AI Features¶

GitHub Copilot and AI assistants in VS Code.

GitHub Copilot¶

Overview¶

GitHub Copilot provides AI-powered code completions:

Inline suggestions
Multi-line completions
Comment-to-code generation
Code explanations

Installation¶

Install extension: GitHub.copilot
Sign in with GitHub
Copilot subscription required

Configuration¶

{
  "github.copilot.enable": {
    "*": true,
    "yaml": true,
    "markdown": true,
    "plaintext": false
  },
  "github.copilot.editor.enableAutoCompletions": true
}

Using Copilot¶

Inline Suggestions

Start typing, suggestions appear as gray text
Tab to accept
Esc to dismiss
Alt+] for next suggestion
Alt+[ for previous suggestion

Multi-line Suggestions

Copilot suggests complete functions, classes, and code blocks.

Comment-Driven

Write a comment describing what you want:

# Function to calculate fibonacci sequence up to n

Copilot generates the implementation.

Keyboard Shortcuts¶

Key	Action
`Tab`	Accept suggestion
`Esc`	Dismiss suggestion
`Alt`+`]`	Next suggestion
`Alt`+`[`	Previous suggestion
`Alt`+`\`	Trigger suggestion
`Ctrl`+`Enter`	Open Copilot panel

Disable for Specific Files¶

{
  "github.copilot.enable": {
    "*.env": false,
    "*.pem": false,
    "*.key": false
  }
}

GitHub Copilot Chat¶

Installation¶

Install extension: GitHub.copilot-chat

Features¶

Ask coding questions
Explain code
Generate tests
Fix errors
Refactor code

Opening Chat¶

Cmd+Shift+I or
Click Copilot icon in Activity Bar

Chat Commands¶

Command	Action
`/explain`	Explain selected code
`/fix`	Fix problems in code
`/tests`	Generate tests
`/doc`	Generate documentation
`/clear`	Clear chat history
`@workspace`	Ask about workspace
`@vscode`	Ask about VS Code
`@terminal`	Ask about terminal

Inline Chat¶

Select code
Cmd+I to open inline chat
Type instruction
Review and accept changes

Examples¶

Explain this function

@workspace How do I run tests?

/fix this code has a bug

/tests write tests for this class

Configuration¶

{
  "github.copilot.chat.localeOverride": "en"
}

Alternative AI Extensions¶

Continue¶

Continue (continue.continue)

Open-source AI assistant:

Works with any LLM (Claude, GPT, Ollama)
Customizable prompts
Context-aware completions

Configuration (~/.continue/config.json):

{
  "models": [
    {
      "title": "Claude",
      "provider": "anthropic",
      "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
      "apiKey": "YOUR_API_KEY"
    }
  ],
  "tabAutocompleteModel": {
    "title": "Ollama",
    "provider": "ollama",
    "model": "codellama"
  }
}

Codeium¶

Codeium (codeium.codeium)

Free AI code completion:

No subscription required
Multi-language support
Chat interface

Tabnine¶

Tabnine (tabnine.tabnine-vscode)

AI assistant with local model option:

Privacy-focused
Team training available

Claude Integration (via Continue)¶

Setup¶

Install Continue extension
Configure with Anthropic API:

{
  "models": [
    {
      "title": "Claude Sonnet",
      "provider": "anthropic",
      "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
      "apiKey": "${ANTHROPIC_API_KEY}"
    }
  ]
}

Environment Variable¶

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-api-key"

Using Claude¶

Cmd+L to open Continue chat
Select code and ask questions
Use /edit to modify code

Local AI with Ollama¶

Setup¶

Install Ollama: brew install ollama
Pull model: ollama pull codellama
Configure Continue:

{
  "models": [
    {
      "title": "CodeLlama",
      "provider": "ollama",
      "model": "codellama:13b"
    }
  ],
  "tabAutocompleteModel": {
    "title": "Local Complete",
    "provider": "ollama",
    "model": "codellama:7b"
  }
}

Best Practices¶

Security¶

{
  "github.copilot.enable": {
    "*.env*": false,
    "*.pem": false,
    "*.key": false,
    "**/.ssh/*": false
  }
}

Quality Suggestions¶

Write clear comments
Use descriptive variable names
Follow consistent patterns
Review all suggestions

When to Use AI¶

Boilerplate code
Standard implementations
Code explanations
Test generation
Documentation

When Not to Use AI¶

Security-critical code (review carefully)
Business logic (validate thoroughly)
Sensitive data handling

Troubleshooting¶

Copilot Not Working¶

Check subscription status
Sign out and sign in again
Check extension is enabled
Restart VS Code

Slow Suggestions¶

Check network connection
Reduce context size
Disable for large files

No Suggestions Appearing¶

Check file type is enabled
Try Alt+\ to trigger manually
Check Copilot status in status bar

Keyboard Reference¶

Key	Action
`Tab`	Accept inline suggestion
`Esc`	Dismiss suggestion
`Alt`+`]`	Next suggestion
`Alt`+`[`	Previous suggestion
`Ctrl`+`Enter`	Open suggestions panel
`Cmd`+`Shift`+`I`	Open Copilot Chat
`Cmd`+`I`	Inline chat (with selection)