VS Code GitHub Copilot
Complete Workshop Reference & Command Guide
⌨️ Essential Shortcuts
Action Win/Linux Mac
Open Chat Ctrl+Alt+I ⌃⌘I
Inline Chat Ctrl+I ⌘I
Quick Chat Ctrl+Shift+Alt+L ⇧⌥⌘L
Agent Mode Ctrl+Shift+I ⇧⌘I
Accept Suggestion Tab Tab
Voice Chat Ctrl+I (hold) ⌘I (hold)
New Session Ctrl+N ⌘N
Dismiss Escape Escape
💬 Chat Modes & Models
▶ Ask Mode: Questions & explanations
▶ Edit Mode: Code modifications
▶ Agent Mode: Autonomous tasks
▶ Custom Modes: Specialized workflows
Model Selection
Fast Coding: GPT-4o, Claude Sonnet
Reasoning: o1-preview, Claude Opus
Math Support: KaTeX rendering enabled
Chat Navigation:
Use ↑/↓ arrows to navigate chat history
Edit previous prompts and revert changes
Clear session with /clear
🔧 Context & Variables
#codebase Auto-search workspace
#selection Current editor selection
#changes Git changes list
#problems Workspace errors/warnings
#fetch Web page content
#githubRepo GitHub repo search
#terminalLastCommand Last terminal output
#searchResults Search view results
#testFailure Failed test information
⚡ Slash Commands
/explain Explain code/concepts
/fix Fix errors & issues
/tests Generate test cases
/setupTests Setup test framework
/docs Documentation comments
/new Scaffold projects
/newNotebook Create Jupyter notebook
/search Generate search query
/startDebugging Debug configuration
/clear New chat session
/help Usage help
👥 Chat Participants
@github GitHub integration
@terminal Shell & terminal help
@vscode VS Code features
@workspace Workspace questions
GitHub Examples:
@github What PRs are assigned to me?
@github Show recent merged PRs
@github List issues by milestone
Terminal Examples:
@terminal list largest files
@terminal /explain top command
@terminal how to compress files?
🎯 Customization Setup
Instructions Files:
1 Run: Chat: New Instructions File
2 Choose workspace or user scope
3 Store in .github/instructions/
4 Add applyTo glob patterns
--- applyTo: "**/*.ts,**/*.tsx" description: "TypeScript standards" --- # Project Guidelines - Use interfaces for data structures - Prefer functional components - Always define
TypeScript types
Prompt Files:
1 Run: Chat: New Prompt File
2 Store in .github/prompts/
3 Execute with /prompt-name
4 Share with team via Git
🏆 Best Practices & Prompting Tips
▶ Start General: Begin broad, then add specific requirements
▶ Provide Examples: Show expected input/output formats
▶ Break Down Tasks: Complex requests → smaller sub-tasks
▶ Use Context: Reference files with #filename syntax
▶ Iterate & Refine: Build on previous responses
▶ Be Specific: Include language, framework, version details
▶ Add Constraints: Mention libraries to avoid/prefer
▶ Include Examples: Paste relevant code snippets
Good Prompting Examples:
Instead of: "Create a form"
Try: "Generate a React form component with validation using react-hook-form and yup. Include fields for name, email, phone. TypeScript types required."
Instead of: "Fix this error"
Try: "Fix this TypeScript error in my Express route handler: [paste error]. Using Node.js 18, Express 4.x."
Context Strategy
Use #codebase for automatic discovery • Drag & drop files • Include terminal output • Reference symbols with #SymbolName
🚀 Agent Mode Deep Dive
▶ Autonomous Planning: Breaks down complex tasks
▶ Multi-step Execution: Chains tools and operations
▶ Progress Monitoring: Tracks and iterates on results
▶ Tool Integration: File editing, terminal, search
▶ Error Recovery: Adapts when operations fail
▶ Context Awareness: Maintains task context
Available Tools:
editFiles Create/modify files runCommands Terminal execution
search File/code search runTests Test execution
runTasks VS Code tasks openSimpleBrowser Preview apps
Agent Mode Tips
Configure auto-approval for terminal commands • Use custom chat modes for specialized workflows • Enable MCP servers for extended capabilities
⚙️ Advanced Configuration
Key Settings:
Instructions:
github.copilot.chat.codeGeneration.useInstructionFiles
chat.instructionsFilesLocations
Prompt Files:
chat.promptFiles
chat.promptFilesLocations
Agent Mode:
chat.tools.terminal.autoApprove
workbench.settings.showAISearchToggle
"chat.instructionsFilesLocations": { "src/frontend/instructions": true, "src/backend/instructions": false } "chat.promptFilesLocations": { ".github/prompts": true,
"setup/**/prompts": true }
🔍 Debugging & Testing
▶ Debug Config: Auto-generate launch.json
▶ Test Generation: Unit & integration tests
▶ Error Analysis: Fix compilation errors
▶ Code Review: Automated suggestions
▶ Performance: Optimization recommendations
Terminal Commands:
copilot-debug python app.py
copilot-debug node server.js
copilot-debug --help
Test Coverage:
Use /tests on function selections
Generate tests for uncovered code
Set up frameworks with /setupTests
🔗 Workspace Integration
▶ Remote Indexing: GitHub-based search
▶ Local Indexing: Machine-stored cache
▶ Semantic Search: AI-powered file search
▶ Git Integration: Commit messages & PR descriptions
▶ Extension Support: Third-party tool integration
Source Control:
Auto-generate commit messages
Create PR titles and descriptions
Review uncommitted changes
Add commits as chat context
Performance Tip
Enable workspace indexing for faster, more accurate code search in large repositories
📋 Workshop Hands-on Activities
1 Setup: Install Copilot extension and sign in
2 Shortcuts: Practice Ctrl+Alt+I , Ctrl+I commands
3 Instructions: Create workspace instructions file
4 Prompting: Try different prompting techniques
5 Context: Use #codebase, #selection variables
6 Participants: Test @github, @terminal, @workspace
7 Agent Mode: Enable and configure tools
8 Customization: Create reusable prompt files
9 Integration: Enable workspace indexing
10 Testing: Generate tests with /tests command
🎓 Common Use Cases & Examples
Code Generation:
"Create a REST API endpoint for user authentication using Express.js and JWT. Include validation middleware and error handling."
Refactoring:
"Refactor this class-based React component to use hooks. Maintain the same functionality but improve performance."
Documentation:
"Generate comprehensive JSDoc comments for this TypeScript interface including parameter descriptions and examples."
Testing:
"Create unit tests for this utility function using Jest. Include edge cases and error scenarios."
Debugging:
"This async function is causing memory leaks. Help identify the issue and suggest fixes."
📚 Quick Reference Commands & Resources
File Management
▶ Chat: New Instructions File
▶ Chat: New Prompt File
▶ Chat: Configure Instructions
▶ Chat: Configure Prompt Files
▶ Chat: Attach Instructions
▶ Chat: Run Prompt
Navigation & Control
▶ Switch between chat modes
▶ Configure available tools
▶ Edit previous chat prompts
▶ Clear chat session
▶ Export chat history
▶ Sync settings across devices
Documentation Links
▶ Main: code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot
▶ Support: support.anthropic.com
▶ GitHub: docs.github.com/copilot
▶ Prompting: docs.anthropic.com/prompt-engineering
▶ API: docs.anthropic.com
▶ Community: github.com/github/copilot-docs
VS Code GitHub Copilot Workshop Reference • A3 Format • 2025 Edition
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