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$ learn GitHub Copilot
Learn GitHub Copilot in 5 minutes.
GitHub Copilot is the most widely deployed AI pair programmer, living inside VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, and github.com. The lesson drills its three modes, inline completion, Copilot Chat, and multi-file Edits, plus the slash commands and context references that sharpen each one.
# 5 minutes, no install
# interactive, not a video
# Lesson not loading? Open it in a new tab. It is the same free lesson either way.
Ghost text, Chat, or Edits?
Copilot answers at three scales: a line, a question, a changeset. The habit of reaching for the right one separates people who feel accelerated from people who feel babysat.
Inline completion
Ghost text appears as you type, and Tab accepts it. It shines on boilerplate, tests, and patterns your file already establishes. The skill is reading before accepting, because plausible and correct are different things.
Copilot Chat
A conversation that knows your code. Slash commands like /explain, /fix, and /tests package the common requests, and references like @workspace and #file aim it at the right code instead of whatever buffer is open.
Multi-file changes
Copilot Edits, with agent mode behind it, applies one instruction across several files and presents the diffs for review. It is the newest scale, the closest to delegation, and the one where reviewing output matters most.
What you will do in the lesson
You answer and try things. Nobody demonstrates at you for five minutes.
- Read ghost text critically. You review real completions and decide accept, reject, or accept then fix, including one that compiles but is wrong.
- Interrogate unfamiliar code. You use /explain on a gnarly function, then verify the explanation against the code, the habit that keeps Chat honest.
- Aim the context. You compare answers with and without @workspace and #file references, and see why context beats clever phrasing.
- Scope an Edits request. You write a multi-file instruction bounded enough to review, and split one that has grown too big to trust.
- Catch the confident mistake. You run the review pass on AI-suggested code: what to check first, and when the right answer is writing it yourself.
Before you start
Will Copilot suggest insecure or copied code?
It can suggest insecure patterns, which is why review stays your job, and it offers a filter that blocks suggestions matching public code. Treat it like a fast colleague whose work you always read: valuable and fallible.
Which editor should I use it in?
VS Code gets features first and is where Chat, Edits, and agent mode are most complete. JetBrains IDEs, Visual Studio, and Neovim are supported too, and Copilot can also review pull requests on github.com.
Do I need Copilot installed to take the lesson?
No. The lesson runs in this page, free, with no extension or account required. Copilot itself has a free tier with monthly completion and chat limits, so trying the real thing afterwards costs nothing.
Cursor gets all the buzz. Why learn Copilot?
Copilot is probably already in your editor and already approved by your employer, which is worth a lot. Cursor rebuilds the whole editor around agentic work; Copilot brings completion, Chat, and Edits into tools you already use. The habits in this lesson transfer between them almost unchanged.
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