GitHub Copilot

What is GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered programming assistant offered by GitHub, available in the editor, command line, GitHub website, mobile devices, and as a standalone Copilot application. It can provide code completion while typing, as well as explain repositories, modify multiple files, run tools, and conduct tests through chat.

Copilot cloud agent allows users to explore repositories, develop plans, create branches, and submit Pull Requests within GitHub-hosted environments; Copilot code review analyzes code changes, provides suggestions at the line level, and can pass the corrections on to the agent for execution.

Core functions

• Code completion and Next Edit:Based on the current file and project context, it determines the locations for lines, functions, or subsequent edits; the basic completion feature offered in the paid plans is unlimited and does not consume AI Credits.
• Copilot Chat：It can be used to explain code, locate errors, generate tests, refactor code, and answer development-related questions, and is available in IDEs, GitHub.com, mobile devices, and other platforms.
• Agent Mode：It allows for autonomous code searching, editing of multiple files, execution of terminal commands and testing, with iterative improvements made in response to errors; the permissions of the tool are controlled by the user and the environment.
• Cloud Agent：Issues or suggestions are received; research, planning, modifications, and Pull Requests are carried out in an isolated environment, with users requesting further changes through comments.
• Code Review：Review code in the IDE or a Pull Request and generate suggestions; it can read repository instructions, Agent Skills, and MCP context.
• Copilot CLI：It is used to interpret commands, work on projects, and execute Agent tasks in the terminal, making it suitable for a development workflow that does not require leaving the command line.
• Customization and MCP:Project specifications and external tools are provided through warehouse instructions, AGENTS files, Prompt files, Skills, and the MCP Server.
• Multiple models and third-party agents:Different solutions make models from GitHub, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others available, and it is also possible to assign certain third-party coding agents on GitHub.

Personal plans and AI Credits

1 GitHub AI Credit is equivalent to a billing value of 0.01 US dollars. Services such as Chat, Agent Mode, Code Review, Cloud Agent, CLI, Copilot Apps, Spaces, and Spark consume credits based on the model used, the number of tokens, and the functionality employed.

Code completion and Next Edit Suggestion do not consume any credits in the paid plans.

The quota is reset on a monthly basis, and alerts are sent when it reaches 75%, 90% and 100%. Once the personal plan is exhausted, one can wait for it to be refreshed or purchase additional usage according to the account settings.

Organizational plan

Copilot Business and Enterprise are offered to organizations on a per-seat basis, with prices and AI quotas determined according to the details on the organization’s profile page or in the sales contract. Business version focuses on licenses, policies, IP protection, data control, as well as use via IDE, CLI, and mobile devices;

Enterprise further integrates Copilot deeply into GitHub.com, adding organizational knowledge indexing, customization, and enterprise governance.

Starting from June 2026, in addition to consuming AI Credits, the Agent capabilities of Code Review will also use GitHub Actions minutes in private repositories. Administrators can control models, preview functions, additional pricing, public code matching, MCP, and third-party Agents.

Support for platforms and open-source status

Copilot is available through Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, the JetBrains series, Vim/Neovim, Xcode, Eclipse, as well as the command line; the specific chat and Agent functions vary depending on the editor used. GitHub Mobile supports Copilot for all these platforms, and Enterprise versions also allow access to organizational knowledge.

The GitHub Copilot service and its underlying models are not open-source projects. GitHub makes available various repositories such as those for VS Code, the CLI, SDKs, MCP Server, and extension examples, but it is not possible to download the complete Copilot model or to host a similar service on one’s own using these resources.

Whether the generated code can be used still depends on the project license, third-party rights, and security audits.

Safety and usage recommendations

Copilot may generate APIs that do not exist, outdated dependencies, weak authentication mechanisms, command injection vulnerabilities, or code with licensing issues. All changes must undergo manual diff reviews, testing, static analysis, dependency scanning, and code reviews.

A Pull Request created by a Cloud Agent cannot be automatically considered reliable just because the tests have passed; MCP Server and Skills expand the range of data and tools that are available, so it is necessary to enable only trusted sources and to apply the principle of minimum permissions.

The interaction data for individual plans Free, Pro, and Pro+ can be used to improve the models based on account settings, and users can opt out of this in their settings; the data from Business and Enterprise plans is not used to train GitHub’s models.

The policies, network, and data controls for confidential warehouses should be established uniformly by the organization’s administrator.

Tutorial for Using GitHub Copilot

Complete a basic task.

1. Define the code tasks to be carried out in GitHub Copilot, the scope of the repository, and the acceptance criteria.
2. Connect to or import the test project, and first back up the current branch;
3. First, use code completion and Next Edit to generate a plan, then confirm the files that will be modified;
4. Use Copilot Chat to make minor changes;
5. Run tests, static checks, and builds; unverified code is not accepted directly.
6. Manually check permissions, keys, dependencies, and handle exceptions before merging;

Create reusable professional workflows

1. Select a low-risk, real-world project as a template;
2. Fix the order of using code completion, Next Edit, Copilot Chat, and Agent Mode;
3. Record the environment, model, prompts, and failure conditions;
4. Set up manual approval for write, deploy, and delete actions;
5. Compare speed, cost, test pass rate, and the amount of rework;
6. Expand to a team or production environment only after stability has been verified;

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a free version of GitHub Copilot?

Yes, there are 2,000 completions per month and 50 chat/edit requests, which is suitable for a light-level usage.

Can Copilot submit code automatically?

Cloud Agent can create branches, make commits, and submit Pull Requests, but the final decisions regarding diffs, testing, and merging still lie with the developers.

Is Copilot open-source software?

The core services and models are not open source; the client, SDK, and MCP projects made available by the official team are merely components of this ecosystem.