GitHub is expanding the beta of its Copilot Chat to all GitHub Copilot for Individuals users. Previously, only GitHub Copilot for Business users could access the beta of this new feature.
This means that GitHub users can now take advantage of the beta on their personal GitHub accounts if they are paying for the Copilot for Individuals plan. There is no additional cost on the plan to enable the Copilot Chat beta.
GitHub Copilot Chat allows developers to ask questions, troubleshoot bugs, and learn new languages or frameworks while staying within the IDE. Currently the feature is supported in the Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code IDEs.
“Integrated together, GitHub Copilot Chat and the GitHub Copilot pair programmer form a powerful AI-assistant capable of helping every developer build at the speed of their minds in the natural language of their choice. We believe this cohesion will form the new centerpiece of the software development experience, fundamentally reducing boilerplate work and designating natural language as a new universal programming language for every developer on the planet,” Shuyin Zhao, VP of product for GitHub Copilot, wrote in a blog post.
All GitHub Copilot for Individuals users should have received an email with instructions on how to get started with Copilot Chat.
GitHub hopes that by expanding the beta program, it is expanding its goal of “democratizing software development for a new generation.”
Zhao added: “Whether you are a young developer in Brazil learning how to execute a unit test for the first time or a professor in Germany who needs help documenting data, GitHub Copilot Chat enables you to learn and build code through outputs in the language that feels most natural to you.”
