Getting started with prompts for GitHub Copilot Chat

Some of the following example prompts use chat participants (preceded by @), slash commands (preceded by /), or chat variables (preceded by #). For more information on keywords in prompts, see Asking GitHub Copilot questions in your IDE.

Ask general software questions

You can ask Copilot Chat general software questions. For example:

• tell me about nodejs web server frameworks
• how can I create an Express app
• @terminal how to update an npm package

Ask questions about your project

You can ask Copilot Chat questions about your project.

• what sorting algorithm does this function use
• @workspace how are notifications scheduled
• #file:gameReducer.js #file:gameInit.js how are these files related

To give Copilot the correct context, try some of these strategies:

• Highlight relevant lines of code.
• Use chat variables like #selection, #file, #editor, #codebase, or #git.
• Use the @workspace chat participant.

Write code

You can ask Copilot to write code for you. For example:

• write a function to sum all numbers in a list
• add error handling to this function
• @workspace add form validation, similar to the newsletter page

When Copilot returns a code block, the response includes options to copy the code, or to insert the code at your cursor, into a new file, or into the terminal.

Ask questions about alerts from GitHub Advanced Security features

You can ask Copilot about security alerts in repositories in your organization from GitHub Advanced Security features (code scanning, secret scanning, and Dependabot alerts). For example:

• How would I fix this alert?
• How many alerts do I have on this pull request?
• Which line of code is this code scanning alert referencing?
• What library is affected by this Dependabot alert?

Set up a new project

Use the /new slash command to set up a new project. For example:

• /new react app with typescript
• /new python django web application
• /new node.js express server

Copilot will suggest a directory structure and provide a button to create the suggested files and contents. To preview a suggested file, select the file name in the suggested directory structure.

Use the /newNotebook slash command to set up a new Jupyter notebook. For example:

• /newNotebook retrieve the titanic dataset and use Seaborn to plot the data

Fix, improve, and refactor code

If your active file contains an error, use the /fix slash command to ask Copilot to fix the error.

You can also make general requests to improve or refactor your code.

• how would you improve this code?
• translate this code to C#
• add error handling to this function

Write tests

Use the /tests slash command to ask Copilot to write tests for the active file or selected code. For example:

• /tests
• /tests using the Jest framework
• /tests ensure the function rejects an empty list

The /tests slash command writes tests for existing code. If you prefer to write tests before writing code (test driven development), omit the /tests command. For example:

• Add tests for a JavaScript function that should sum a list of integers

Ask questions about Visual Studio Code

Use the @vscode chat participant to ask specific questions about Visual Studio Code. For example:

• @vscode tell me how to debug a node.js app
• @vscode how do I change my Visual Studio Code colors
• @vscode how can I change key bindings

Ask questions about the command line

Use the @terminal chat participant to ask specific questions about the command line. For example:

• @terminal find the largest file in the src directory
• @terminal #terminalLastCommand to explain the last command and any errors