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GitHub Copilot

GitHub's AI coding assistant. It completes code, answers questions and proposes edits in editors, the command line and on GitHub, and can hand tasks to background agents, with a choice of models.

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What it does

GitHub Copilot is GitHub's AI coding product. Its features page describes help in the editor, including explaining concepts, completing code, proposing edits and validating files in agent mode, as well as use from the command line, across GitHub, in chat apps and with custom MCP servers. Listed platforms include GitHub, Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, Xcode, JetBrains, Neovim, Eclipse IDE and Raycast. You can choose between several models and assign tasks to agents such as Copilot, Claude by Anthropic and OpenAI Codex, which plan and work in the background. A desktop workspace is described for launching work from GitHub, tracking several agents, reviewing changes and merging finished work. Organisations can add shared knowledge from docs and repositories, audit logs, budgets, and allow lists that control which MCP servers developers can reach. There are Free, Pro, Pro+ and Max plans for individuals and Business and Enterprise plans for organisations. Chat, agent and CLI use draws on monthly GitHub AI Credits, where 1 credit equals $0.01. The page says code completions and next edit suggestions do not use credits and stay unlimited on paid plans.

Capabilities

  • Code completions and next edit suggestions in the editor
  • Chat and agent mode for explanations, edits and file validation
  • Background agents, including Claude Code and Codex on paid plans
  • Copilot CLI and use inside GitHub, chat apps and MCP servers
  • Code review of pull requests on paid plans
  • Audit logs, budgets and MCP allow lists for organisations

When to use it

  • You want AI help inside an editor you already use, such as VS Code, JetBrains, Xcode or Neovim
  • You want to hand coding tasks to background agents and review the results on GitHub
  • Your organisation needs central access control, budgets and audit logs for AI coding
  • You want to try a free tier before paying