GitHub Copilot is an AI pair programmer that integrates directly into your code editor, providing intelligent code suggestions as you type.
How Copilot Works
Copilot is powered by large language models trained on billions of lines of public code. It understands:
- Your current file — The code you're writing right now
- Open files — Other files in your editor tabs
- Project context — File structure, imports, and dependencies
- Comments and docstrings — Your intent described in natural language
As you type, Copilot suggests completions ranging from a single line to entire functions.
Copilot Products
- Copilot Individual ($10/month) — For personal use, includes completions and chat
- Copilot Business ($19/user/month) — For organizations, adds admin controls and policy management
- Copilot Enterprise ($39/user/month) — Adds knowledge bases, fine-tuning on your repos, and Bing search integration
What Copilot Can Do
- Auto-complete code as you type (inline suggestions)
- Generate entire functions from comments
- Write unit tests, documentation, and boilerplate
- Answer coding questions in natural language (Copilot Chat)
- Explain and refactor existing code
- Fix bugs and resolve errors
- Generate commit messages and PR descriptions
Supported Editors
- VS Code (primary, best experience)
- JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm, etc.)
- Neovim
- Visual Studio
- Xcode (limited)