide

A quick reference for training participants. For detailed instructions, see the Week 1 Setup and Configuration Guide in the workshop materials.

Contents

Installation and Setup

Supported IDEs

VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Eclipse, Vim/Neovim, Xcode, Azure Data Studio, GitHub Mobile, Windows Terminal.

Quick Install

  1. Open your IDE's extension/plugin marketplace
  2. Search for "GitHub Copilot"
  3. Install and restart your IDE
  4. Sign in with your GitHub account when prompted

Proxy Setup (VPN Users)

VS Code: Settings > search "proxy" > enter your proxy URL

Environment variables:

export HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy-server-url:port
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy-server-url:port

Contact your IT team for your organisation's specific proxy settings.

Usage and Features

Does GitHub Copilot save chat history?

Copilot uses your prompts and relevant context to generate responses. How GitHub processes and retains Copilot data depends on your plan, settings, and where you use Copilot (for example, an IDE or GitHub.com).

See the GitHub Copilot Trust Center for current privacy and retention details.

Supported programming languages

GitHub Copilot supports most programming languages. Performance is typically best for popular languages: JavaScript, Python, Java, TypeScript, Go, Ruby, PHP, C++, C#, and Swift.

Cross-repository context

GitHub Copilot primarily references code within the active file and local repository. To include context from multiple repositories, open them in a single workspace or use Git submodules.

Database support

GitHub Copilot can assist with:

  • SQL queries (SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, JOINs, subqueries)
  • ORM code (SQLAlchemy, Sequelize, Django ORM)
  • Database migrations and schema definitions

It cannot connect to live databases or automatically detect your schema.

Code generation scope

GitHub Copilot generates both small snippets and larger blocks including entire functions, classes, or modules. Always review and test generated code.

Key features

Feature Description
Code completion Real-time inline suggestions
Copilot Chat Natural language coding assistance
Agent Mode Autonomous multi-file changes
Copilot Edits Multi-file edits from a single prompt
Code Review AI suggestions on pull requests
PR Summaries Auto-generated pull request descriptions
Test Generation Automatic unit test creation

Context and limits

GitHub Copilot Chat uses your current file, chat history, and workspace context to provide relevant responses. Use @workspace to help Copilot retrieve relevant files from your codebase.

Copilot Free includes 50 messages per month for Copilot Chat in IDEs. Other plans have different entitlements, including premium request allowances.

See Plans for GitHub Copilot for up to date limits.

See the GitHub Copilot documentation for full feature details.

Troubleshooting

Extension activation failed / Cannot connect to server

  1. Update GitHub Copilot to the latest version
  2. Sign out and sign back in
  3. Check your subscription at GitHub Billing Settings

Authentication issues

Stuck on sign-in screen:

  1. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P)
  2. Run "GitHub Copilot: Sign Out"
  3. Sign back in
  4. Check proxy/firewall settings if on a corporate network

Repeated sign-in prompts:

  1. Clear VS Code credentials: Settings > User > Clear Saved Credentials
  2. Reinstall the GitHub Copilot extension

No code suggestions appearing

  1. Check the Copilot icon in the status bar (diagonal line means disabled)
  2. Ensure you are editing a supported file type (.js, .py, .ts, etc.)
  3. Try disabling other extensions that may conflict

403 Forbidden error

Wait 10-15 minutes if you have made multiple authentication attempts. Check GitHub Status for service issues.

Corporate firewall blocking authentication

  1. Configure proxy settings in VS Code (see Proxy Setup above)
  2. Ask your IT team to whitelist GitHub's authentication endpoints
  3. See GitHub's network requirements

Licence not recognised

VS Code:

  1. Close VS Code
  2. Delete cache: %APPDATA%\Code\CachedData (Windows) or ~/Library/Application Support/Code/CachedData (macOS)
  3. Clear credentials in Windows Credential Manager or macOS Keychain
  4. Reopen and sign in again

JetBrains:

  1. Close the IDE
  2. Delete cache contents from .IntelliJIDEA<version>\system (Windows) or ~/Library/Caches/JetBrains/<version> (macOS)
  3. Remove GitHub credentials in Settings > Passwords
  4. Reopen and sign in again

GHE.com sign-in issues

In VS Code settings, search for "Copilot", open settings.json under GitHub > Copilot: Advanced, and remove the line "authProvider": "github-enterprise" if present.