You can ask Copilot Chat specific questions about your project or general software questions. You can also ask Copilot Chat to write code, fix errors, write tests, and document code.
Use the tabs above to select the environment where you are using Copilot Chat.
Some of the following example prompts use chat participants (preceded by @), slash commands (preceded by /), or chat variables (preceded by #). For more information on keywords in prompts, see Asking GitHub Copilot questions in your IDE.
Ask general software questions
You can ask Copilot Chat general software questions. For example:
tell me about nodejs web server frameworkshow to create an express app@terminal how to update an npm package
Ask questions about your project
You can ask Copilot Chat questions about your project.
what sorting algorithm does this function use@workspace how are notifications scheduled#file:gameReducer.js #file:gameInit.js how are these files related
To give Copilot the correct context, try some of these strategies:
- Highlight relevant lines of code
- Use chat variables like
#selection,#file,#editor,#codebase, or#git - Use the
@workspacechat participant
Write code
You can ask Copilot to write code for you. For example:
write a function to sum all numbers in a listadd error handling to this function@workspace add form validation, similar to the newsletter page
When Copilot returns a code block, the response includes options to copy the code, or to insert the code at your cursor, into a new file, or into the terminal.
Ask questions about alerts from GitHub Advanced Security features
You can ask Copilot about security alerts in repositories in your organization from GitHub Advanced Security features (code scanning, secret scanning, and Dependabot alerts). For example:
How would I fix this alert?How many alerts do I have on this pull request?Which line of code is this code scanning alert referencing?What library is affected by this Dependabot alert?
Set up a new project
Use the /new slash command to set up a new project. For example:
/new react app with typescript/new python django web application/new node.js express server
Copilot will suggest a directory structure and provide a button to create the suggested files and contents. To preview a suggested file, select the file name in the suggested directory structure.
Use the /newNotebook slash command to set up a new Jupyter notebook. For example:
/newNotebook retrieve the titanic dataset and use Seaborn to plot the data
Fix, improve, and refactor code
If your active file contains an error, use the /fix slash command to ask Copilot to fix the error.
You can also make general requests to improve or refactor your code.
how would you improve this code?translate this code to C#add error handling to this function
Write tests
Use the /tests slash command to ask Copilot to write tests for the active file or selected code. For example:
/tests/tests using the Jest framework/tests ensure the function rejects an empty list
The /tests slash command writes tests for existing code. If you prefer to write tests before writing code (test driven development), omit the /tests command. For example:
Add tests for a JavaScript function that should sum a list of integers
Ask questions about Visual Studio Code
Use the @vscode chat participant to ask specific questions about Visual Studio Code. For example:
@vscode tell me how to debug a node.js app@vscode how do I change my Visual Studio Code colors@vscode how can I change key bindings
Ask questions about the command line
Use the @terminal chat participant to ask specific questions about the command line. For example:
@terminal find the largest file in the src directory@terminal #terminalLastCommandto explain the last command and any errors
Ask general software questions
You can ask Copilot Chat general software questions. For example:
tell me about nodejs web server frameworkshow to create an express apphow to update an npm package
Ask questions about your project
You can ask Copilot Chat questions about your project. To give Copilot the correct context, try some of these strategies:
- Highlight relevant lines of code
- Open the relevant file
- Use
#fileto tell Copilot to reference specific files - Use
#solutionto tell Copilot to reference the active file
For example:
what sorting algorithm does this function use#file:gameReducer.js what happens when a new game is requested
Write code
You can ask Copilot to write code for you. For example:
write a function to sum all numbers in a listadd error handling to this function
When Copilot returns a code block, the response includes options to copy the code, insert the code into a new file, or preview the code output.
Ask questions about alerts from GitHub Advanced Security features
You can ask Copilot about security alerts in repositories in your organization from GitHub Advanced Security features (code scanning, secret scanning, and Dependabot alerts). For example:
How would I fix this alert?How many alerts do I have on this pull request?Which line of code is this code scanning alert referencing?What library is affected by this Dependabot alert?
Fix, improve, and refactor code
If your active file contains an error, use the /fix slash command to ask Copilot to fix the error.
You can also make general requests to improve or refactor your code.
how would you improve this code?translate this code to C#add error handling to this function
Write tests
Use the /tests slash command to ask Copilot to write tests for the active file or selected code. For example:
/tests/tests using the Jest framework/tests ensure the function rejects an empty list
The /tests slash command writes tests for existing code. If you prefer to write tests before writing code (test driven development), omit the /tests command. For example:
Add tests for a JavaScript function that should sum a list of integers
Ask general software questions
You can ask Copilot Chat general software questions. For example:
tell me about nodejs web server frameworkshow to create an express apphow to update an npm package
Ask questions about your project
You can ask Copilot Chat questions about your project. To give Copilot the correct context, try some of these strategies:
- Highlight relevant lines of code.
- Open the relevant file.
- Add the file as a reference. For information about how to use file references, see Asking GitHub Copilot questions in your IDE.
For example:
what sorting algorithm does this function usehow are these files related(with references to the files in question)
Write code
You can ask Copilot to write code for you. For example:
write a function to sum all numbers in a listadd error handling to this function
When Copilot returns a code block, the response includes options to copy the code or to insert the code at your cursor.
Fix, improve, and refactor code
If your active file contains an error, use the /fix slash command to ask Copilot to fix the error.
You can also make general requests to improve or refactor your code.
how would you improve this code?translate this code to C#add error handling to this function
Write tests
Use the /tests slash command to ask Copilot to write tests for the active file or selected code. For example:
/tests/tests using the Jest framework/tests ensure the function rejects an empty list
The /tests slash command writes tests for existing code. If you prefer to write tests before writing code (test driven development), omit the /tests command. For example:
Add tests for a JavaScript function that should sum a list of integers