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Aditya Kumar
Aditya Kumar

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Building a Smart Terminal Assistant Using GitHub Copilot CLI

GitHub Copilot CLI Challenge Submission

What I Built

I built a small command-line tool called AskCLI.

It allows developers to interact with GitHub Copilot directly from the terminal using natural language. Instead of remembering long commands or switching between browser tabs, you can simply type what you want to understand or generate.

For example:

Explain a file or folder

Debug an error message

Generate shell or Node.js scripts

Understand unfamiliar code

The tool acts as a lightweight wrapper around GitHub Copilot CLI and focuses on making everyday terminal work faster and simpler.

This project matters to me because I spend most of my time inside the terminal, and reducing context switching has a real impact on productivity.

Demo

GitHub Repository:
👉 https://github.com/your-username/askcli

Example commands
ask explain index.js

ask generate "bash script to backup folders"

ask debug error.log

Screenshots / video ideas to upload

Terminal showing the command

Copilot CLI response

Folder structure

Example output

(Uploading 2 to 4 screenshots is enough.)

My Experience with GitHub Copilot CLI

GitHub Copilot CLI was the core of this project.

Instead of manually implementing AI logic, Copilot CLI handled the most important parts:

Understanding code context

Explaining files and errors

Generating scripts from natural language

Providing accurate command-line suggestions

During development, I used commands like:

gh copilot explain index.js

gh copilot suggest "node script to rename files"

gh copilot explain error.log

Copilot CLI significantly reduced development time.
I didn’t need to search documentation repeatedly or leave the terminal.

The biggest advantage was how naturally it fits into a developer workflow. Everything stays inside the command line, and the responses feel contextual rather than generic.

This challenge helped me understand how powerful Copilot becomes when it’s available exactly where developers work the most.

✅ Tech Stack

Node.js

GitHub Copilot CLI

Bash

✅ Key Learnings

How Copilot CLI works with real repositories

How to build terminal-native tools

How AI can improve daily developer workflows

How small utilities can create meaningful impact

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