Quickstart

Get a Copilot-powered app running in minutes.

Prerequisites

• GitHub account with Copilot access (Individual, Business, or Enterprise)
• GitHub CLI (gh) installed and authenticated
• Node.js 18+ (or Python 3.10+, Go 1.21+, .NET 8+)

Verify setup

# Check GitHub CLI authentication
gh auth status

# Should show:
# ✓ Logged in to github.com as YOUR_USERNAME
# ✓ Git operations for github.com configured to use https protocol.

Your First App

1. Create project

mkdir copilot-hello && cd copilot-hello
npm init -y
npm install @anthropic-ai/copilot-sdk  # Placeholder - use actual package name

Note: Check copilot-sdk/nodejs/ for the actual package name and installation instructions.

2. Write the code

Create index.ts:

import { CopilotClient } from "@github/copilot-sdk"; // Adjust import as needed

async function main() {
  // Create client (spawns Copilot CLI)
  const client = await CopilotClient.create({
    agent: {
      name: "hello-copilot",
      version: "1.0.0"
    }
  });

  try {
    // Create a session
    const session = await client.createSession();

    // Send a message and get response
    const response = await session.send("What is the Copilot SDK?");
    console.log(response.text);

  } finally {
    // Clean up
    await client.close();
  }
}

main().catch(console.error);

3. Run it

npx tsx index.ts

You should see Copilot’s explanation of what the SDK is.

Add Streaming

Update the code to see responses as they’re generated:

import { CopilotClient } from "@github/copilot-sdk";

async function main() {
  const client = await CopilotClient.create({
    agent: { name: "hello-copilot", version: "1.0.0" }
  });

  try {
    const session = await client.createSession();

    // Stream the response
    console.log("Copilot: ");
    for await (const event of session.send("Explain async/await in one paragraph")) {
      if (event.type === "textDelta") {
        process.stdout.write(event.delta);
      }
    }
    console.log("\n");

  } finally {
    await client.close();
  }
}

main().catch(console.error);

Add a Custom Tool

Give Copilot the ability to get the current time:

import { CopilotClient } from "@github/copilot-sdk";

// Define the tool
const timeTool = {
  name: "get_current_time",
  description: "Get the current time in a specified timezone",
  parameters: {
    type: "object",
    properties: {
      timezone: {
        type: "string",
        description: "Timezone name like 'America/New_York' or 'UTC'"
      }
    },
    required: ["timezone"]
  }
};

// Implement the tool
function getCurrentTime(timezone: string): string {
  try {
    return new Date().toLocaleString("en-US", { timeZone: timezone });
  } catch {
    return `Invalid timezone: ${timezone}`;
  }
}

async function main() {
  const client = await CopilotClient.create({
    agent: { name: "time-bot", version: "1.0.0" }
  });

  try {
    const session = await client.createSession({
      tools: [timeTool]
    });

    console.log("Copilot: ");
    for await (const event of session.send("What time is it in Tokyo?")) {
      switch (event.type) {
        case "textDelta":
          process.stdout.write(event.delta);
          break;

        case "toolCall":
          if (event.name === "get_current_time") {
            const args = JSON.parse(event.arguments);
            const result = getCurrentTime(args.timezone);
            await session.submitToolResult(event.callId, result);
          }
          break;
      }
    }
    console.log("\n");

  } finally {
    await client.close();
  }
}

main().catch(console.error);

Interactive Chat Loop

Build a simple REPL:

import { CopilotClient } from "@github/copilot-sdk";
import * as readline from "readline";

async function main() {
  const client = await CopilotClient.create({
    agent: { name: "chat-bot", version: "1.0.0" }
  });

  const session = await client.createSession({
    systemMessage: "You are a helpful assistant. Be concise."
  });

  const rl = readline.createInterface({
    input: process.stdin,
    output: process.stdout
  });

  console.log("Chat with Copilot (type 'exit' to quit)\n");

  const prompt = () => {
    rl.question("You: ", async (input) => {
      if (input.toLowerCase() === "exit") {
        await client.close();
        rl.close();
        return;
      }

      process.stdout.write("Copilot: ");
      for await (const event of session.send(input)) {
        if (event.type === "textDelta") {
          process.stdout.write(event.delta);
        }
      }
      console.log("\n");

      prompt();
    });
  };

  prompt();
}

main().catch(console.error);

Troubleshooting

”CLI not found”

The SDK needs the Copilot CLI. Install it:

gh extension install github/gh-copilot

Authentication errors

Make sure you’re logged in:

gh auth login
gh auth refresh -s copilot

“Model not available”

Your Copilot subscription determines available models. Check your plan’s capabilities.

Next Steps

• Deep dive: Explore Tools and Streaming
• Cookbook: See copilot-sdk/cookbook/ for production patterns
• Experiment: Build something in experiments/