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GitHub Copilot CLI is rolling out into early access, but the setup instructions are for Linux/MacOS systems. Here's how to get it working on Windows.

(There's a good chance this post will go out of date quickly!)

🔥 Compatibility Notes

  • Copilot CLI does not officially support Windows (as of writing), so expect problems.
  • Copilot CLI works in Git Bash, but not in PowerShell or CMD (without a lot of extra work, anyway!).
  • Using Git Bash directly results in errors -- you'll need to run it through Windows Terminal, Visual Studio Code's integrated terminal, or some other terminal.

📝 Getting it working

  1. Install NodeJS if you don't already have it.
  2. Install Git and Git Bash if you haven't already (Git Bash comes with Git for Windows, but I can't remember if it might be optional so make sure you check that box).
  3. Install Windows Terminal, Visual Studio Code, or some other terminal emulator.
  4. ⚠️ All following terminal commands assume you're using Git Bash in a compatible terminal emulator!
  5. Install Copilot CLI from npm. The npm command comes with your NodeJS installation; in a terminal, run:
npm install --global @githubnext/github-copilot-cli
  1. Run github-copilot-cli alias /usr/bin/bash >> ~/.bashrc. This adds the ?? and related aliases to Git Bash by appending them to your .bashrc file.
  2. ⚠️ As of writing, the alias-generation command writes paths incorrectly on Windows. Open up your ~/.bashrc file, find the paths, and replace all of the \ separators with /. You can edit it with VSCode (code ~/.bashrc) or your favorite text editor.
  3. Either reboot your terminal, or run source ~/.bashrc (just this once) to get your aliases.
  4. ✅ You're good to go! You should be able to use ??, git?, and any other aliases you see in the Copilot CLI docs.