Exercise - Set up GitHub Copilot to work with Visual Studio Code

  • 5 minutes

In this exercise, we create a new repository using the GitHub template for the Python personal portfolio frontend web application.

How to set up GitHub Copilot

To use GitHub Copilot, you need to complete the following steps:

  1. GitHub Account:

    • Create a GitHub account. Since Copilot is a GitHub service, you need a GitHub account to use it. If you don’t have an account, visit the GitHub webpage to create one for free.

  2. Sign up and enable GitHub Copilot:

    • You can set up a GitHub Copilot Free account or sign-up for a subscription to GitHub Copilot Pro trial with a one-time 30-day trial. For learning purposes, the Copilot Free option with usage limits should be sufficient.
    • It's important to be aware of the GitHub Copilot free trial conditions: if you choose the free trial offer for GitHub Copilot, a form of payment is requested at sign-up. Charges aren't applied until the trial is over, unless you cancel before the conclusion of the 30-day period.

    Tip

    GitHub Copilot offers a free tier with 2,000 code autocompletes and 50 chat messages per month. To get started, open Visual Studio Code, select the GitHub Copilot icon, and then select Sign in to Use GitHub Copilot for Free. Sign-in to your GitHub account in the window that opens in the browser. Learn more. Educators, Students, and select open-source maintainers, can receive Copilot Pro for free, learn how at: https://aka.ms/Copilot4Students.

  3. Install the Extension:

    • GitHub Copilot is available as an extension for major Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), including Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, JetBrains IDEs, VIM, and XCode.
    • To install, search for "GitHub Copilot" in your IDE's extension marketplace and follow the installation instructions. For example, in the VS Code marketplace, you can find GitHub Copilot, GitHub Copilot Chat, and GitHub Copilot for Azure as options to install.

Environment setup

First you need to launch the Codespaces environment, which comes preconfigured with the GitHub Copilot extension.

  1. Open the Codespace with the preconfigured environment in your browser.
  2. On the Create codespace page, review the codespace configuration settings, then select Create new codespace.
  3. Wait for the codespace to start. This startup process can take a few minutes.
  4. The remaining exercises in this project take place in the context of this development container.

Important

All GitHub accounts can use Codespaces for up to 60 hours free each month with two core instances. For more information, see GitHub Codespaces monthly included storage and core hours.

Python Web API

When complete, Codespaces loads with a terminal section at the bottom. Codespaces installs all the required extensions in your container. Once the package installs are completed, Codespaces executes the uvicorn command to start your web application running within your Codespace.

When the web application successfully starts, a message in the terminal shows that the server is running on port 8000 within your Codespace.

Testing the API

In the Simple Browser tab of your Codespace, on the Containerized Python API page, select the Try it out button. A FastAPI page opens in the Simple Browser tab that allows you to interact with the API by sending a request using the self-documented page.

To test the API, select the POST button and then the Try it Out button. Scroll down the tab and select Execute. If you scroll down the tab further, you can see the response to your sample request.