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Setting up GitHub Copilot for yourself

Follow these steps to start using Copilot.

Who can use this feature?

Individuals

Individual user accounts with access to a Copilot Enterprise, Copilot Business, or Copilot Individual subscription

1. Get access to GitHub Copilot

There are a few ways that you can get access to GitHub Copilot:

2. Install the Copilot extension for your IDE

If you want to use Copilot in your IDE, install the Copilot extension for your IDE. See "Installing the GitHub Copilot extension in your environment."

3. Install the Copilot extension for the command line

If you want to use Copilot in the command line, install the Copilot extension for the GitHub CLI. See "Installing GitHub Copilot in the CLI."

4. Set up networking (if necessary)

If you connect through an HTTP proxy server or firewall, ensure that key URLs are added to the allowlist for the proxy server or firewall. See "Configuring your proxy server or firewall for Copilot."

You may also need to install a custom SSL certificate on your machine. See "Configuring network settings for GitHub Copilot."

5. Configure settings (optional)

All users can configure Copilot settings in their IDE or in the CLI. See "Configuring GitHub Copilot in your environment" and "Configuring GitHub Copilot in the CLI."

If you have your own subscription to Copilot (instead of using your organization or enterprise's subscription), you can:

6. Start using Copilot

Start using Copilot to help you write code faster and more efficiently. For all the ways you can use Copilot, see "Using GitHub Copilot." Copilot code suggestions, Copilot Chat in GitHub.com, and Copilot Chat in your IDE are a great place to start.

To learn how to best use Copilot, see "Best practices for using GitHub Copilot" and "Prompt engineering for GitHub Copilot."