About GitHub Copilot
GitHub Copilot is an AI pair programmer that offers autocomplete-style suggestions as you code. You can receive suggestions from GitHub Copilot either by starting to write the code you want to use, or by writing a natural language comment describing what you want the code to do. GitHub Copilot analyzes the context in the file you are editing, as well as related files, and offers suggestions from within your text editor. GitHub Copilot is powered by OpenAI Codex, a new AI system created by OpenAI.
GitHub Copilot is trained on all languages that appear in public repositories. For each language, the quality of suggestions you receive may depend on the volume and diversity of training data for that language. For example, JavaScript is well-represented in public repositories and is one of GitHub Copilot's best supported languages. Languages with less representation in public repositories may produce fewer or less robust suggestions.
GitHub Copilot is available as an extension in Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, Neovim and the JetBrains suite of IDEs. For more information, see "Getting started with GitHub Copilot."
Understanding the differences between Copilot for Individuals and Copilot for Business
| Copilot for Individuals | Copilot for Business | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $10 per month/$100 per year | $19 per user per month |
| Types of GitHub accounts | Personal accounts | Organization or enterprise accounts |
| Telemetry | ||
| Blocks suggestions matching public code | ||
| Plugs right into your editor | ||
| Offers multi-line function suggestions | ||
| Organization-wide policy management | ||
| VPN Proxy support via self-signed certificates |
For more information about VPN Proxy support via self-signed certificates, see "Configuring GitHub Copilot in your environment".
Using GitHub Copilot
You can see real-world examples of GitHub Copilot in action. For more information, see the GitHub Copilot website.
GitHub Copilot offers suggestions from a model that OpenAI built from billions of lines of open source code. As a result, the training set for GitHub Copilot may contain insecure coding patterns, bugs, or references to outdated APIs or idioms. When GitHub Copilot produces suggestions based on this training data, those suggestions may also contain undesirable patterns.
You are responsible for ensuring the security and quality of your code. We recommend you take the same precautions when using code generated by GitHub Copilot that you would when using any code you didn't write yourself. These precautions include rigorous testing, IP scanning, and tracking for security vulnerabilities. GitHub provides a number of features to help you monitor and improve code quality, such as GitHub Actions, Dependabot, CodeQL and code scanning. All these features are free to use in public repositories. For more information, see "Understanding GitHub Actions" and "GitHub security features."
GitHub Copilot uses filters to block offensive words in the prompts and avoid producing suggestions in sensitive contexts. We are committed to constantly improving the filter system to more intelligently detect and remove offensive suggestions generated by GitHub Copilot, including biased, discriminatory, or abusive outputs. If you see an offensive suggestion generated by GitHub Copilot, please report the suggestion directly to copilot-safety@github.com so that we can improve our safeguards.
About billing for GitHub Copilot
GitHub Copilot is a paid feature, requiring a monthly or yearly subscription. GitHub Copilot subscriptions can be paid for and managed through a personal account on GitHub.com with Copilot for Individuals, or paid for and managed centrally through an organization account with GitHub Copilot for Business.
Verified students, teachers, and maintainers of popular open source projects on GitHub are eligible to use Copilot for Individuals for free. If you meet the criteria for a free Copilot for Individuals subscription, you will be automatically notified when you visit the GitHub Copilot subscription page. If you do not meet the criteria for a free Copilot for Individuals subscription, you will be offered a 30-day free trial, after which a paid subscription is required for continued use. For more information, see "About billing for GitHub Copilot."
About the license for the GitHub Copilot plugin in JetBrains IDEs
GitHub, Inc. is the licensor of the JetBrains plugin. The end user license agreement for this plugin is the GitHub Terms for Additional Products and Features and use of this plugin is subject to those terms. JetBrains has no responsibility or liability in connection with the plugin or such agreement. By using the plugin, you agree to the foregoing terms.
About privacy for GitHub Copilot for Individuals
You have the ability to manage and make choices regarding the collection, retention, and processing of your data, allowing you to maintain control over your privacy while using GitHub Copilot for Individuals.
What data does GitHub Copilot for Individuals collect?
GitHub Copilot for Individuals utilizes data from file content and additional sources to enhance its functionality. This data collection process is aimed at improving the service and involves the gathering and analysis of certain information.
User Engagement Data
When you use GitHub Copilot, it collects information about your interactions with the IDE or editor. This includes actions like accepting or dismissing suggestions, as well as general usage data and error information. The purpose of collecting this data is to measure metrics such as latency and feature engagement. Some of this information may include personal data, but it is stored in a way that does not directly identify you.
Prompts
A Prompt refers to the contextual information that the GitHub Copilot extension sends when you pause typing while working on a file, or when you open the GitHub Copilot pane. These Prompts are only sent in real time unless you have chosen to enable telemetry collection, in which case they are retained.
Suggestions
After receiving and processing a Prompt, the AI-model generates one or more lines of proposed text known as Suggestions. These Suggestions are then transmitted back to the GitHub Copilot extension. By default, Suggestions are only sent in real time. However, if you have enabled telemetry collection, GitHub Copilot retains these Suggestions.
How is the data in GitHub Copilot for Individuals used and shared?
User Engagement Data, Prompts and Suggestions are used by GitHub and Microsoft to improve GitHub Copilot and related services and to conduct product and academic research.
- Enhancing GitHub Copilot: The data collected is utilized to improve GitHub Copilot by evaluating different strategies for processing and predicting suggestions that users may find valuable.
- Developing related developer products and services: The insights gained from the data help in the development and improvement of other developer tools and services offered by GitHub and Microsoft.
- Detecting abuse and policy violations: The data is examined to investigate and identify any potential misuse or violation of the Acceptable Use Policies associated with GitHub Copilot.
- Conducting experiments and research: The data is used for conducting experiments and research related to developers and their utilization of developer tools and services. This aids in gaining valuable insights into user behavior and preferences.
- Evaluating GitHub Copilot: The impact of GitHub Copilot on users is assessed by measuring its positive effects and benefits.
- Improving code generation models: The collected data is employed to refine and enhance the underlying models responsible for generating code. This is achieved by utilizing both positive and negative examples.
- Fine-tuning ranking and sorting algorithms: The data helps in the optimization and improvement of algorithms used for ranking and sorting suggestions, thereby enhancing the overall user experience.
How is the transmitted Code Snippets data protected?
To ensure the protection of sensitive data such as user edit actions, source code snippets, and repository URLs/file paths, several protective measures are implemented. These measures include:
- Encryption of transmitted data: All data is encrypted both during transit and while at rest, ensuring that it remains secure and inaccessible to unauthorized parties.
- Strict access control: Access to the data is tightly regulated and limited to specific individuals, including:
- Named GitHub personnel working on the GitHub Copilot team or the GitHub platform health team.
- Microsoft personnel involved with the GitHub Copilot team.
- OpenAI personnel actively contributing to GitHub Copilot.
- Role-based access controls and multi-factor authentication: People who require access to code snippet data must adhere to role-based access controls. Additionally, multi-factor authentication is implemented to add an extra layer of security, ensuring that only authorized individuals can access the data.
How can users of GitHub Copilot for Individuals control use of their Code Snippets Data?
GitHub Copilot gives you choices about how it uses the data it collects.
- User Engagement Data: User Engagement Data, including pseudonymous identifiers and general usage data, is necessary for the proper functioning of GitHub Copilot. This data is collected, processed, and shared with Microsoft while you use GitHub Copilot.
- Retention of Prompts and Suggestions: You have the option to decide whether Prompts and Suggestions are retained by GitHub and shared with Microsoft. These preferences can be adjusted in the GitHub Copilot settings.
- Requesting Deletion: If you wish to delete Prompts and Suggestions associated with your GitHub identity, contact GitHub Support.
Will my private code be shared with other users?
No. We follow responsible practices in accordance with our Privacy Statement to ensure that your code snippets will not be used as suggested code for other users of GitHub Copilot.