Getting started with GitHub Copilot

In this article

You can start using GitHub Copilot by installing the extension in your preferred environment.

GitHub Copilot can be managed through personal accounts with GitHub Copilot Individual or through organization accounts with GitHub Copilot Business.

GitHub Copilot is free to use for verified students, teachers, and maintainers of popular open source projects. If you are not a student, teacher, or maintainer of a popular open source project, you can try GitHub Copilot for free with a one-time 30-day trial. After the free trial, you will need a paid subscription for continued use. For more information, see "About billing for GitHub Copilot."

Try GitHub Copilot

About GitHub Copilot and JetBrains IDEs

GitHub Copilot provides autocomplete-style suggestions from an AI pair programmer as you code. For more information, see "About GitHub Copilot Individual."

If you use a JetBrains IDE, you can view and incorporate suggestions from GitHub Copilot directly within the editor. This guide demonstrates how to use GitHub Copilot within a JetBrains IDE for macOS, Windows, or Linux.

Prerequisites

  • To use GitHub Copilot you must have an active GitHub Copilot subscription. For more information, see "About billing for GitHub Copilot."

  • To use GitHub Copilot in JetBrains, you must have a compatible JetBrains IDE installed. GitHub Copilot is compatible with the following IDEs:

    • IntelliJ IDEA (Ultimate, Community, Educational)
    • Android Studio
    • AppCode
    • CLion
    • Code With Me Guest
    • DataGrip
    • DataSpell
    • GoLand
    • JetBrains Client
    • MPS
    • PhpStorm
    • PyCharm (Professional, Community, Educational)
    • Rider
    • RubyMine
    • RustRover
    • WebStorm

    For more information, see the JetBrains IDEs tool finder.

Installing the GitHub Copilot plugin in your JetBrains IDE

To use GitHub Copilot in a JetBrains IDE, you must install the GitHub Copilot extension. The following procedure will guide you through installation of the GitHub Copilot plugin in IntelliJ IDEA. Steps to install the plugin in another supported IDE may differ.

  1. In your JetBrains IDE, under the File menu for Windows, or under the name of your IDE for Mac (for example, PyCharm or IntelliJ), click Settings.

  2. In the left-side menu of the Settings dialog box, click Plugins.

  3. At the top of the Settings dialog box, click Marketplace. In the search bar, search for copilot, then click Install.

    Screenshot of the "Settings" window. A tab labeled "Marketplace" is highlighted with an orange outline. In a list of search results, the installed "GitHub Copilot" plugin is marked by a selected checkbox.

  4. After GitHub Copilot is installed, click Restart IDE.

  5. After your JetBrains IDE has restarted, click the Tools menu. Click GitHub Copilot, then click Login to GitHub.

    Screenshot of the expanded "Tools" menu and "GitHub Copilot" sub-menu. The "Login to GitHub" option is highlighted in blue.

  6. In the "Sign in to GitHub" dialog box, to copy the device code and open the device activation window, click Copy and Open.

    Screenshot of the "Sign in to GitHub" dialog. A device code is displayed above a button labeled "Copy and Open".

  7. A device activation window will open in your browser. Paste the device code, then click Continue.

  8. GitHub will request the necessary permissions for GitHub Copilot. To approve these permissions, click Authorize GitHub Copilot Plugin.

  9. After the permissions have been approved, your JetBrains IDE will show a confirmation. To begin using GitHub Copilot, click OK.

Seeing your first suggestion

Note: If you have duplication detection enabled for GitHub Copilot, you may receive limited suggestions, or no suggestions, when using the code examples provided. As an alternative, you can start by typing your own code to see suggestions from GitHub Copilot. For more information on duplication detection, see "Configuring GitHub Copilot settings on GitHub.com."