Setup: Installing Copilot in VS Code, JetBrains, and GitHub.com

Three Surfaces, One Account

GitHub Copilot works in VS Code, JetBrains IDEs (IntelliJ, PyCharm, WebStorm, GoLand, and others), Visual Studio, Vim/Neovim, and GitHub.com itself. All of them use the same GitHub account authentication. Once you have a Copilot plan active on your GitHub account, you can activate it anywhere you work.

Setting Up in VS Code

Open VS Code and go to the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X). Search for GitHub Copilot and install the extension published by GitHub. This single extension installs both the completion engine and the Chat panel.

After installation, VS Code will prompt you to sign in with GitHub. Complete the browser authentication flow. Once signed in, you should see the Copilot icon in the status bar at the bottom of the screen. A check mark indicates Copilot is active. If you see a warning, verify your plan is active at github.com/settings/copilot.

Open any code file and start typing a function. Ghost text should appear within a second or two. Press Tab to accept it — that is your confirmation that inline completions are working. Then open the Chat panel with Ctrl+Alt+I (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+I (macOS) and ask a question about the file.

Setting Up in JetBrains IDEs

Open your JetBrains IDE and navigate to Settings → Plugins. Search for GitHub Copilot in the Marketplace tab and click Install. Restart the IDE when prompted.

After restart, you will see a Copilot icon in the status bar. Click it and choose Log in to GitHub. The same browser authentication flow completes sign-in. Copilot Chat in JetBrains is available via the dedicated Copilot tool window in the right panel.

Agent mode in JetBrains was in public preview as of mid-2025 and has been rolling out broadly. Check your plugin version and the JetBrains Marketplace page for the current GA status in your specific IDE.

GitHub.com

Copilot Chat is built directly into GitHub.com. You will find it in:

• The Copilot icon in the top navigation — a floating chat panel available on any page
• Repository pages — ask questions about the repo, its files, or its issues directly from the browser
• Pull request pages — Copilot code review and inline suggestions appear here
• Issues — you can assign issues to the Coding Agent directly from the issue detail page

No installation needed for GitHub.com — it is part of your plan the moment you activate Copilot.

Verifying Everything Works

Try This

Complete setup in whichever IDE you use daily. Then open github.com/settings/copilot on GitHub.com — this is your central control panel for your Copilot settings, including which IDEs have access, your model preferences, and your usage. Bookmark it. You will return to it regularly as you customise Copilot throughout this track.