GitHub Copilot CLI
The power of GitHub Copilot, now in your terminal.
GitHub Copilot CLI brings AI-powered coding assistance directly to your command line, enabling you to build, debug, and understand code through natural language conversations. Powered by the same agentic harness as GitHub's Copilot coding agent, it provides intelligent assistance while staying deeply integrated with your GitHub workflow.
See our official documentation for more information.
🚀 Introduction and Overview
We're bringing the power of GitHub Copilot coding agent directly to your terminal. With GitHub Copilot CLI, you can work locally and synchronously with an AI agent that understands your code and GitHub context.
- Terminal-native development: Work with Copilot coding agent directly in your command line — no context switching required.
- GitHub integration out of the box: Access your repositories, issues, and pull requests using natural language, all authenticated with your existing GitHub account.
- Agentic capabilities: Build, edit, debug, and refactor code with an AI collaborator that can plan and execute complex tasks.
- MCP-powered extensibility: Take advantage of the fact that the coding agent ships with GitHub's MCP server by default and supports custom MCP servers to extend capabilities.
- Full control: Preview every action before execution — nothing happens without your explicit approval.
We're still early in our journey, but with your feedback, we're rapidly iterating to make the GitHub Copilot CLI the best possible companion in your terminal.
📦 Getting Started
Supported Platforms
Prerequisites
- (On Windows) PowerShell v6 or higher
- An active Copilot subscription. See Copilot plans.
If you have access to GitHub Copilot via your organization or enterprise, you cannot use GitHub Copilot CLI if your organization owner or enterprise administrator has disabled it in the organization or enterprise settings. See Managing policies and features for GitHub Copilot in your organization for more information.
Installation
Install with the install script (macOS and Linux):
curl -fsSL https://gh.io/copilot-install | bash
Or
wget -qO- https://gh.io/copilot-install | bash
Use | sudo bash to run as root and install to /usr/local/bin.
Set PREFIX to install to $PREFIX/bin/ directory. Defaults to /usr/local
when run as root or $HOME/.local when run as a non-root user.
Set VERSION to install a specific version. Defaults to the latest version.
For example, to install version v0.0.369 to a custom directory:
curl -fsSL https://gh.io/copilot-install | VERSION="v0.0.369" PREFIX="$HOME/custom" bash
Install with Homebrew (macOS and Linux):
brew install copilot-cli
brew install copilot-cli@prerelease
Install with WinGet (Windows):
winget install GitHub.Copilot
winget install GitHub.Copilot.Prerelease
Install with npm (macOS, Linux, and Windows):
npm install -g @github/copilot
npm install -g @github/copilot@prerelease
Launching the CLI
copilot
On first launch, you'll be greeted with our adorable animated banner! If you'd like to see this banner again, launch copilot with the --banner flag.
If you're not currently logged in to GitHub, you'll be prompted to use the /login slash command. Enter this command and follow the on-screen instructions to authenticate.
Authenticate with a Personal Access Token (PAT)
You can also authenticate using a fine-grained PAT with the "Copilot Requests" permission enabled.
- Visit https://github.com/settings/personal-access-tokens/new
- Under "Permissions," click "add permissions" and select "Copilot Requests"
- Generate your token
- Add the token to your environment via the environment variable
GH_TOKEN or GITHUB_TOKEN (in order of precedence)
Using the CLI
Launch copilot in a folder that contains code you want to work with.
By default, copilot utilizes Claude Sonnet 4.5. Run the /model slash command to choose from other available models, including Claude Sonnet 4 and GPT-5.
Experimental Mode
Experimental mode enables access to new features that are still in development. You can activate experimental mode by:
- Launching with the
--experimental flag: copilot --experimental
- Using the
/experimental slash command from within the CLI
Once activated, the setting is persisted in your config, so the --experimental flag is no longer needed on subsequent launches.
Experimental Features
- Autopilot mode: Autopilot is a new mode (press
Shift+Tab to cycle through modes), which encourages the agent to continue working until a task is completed.
Each time you submit a prompt to GitHub Copilot CLI, your monthly quota of premium requests is reduced by one. For information about premium requests, see About premium requests.
For more information about how to use the GitHub Copilot CLI, see our official documentation.
🔧 Configuring LSP Servers
GitHub Copilot CLI supports Language Server Protocol (LSP) for enhanced code intelligence. This feature provides intelligent code features like go-to-definition, hover information, and diagnostics.
Installing Language Servers
Copilot CLI does not bundle LSP servers. You need to install them separately. For example, to set up TypeScript support:
npm install -g typescript-language-server
For other languages, install the corresponding LSP server and configure it following the same pattern shown below.
Configuring LSP Servers
LSP servers are configured through a dedicated LSP configuration file. You can configure LSP servers at the user level or repository level:
User-level configuration (applies to all projects):
Edit ~/.copilot/lsp-config.json
Repository-level configuration (applies to specific project):
Create .github/lsp.json in your repository root
Example configuration:
{
"lspServers": {
"typescript": {
"command": "typescript-language-server",
"args": ["--stdio"],
"fileExtensions": {
".ts": "typescript",
".tsx": "typescript"
}
}
}
}
Viewing LSP Server Status
Check configured LSP servers using the /lsp command in an interactive session, or view your configuration files directly.
For more information, see the changelog.
📢 Feedback and Participation
We're excited to have you join us early in the Copilot CLI journey.
We're building quickly. Expect frequent updates--please keep your client up to date for the latest features and fixes!
Your insights are invaluable! Open an issue in this repo, join Discussions, and run /feedback from the CLI to submit a confidential feedback survey!
