GitHub Copilot in the CLI

GitHub Copilot in the CLI is an extension for GitHub CLI which provides a chat-like interface in the terminal that allows you to ask questions about the command line. You can ask Copilot in the CLI to suggest a command for your use case with gh copilot suggest, or to explain a command you're curious about with gh copilot explain.

For use cases, enabling, and limitations, see "GitHub Copilot in the CLI".

For what data is collected, used, and shared, see "Privacy Policies".

For help troubleshooting connectivity, see "Troubleshooting network errors for GitHub Copilot".

Quickstart

Note

To use and install GitHub Copilot in the CLI, you must have an active GitHub Copilot subscription, have GitHub CLI installed, and authenticate using the GitHub CLI OAuth app.

Classic and fine-grained PATs are currently unsupported and might require clearing the GITHUB_TOKEN and GH_TOKEN environment variables.

1. Authenticate with GitHub CLI OAuth app

   gh auth login --web

2. Install / upgrade extension

   gh extension install github/gh-copilot --force

3. Suggest a command

   gh copilot suggest "Install and configure git lfs"

4. Explain a command

   gh copilot explain 'git lfs migrate import --everything --include="*.gz,*.png,*.jar"'

Usage

$ gh copilot --help
Your AI command line copilot.

Usage:
  copilot [command]

Examples:

$ gh copilot suggest "Install git"
$ gh copilot explain "traceroute github.com"


Available Commands:
  alias       Generate shell-specific aliases for convenience
  config      Configure options
  explain     Explain a command
  suggest     Suggest a command

Flags:
  -h, --help              help for copilot
      --hostname string   The GitHub host to use for authentication
  -v, --version           version for copilot

Use "copilot [command] --help" for more information about a command.

Multi-account notes

Multi-account users can use --hostname flag or GH_HOST environment variable to specify the GitHub hostname for commands that would otherwise assume the github.com host.

Set up optional helpers

Is gh copilot suggest ... too many keystrokes? Do you want support for executing suggestions and keeping them in history?

v1.0.0 introduces gh copilot alias, which generates shell configuration for ghcs and ghce aliases that wrap gh copilot suggest and gh copilot explain. These aliases provide faster invocation and support executing suggested commands if applicable. Executed suggestions are added to your shell history for reuse later.

$ ghcs print "Hello world"

Welcome to GitHub Copilot in the CLI!
version 1.0.0 (2024-03-21)

I'm powered by AI, so surprises and mistakes are possible. Make sure to verify any generated code or suggestions, and share feedback so that we can learn and improve. For more information, see https://gh.io/gh-copilot-transparency

Suggestion:

  echo "Hello world"

? Select an option
> Execute command

? Are you sure you want to execute the suggested command?
> Yes

Hello world

To setup these optional helpers, see below for setup instructions for supported shells:

• bash
• powershell
• zsh

For more information, run gh copilot alias --help.

For changing the execute command confirmation behavior, run gh copilot config to change Default value for confirming command execution.

Bash

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

PowerShell

Note

PowerShell users might need to update the file containing gh-copilot helpers after updating the extension.

$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

Metrics sent to GitHub

GitHub Copilot in the CLI sends certain metrics to our analytics system. We want you to understand what is being sent and why it's important to our ability to continue to improve the product and provide you with a better experience over time.

Why do we need usage stats?

Our team uses metrics to prioritize our work and evaluate whether we are successful in solving real user problems after we've released something. For example, when we release a new version and see a spike in exceptions and response ratings, we want to understand if there is a regression or a platform issue causing problems.

The more people who opt in to send usage stats, the more information we have to base our decision-making on. And if you want us to take your use cases into consideration, we hope you'll opt in so we get a better idea of how you use the app and whether or not it's meeting your needs. GitHub Copilot in the CLI will send a payload in the format below to our analytics system unless you've opted out. We are very sensitive to the privacy of our users and we never look at the data of specific individuals, but rather only examine aggregate data and trends to inform our product decisions.

You can change your opt-in setting at any time in gh copilot config:

$ gh copilot config

Welcome to GitHub Copilot CLI!
version 0.3.0-beta (2023-10-31)

I'm powered by AI, so surprises and mistakes are possible. Make sure to verify any generated code or suggestions, and share feedback so that we can learn and improve.

? What would you like to configure?
> Optional Usage Analytics

? Allow GitHub to collect optional usage data to help us improve? This data does not include your queries.  [Use arrows to move, type to filter]
> Yes
  No

Example usage stats

{
	"platform": "darwin",
	"architecture": "arm64",
	"version": "1.1.0",
	"custom_event": "true",
	"event_parent_command": "explain",
	"event_name": "Explain",
	"sha": "089a53215fc4383179869f7f6132ce9d6e58754a",
	"thread_id": "e61d0d08-f6ba-465b-81cf-c30fd9127d70",
	"host": "github.com"
}