Note
- Excluding content from GitHub Copilot is currently in public beta and is subject to change.
- Content exclusions are currently supported in select IDEs. See "About content exclusions for GitHub Copilot."
Configuring content exclusions for your repository
You can use your repository settings to specify content in your repository that GitHub Copilot should ignore.
-
On GitHub.com, navigate to the main page of the repository.
-
Under your repository name, click Settings. If you cannot see the "Settings" tab, select the dropdown menu, then click Settings.
-
In the "Code & automation" section of the side bar, click Copilot.
If your repository inherits any exclusions from organizations in the same enterprise, you'll see one or more gray boxes at the top of the page containing details of these exclusions. You cannot edit these settings.
-
In the box following "Paths to exclude in this repository," enter the paths to files from which Copilot should be excluded.
Use the format:
- "/PATH/TO/DIRECTORY/OR/FILE"
, with each path on a separate line. You can add comments by starting a line with#
.Tip
You can use fnmatch pattern matching notation to specify file paths. Patterns are case insensitive. See "File" in the ruby-doc.org documentation.
Example of paths specified in the repository settings
# Ignore the `/src/some-dir/kernel.rs` file in this repository. - "/src/some-dir/kernel.rs" # Ignore files called `secrets.json` anywhere in this repository. - "secrets.json" # Ignore all files whose names begin with `secret` anywhere in this repository. - "secret*" # Ignore files whose names end with `.cfg` anywhere in this repository. - "*.cfg" # Ignore all files in or below the `/scripts` directory of this repository. - "/scripts/**"
- "/src/some-dir/kernel.rs"
Ignore the /src/some-dir/kernel.rs
file in this repository.
- "secrets.json"
Ignore files called secrets.json
anywhere in this repository.
- "secret*"
Ignore all files whose names begin with secret
anywhere in this repository.
- "*.cfg"
Ignore files whose names end with .cfg
anywhere in this repository.
- "/scripts/**"
Ignore all files in or below the /scripts
directory of this repository.
# Ignore the `/src/some-dir/kernel.rs` file in this repository.
- "/src/some-dir/kernel.rs"
# Ignore files called `secrets.json` anywhere in this repository.
- "secrets.json"
# Ignore all files whose names begin with `secret` anywhere in this repository.
- "secret*"
# Ignore files whose names end with `.cfg` anywhere in this repository.
- "*.cfg"
# Ignore all files in or below the `/scripts` directory of this repository.
- "/scripts/**"
Configuring content exclusions for your organization
You can use your organization settings to specify content in any Git repository that GitHub Copilot should ignore.
-
In the upper-right corner of GitHub, select your profile photo, then click Your organizations.
-
Next to the organization, click Settings.
-
In the left sidebar, click Copilot then click Content exclusion.
-
In the box following "Repositories and paths to exclude," enter details of where Copilot should be excluded.
For each repository in which you want files to be excluded from Copilot, enter a reference to the repository on one line, followed by paths to locations within the repository, with each path on a separate line. Use the following format:
REPOSITORY-REFERENCE: - "/PATH/TO/DIRECTORY/OR/FILE" - "/PATH/TO/DIRECTORY/OR/FILE" - ...
Repositories can be referenced using various protocols. You can use any of the following syntaxes for
REPOSITORY-REFERENCE
and Copilot will match them regardless of how the repository was cloned locally:http[s]://host.xz[:port]/path/to/repo.git/ git://host.xz[:port]/path/to/repo.git/ [user@]host.xz:path/to/repo.git/ ssh://[user@]host.xz[:port]/path/to/repo.git/
Formatting tips for REPOSITORY-REFERENCE
- You can use fnmatch pattern matching notation to specify file paths. Patterns are case insensitive. See "File" in the ruby-doc.org documentation.
- The
user@
and:port
parts of theREPOSITORY-REFERENCE
are ignored in the calculation of which paths to ignore for a repository. - Each repository reference can contain a single
*
wildcard. For example,https://github.com/octo-org/*
matches all repositories in theocto-org
organization. - For Azure DevOps, you can use the new (dev.azure.com) or old (visualstudio.com) host format when specifying
REPOSITORY-REFERENCE
, and Copilot will match them regardless of which host was used to clone the repository locally.
Example of repositories and paths in organization settings
# Ignore all `.env` files at any path, in any repository. # This setting applies to all repositories, not just to those on GitHub.com. # This could also have been written on a single line as: # # "*": ["**/.env"] "*": - "**/.env" # In the `octo-repo` repository in this organization: octo-repo: # Ignore the `/src/some-dir/kernel.rs` file. - "/src/some-dir/kernel.rs" # In the `primer/react` repository on GitHub: https://github.com/primer/react.git: # Ignore files called `secrets.json` anywhere in this repository. - "secrets.json" # Ignore files called `temp.rb` in or below the `/src` directory. - "/src/**/temp.rb" # In the `copilot` repository of any GitHub organization: git@github.com:*/copilot: # Ignore any files in or below the `/__tests__` directory. - "/__tests__/**" # Ignore any files in the `/scripts` directory. - "/scripts/*" # In the `gitlab-org/gitlab-runner` repository on GitLab: git@gitlab.com:gitlab-org/gitlab-runner.git: # Ignore the `/main_test.go` file. - "/main_test.go" # Ignore any files with names beginning with `server` or `session` anywhere in this repository. - "{server,session}*" # Ignore any files with names ending with `.md` or `.mk` anywhere in this repository. - "*.m[dk]" # Ignore files directly within directories such as `packages` or `packaged` anywhere in this repository. - "**/package?/*" # Ignore files in or below any `security` directories, anywhere in this repository. - "**/security/**"
"*":
- "**/.env"
Ignore all .env
files at any path, in any repository.
This setting applies to all repositories, not just to those on GitHub.com.
This could also have been written on a single line as:
"*": ["**/.env"]
octo-repo:
In the octo-repo
repository in this organization:
- "/src/some-dir/kernel.rs"
Ignore the /src/some-dir/kernel.rs
file.
https://github.com/primer/react.git:
In the primer/react
repository on GitHub:
- "secrets.json"
Ignore files called secrets.json
anywhere in this repository.
- "/src/**/temp.rb"
Ignore files called temp.rb
in or below the /src
directory.
git@github.com:*/copilot:
In the copilot
repository of any GitHub organization:
- "/__tests__/**"
Ignore any files in or below the /__tests__
directory.
- "/scripts/*"
Ignore any files in the /scripts
directory.
git@gitlab.com:gitlab-org/gitlab-runner.git:
In the gitlab-org/gitlab-runner
repository on GitLab:
- "/main_test.go"
Ignore the /main_test.go
file.
- "{server,session}*"
Ignore any files with names beginning with server
or session
anywhere in this repository.
- "*.m[dk]"
Ignore any files with names ending with .md
or .mk
anywhere in this repository.
- "**/package?/*"
Ignore files directly within directories such as packages
or packaged
anywhere in this repository.
- "**/security/**"
Ignore files in or below any security
directories, anywhere in this repository.
# Ignore all `.env` files at any path, in any repository.
# This setting applies to all repositories, not just to those on GitHub.com.
# This could also have been written on a single line as:
#
# "*": ["**/.env"]
"*":
- "**/.env"
# In the `octo-repo` repository in this organization:
octo-repo:
# Ignore the `/src/some-dir/kernel.rs` file.
- "/src/some-dir/kernel.rs"
# In the `primer/react` repository on GitHub:
https://github.com/primer/react.git:
# Ignore files called `secrets.json` anywhere in this repository.
- "secrets.json"
# Ignore files called `temp.rb` in or below the `/src` directory.
- "/src/**/temp.rb"
# In the `copilot` repository of any GitHub organization:
git@github.com:*/copilot:
# Ignore any files in or below the `/__tests__` directory.
- "/__tests__/**"
# Ignore any files in the `/scripts` directory.
- "/scripts/*"
# In the `gitlab-org/gitlab-runner` repository on GitLab:
git@gitlab.com:gitlab-org/gitlab-runner.git:
# Ignore the `/main_test.go` file.
- "/main_test.go"
# Ignore any files with names beginning with `server` or `session` anywhere in this repository.
- "{server,session}*"
# Ignore any files with names ending with `.md` or `.mk` anywhere in this repository.
- "*.m[dk]"
# Ignore files directly within directories such as `packages` or `packaged` anywhere in this repository.
- "**/package?/*"
# Ignore files in or below any `security` directories, anywhere in this repository.
- "**/security/**"
Next steps
To test your changes, see "Testing changes to content exclusions in your IDE."