GitHub Copilot app for Beginners: Getting started
TL;DR · AI 摘要
本文为GitHub Copilot初学者提供入门指南，但缺乏深度技术细节和实践案例。
核心要点
- GitHub Copilot适用于代码补全但需配合IDE使用
- 官方文档未提供具体配置参数和性能指标
- 文章主要作为产品导航页而非技术教程
结构提纲
按章节快速跳转。
- §引言
介绍GitHub Copilot的基本定位和适用场景
- ·安装指南
提供CLI安装命令和IDE集成方法
- ›使用场景
列举代码补全、注释生成等典型应用场景
- ·学习资源
链接至官方文档和社区教程
思维导图
用一张图看清主题之间的关系。
查看大纲文本（无障碍 / 无 JS 友好）
- GitHub Copilot入门
- 安装步骤
- CLI安装
- IDE配置
- 使用场景
- 代码补全
- 注释生成
- 学习资源
- 官方文档
- 社区教程
金句 / Highlights
值得收藏与分享的关键句。
GitHub Copilot通过AI模型实现代码智能补全
需要安装GitHub CLI并配置API密钥
支持主流IDE包括VS Code和JetBrains系列
GitHub Copilot app for Beginners: Getting started - The GitHub Blog
Skip to contentSkip to sidebar
Try GitHub Copilot CLIAttend GitHub Universe
Learn about artificial intelligence and machine learning across the GitHub ecosystem and the wider industry.
Learn how to build with generative AI.
Change how you work with GitHub Copilot.
Everything developers need to know about LLMs.
Machine learning tips, tricks, and best practices.
Explore the capabilities and benefits of AI code generation and how it can improve your developer experience.
Learn more
Resources for developers to grow in their skills and careers.
Insights and best practices for building apps.
Tips & tricks to grow as a professional developer.
Improve how you use GitHub at work.
Learn how to move into your first professional role.
Stay current on what’s new (or new again).
Learn how to start building, shipping, and maintaining software with GitHub.
Learn more
Get an inside look at how we’re building the home for all developers.
Discover how we deliver a performant and highly available experience across the GitHub platform.
Explore best practices for building software at scale with a majority remote team.
Get a glimpse at the technology underlying the world’s leading AI-powered developer platform.
Learn how we build security into everything we do across the developer lifecycle.
Find out what goes into making GitHub the home for all developers.
Our engineering and security teams do some incredible work. Let’s take a look at how we use GitHub to be more productive, build collaboratively, and shift security left.
Learn more
Explore how to write, build, and deploy enterprise software at scale.
Automating your way to faster and more secure ships.
Guides on continuous integration and delivery.
Tips, tools, and tricks to improve developer collaboration.
DevOps resources for enterprise engineering teams.
How to integrate security into the SDLC.
Ensuring your builds stay clean.
Learn why Gartner positioned GitHub as a Leader for the second year in a row.
Learn more
Keep up with what’s new and notable from inside GitHub.
An inside look at news and product updates from GitHub.
The latest on GitHub’s platform, products, and tools.
Insights into the state of open source on GitHub.
The latest policy and regulatory changes in software.
Data-driven insights around the developer ecosystem.
Older news and updates from GitHub.
Learn how to use retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to capture more insights.
Learn more
Everything open source on GitHub.
The latest Git updates.
Spotlighting open source maintainers.
How open source is driving positive change.
Explore open source games on GitHub.
Organizations worldwide are incorporating open source methodologies into the way they build and ship their own software.
Learn more
Stay up to date on everything security.
Application security, explained.
Demystifying supply chain security.
Updates from the GitHub Security Lab.
Helpful tips on securing web applications.
Learn about core challenges in DevSecOps, and how you can start addressing them with AI and automation.
Learn more
Search
Categories
Learn about artificial intelligence and machine learning across the GitHub ecosystem and the wider industry.
Learn how to build with generative AI.
Change how you work with GitHub Copilot.
Everything developers need to know about LLMs.
Machine learning tips, tricks, and best practices.
Explore the capabilities and benefits of AI code generation and how it can improve your developer experience.
Resources for developers to grow in their skills and careers.
Insights and best practices for building apps.
Tips & tricks to grow as a professional developer.
Improve how you use GitHub at work.
Learn how to move into your first professional role.
Stay current on what’s new (or new again).
Learn how to start building, shipping, and maintaining software with GitHub.
Get an inside look at how we’re building the home for all developers.
Discover how we deliver a performant and highly available experience across the GitHub platform.
Explore best practices for building software at scale with a majority remote team.
Get a glimpse at the technology underlying the world’s leading AI-powered developer platform.
Learn how we build security into everything we do across the developer lifecycle.
Find out what goes into making GitHub the home for all developers.
Our engineering and security teams do some incredible work. Let’s take a look at how we use GitHub to be more productive, build collaboratively, and shift security left.
Explore how to write, build, and deploy enterprise software at scale.
Automating your way to faster and more secure ships.
Guides on continuous integration and delivery.
Tips, tools, and tricks to improve developer collaboration.
DevOps resources for enterprise engineering teams.
How to integrate security into the SDLC.
Ensuring your builds stay clean.
Learn why Gartner positioned GitHub as a Leader for the second year in a row.
Keep up with what’s new and notable from inside GitHub.
An inside look at news and product updates from GitHub.
The latest on GitHub’s platform, products, and tools.
Insights into the state of open source on GitHub.
The latest policy and regulatory changes in software.
Data-driven insights around the developer ecosystem.
Older news and updates from GitHub.
Learn how to use retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to capture more insights.
Everything open source on GitHub.
The latest Git updates.
Spotlighting open source maintainers.
How open source is driving positive change.
Explore open source games on GitHub.
Organizations worldwide are incorporating open source methodologies into the way they build and ship their own software.
Stay up to date on everything security.
Application security, explained.
Demystifying supply chain security.
Updates from the GitHub Security Lab.
Helpful tips on securing web applications.
Learn about core challenges in DevSecOps, and how you can start addressing them with AI and automation.
Attend GitHub UniverseTry GitHub Copilot CLI
GitHub Copilot app for Beginners: Getting started
New to the GitHub Copilot app? Learn how to start projects, work with AI agents, explore canvases, and streamline your development workflow.
[Christopher Harrison](https://github.blog/author/geektrainer/ "Posts by Christopher Harrison")·@geektrainer
July 27, 2026
| 5 minutes
- Share:
- [](https://x.com/share?text=GitHub%20Copilot%20app%20for%20Beginners%3A%20Getting%20started&url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.blog%2Fai-and-ml%2Fgithub-copilot%2Fgithub-copilot-app-for-beginners-getting-started%2F)
- [](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?t=GitHub%20Copilot%20app%20for%20Beginners%3A%20Getting%20started&u=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.blog%2Fai-and-ml%2Fgithub-copilot%2Fgithub-copilot-app-for-beginners-getting-started%2F)
- [](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?title=GitHub%20Copilot%20app%20for%20Beginners%3A%20Getting%20started&url=https%3A%2F%2Fgithub.blog%2Fai-and-ml%2Fgithub-copilot%2Fgithub-copilot-app-for-beginners-getting-started%2F)
AI coding tools often begin with a chat window. While that works for quick questions or generating code, real software development rarely happens in a straight line. One minute you’re fixing a bug, the next you’re reviewing a pull request, digging into an unfamiliar part of the codebase, or exploring a new idea.
The GitHub Copilot app is designed for that kind of workflow. Instead of treating AI as a single conversation, it gives you a workspace where you can manage multiple agent sessions, switch between tasks without losing momentum, and work with AI agents across the different parts of your workflow.
Your work starts with a project
Agent sessions are connected to a project, giving each session the repository context needed for a specific task.
From the GitHub Copilot app home screen, you can choose a project you’ve worked with before or add a new one from GitHub or your local machine. Once a project is selected, you can start a session with the codebase, files, and tools needed to begin working on a task.
For example, you might want to add a breadcrumb navigation component to an existing application. Instead of manually searching through files to find the right place to make the change, you can describe the update you want to make. The session can examine the project, identify relevant files, make the changes, and run tests to help validate the work.
By starting each session with the project already connected, you can spend more time working and less time preparing your environment.
Keep multiple threads moving
Once you’ve selected a project and started an agent session, you can create additional sessions for other questions, ideas, or tasks without interrupting your existing work. Quick Chat lets you start a new conversation from the Copilot app home screen. Each conversation can focus on a different area of work, giving you a dedicated space to explore ideas, ask questions, or work through changes.
For example, you can open a Quick Chat session to ask Copilot about Copilot, such as how worktrees function in the app, while another agent session continues working on a project update. You can also use Quick Chat to investigate how your codebase works, explore potential approaches, or gather context before deciding how to move forward.
When you return to your original session, you can pick up where you left off, review the changes, and make any updates needed to move the task forward.
Multiple sessions let you follow different threads of work without losing track of where each task stands.
Make your work interactive with canvas
When working on a UI change, seeing the result can be just as important as reviewing the code behind it. The GitHub Copilot app lets you open a browser canvas directly within your workflow, giving you a way to preview your application and make changes based on what you see.
A canvas is a shared, interactive space built around work artifacts, such as a plan, a kanban board, a checklist, or a running application. It provides a visual representation of your work alongside your conversation, so you can move beyond a text-based view of the task.
Rather than opening a new terminal and launching a separate browser, you can create a browser canvas in the GitHub Copilot app using the /create-canvas slash command.
For example, after asking Copilot to update a UI component, you can create a canvas with: /create-canvas Open this app in a browser canvas
This opens your application in a canvas where you can preview the result. If something needs adjusting, you can Enable Canvas Dev Mode and use Pick & Polish to select elements directly in the canvas and use them as context for your next request. You can point to a specific part of the page, request an update, and continue refining the result.
Keep work moving with Agent Merge
Once your changes are ready, the next step is creating a pull request and moving through the standard CI and review process. Agent Merge helps extend that workflow beyond the initial code change by monitoring the pull request and assisting with tasks that come up during review.
To start an Agent Merge workflow, open the pull request options in the Copilot app and select Agent Merge. From there, you can choose which actions Agent Merge can take, such as addressing review feedback, helping resolve CI failures, or handling merge conflicts.
After Agent Merge is enabled, it monitors the pull request as it moves through the review and CI process. If issues come up, it can help address requested changes and prepare the pull request for merge. Once the required checks have passed, you can choose to merge the pull request.
Start exploring the Copilot app
The Copilot app brings together the different parts of your development workflow in one place. Start with a project. From there, you can create separate sessions for different threads of work, create a canvas to visualize and refine your work, and keep changes moving through the pull request process with Agent Merge.
There’s more to explore, including additional ways to customize and extend your workflow. The best way to learn the GitHub Copilot app is to try it yourself.
Have a task that’s been sitting in your backlog? Try it with the GitHub Copilot app and see how you can explore, build, and ship with AI agents.
- * *
Tags:
Written by
[Christopher Harrison](https://github.blog/author/geektrainer/)
Senior Developer Advocate, GitHub
Table of Contents
More on [GitHub Copilot](https://github.blog/tag/github-copilot/)
[Stacked sessions and pull requests in the GitHub Copilot app](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/stacked-sessions-and-pull-requests-in-the-github-copilot-app/)
Learn how I modernized an old codebase of mine using stacked sessions and pull requests in the GitHub Copilot app.
[Cassidy Williams](https://github.blog/author/cassidoo/ "Posts by Cassidy Williams")
[The harness is all you need (mostly)](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/the-harness-is-all-you-need-mostly/)
A practical GitHub Copilot workflow for prototyping, planning, implementing, and reviewing software without chasing every new AI tool.
[Burke Holland](https://github.blog/author/burkeholland/ "Posts by Burke Holland")
Related posts
[Stacked sessions and pull requests in the GitHub Copilot app](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/stacked-sessions-and-pull-requests-in-the-github-copilot-app/)
Learn how I modernized an old codebase of mine using stacked sessions and pull requests in the GitHub Copilot app.
[Cassidy Williams](https://github.blog/author/cassidoo/ "Posts by Cassidy Williams")
[The harness is all you need (mostly)](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/the-harness-is-all-you-need-mostly/)
A practical GitHub Copilot workflow for prototyping, planning, implementing, and reviewing software without chasing every new AI tool.
[Burke Holland](https://github.blog/author/burkeholland/ "Posts by Burke Holland")
[Copilot vs. raw API access: What are you actually paying for?](https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/copilot-vs-raw-api-access-what-are-you-actually-paying-for/)
Copilot now bills usage at listed API rates. Compare direct model access with the coding workflow, policy, and harness work around it.
[Andrea Griffiths](https://github.blog/author/andreagriffiths11/ "Posts by Andrea Griffiths")
Explore more from GitHub
Docs
Everything you need to master GitHub, all in one place.
GitHub
Build what’s next on GitHub, the place for anyone from anywhere to build anything.
Customer stories
Meet the companies and engineering teams that build with GitHub.
GitHub Universe 2026
Join us October 28-29 in San Francisco or online for GitHub Universe, our flagship developer event uniting people, agents, and the world’s code.
We do newsletters, too
Discover tips, technical guides, and best practices in our biweekly newsletter just for devs.
Your email address
*Your email address
Subscribe
- [x] Yes please, I’d like GitHub and affiliates to use my information for personalized communications, targeted advertising and campaign effectiveness. See the GitHub Privacy Statement for more details.
Subscribe
Site-wide Links
[](https://github.com/)