Configuring GitHub Copilot in the CLI

Setting up aliases

You can create aliases for Copilot in the CLI to reduce keystrokes, and to allow Copilot in the CLI to execute commands on your behalf.

To allow Copilot in the CLI to execute commands, you must run the following commands to create the aliases (as opposed to creating an alias like you would for another shell command).

After executing the following commands to create the aliases, you can run ghcs and ghce instead of gh copilot suggest and gh copilot explain.

Bash

echo 'eval "$(gh copilot alias -- bash)"' >> ~/.bashrc

echo 'eval "$(gh copilot alias -- bash)"' >> ~/.bashrc

PowerShell

$GH_COPILOT_PROFILE = Join-Path -Path $(Split-Path -Path $PROFILE -Parent) -ChildPath "gh-copilot.ps1"
gh copilot alias -- pwsh | Out-File ( New-Item -Path $GH_COPILOT_PROFILE -Force )
echo ". `"$GH_COPILOT_PROFILE`"" >> $PROFILE

$GH_COPILOT_PROFILE = Join-Path -Path $(Split-Path -Path $PROFILE -Parent) -ChildPath "gh-copilot.ps1"
gh copilot alias -- pwsh | Out-File ( New-Item -Path $GH_COPILOT_PROFILE -Force )
echo ". `"$GH_COPILOT_PROFILE`"" >> $PROFILE

Zsh

echo 'eval "$(gh copilot alias -- zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc

echo 'eval "$(gh copilot alias -- zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc

Changing the default execution confirmation

When you use the ghcs alias and you select Execute command, Copilot in the CLI will ask for confirmation before executing the command. You can change the default confirmation.

1. Execute the following command:

   Shell

   gh copilot config
   

2. Select Default value for confirming command execution.

3. Choose the desired default.

Changing usage analytics

Unless you opt out, Copilot in the CLI will send a payload in the format below to the analytics system. This data helps improve the product. GitHub does not look at the data of specific individuals or at specific queries.

{
  "platform": "darwin",
  "architecture": "arm64",
  "version": "0.3.0-beta",
  "custom_event": "true",
  "event_parent_command": "explain",
  "event_name": "Explain",
  "sha": "089a53215fc4383179869f7f6132ce9d6e58754a",
  "thread_id": "e61d0d08-f6ba-465b-81cf-c30fd9127d70"
}

To opt in or out of data collection:

1. Execute the following command:

   Shell

   gh copilot config
   

2. Select Optional Usage Analytics.

3. Choose the desired default.