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Manoj Pradhan
Manoj Pradhan

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Feature Support Matrix: GitHub Copilot Across IDEs

#githubcopilot #ai #vscode #intellij

Feature Breakdown with Sources

1. Code Completion

  • GitHub Copilot offers inline autocompletion, transforming comments or function headers into full code suggestions in VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Eclipse, and others.

2. Copilot Chat

  • A chat-style interface to ask questions, explain code, generate tests, and request fixes is available in VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains IDEs, Eclipse, and Xcode, but not available in Vim/Neovim or Azure Data Studio within the IDE.

3. Copilot Extensions (via GitHub Marketplace)

  • Fully supported in JetBrains IDEs—enabling natural language queries to external tools and customized chat experiences—via the Copilot Extensions ecosystem.

4. Copilot Edits

  • Allows multi-file edits from a single chat prompt, supported in VS Code and JetBrains IDEs; not currently available in Eclipse.

5. Agent Mode (Autonomous Coding)

  • Public preview now available for JetBrains IDEs, Eclipse, and Xcode, enabling Copilot to act autonomously—analyzing code, making edits, running terminal commands.
  • VS Code already has agent mode in public release.

6. Other Features (CLI Tools and Code Review)

  • GitHub Copilot supports a CLI interface (e.g., gh copilot suggest / explain) and integrates with GitHub’s code review workflows.

7. Setup and Compatibility

  • VS Code: Extensions typically install automatically, enabling both code completion and chat.
  • JetBrains IDEs: Requires installing the Copilot plugin; includes support for chat, completion, edits, Extensions, and agent mode.
  • Eclipse: Copilot extension supports completion, chat, and now agent mode; requires Eclipse version 2024 03 or later.
  • Visual Studio: From version 2022 17.8 onward, Copilot and Chat are available via built-in or installable extensions.
  • Xcode, Vim/Neovim, Azure Data Studio: Support code completions and, for Xcode, Chat and agent mode preview; Vim/Neovim is limited to completion; Azure Data Studio supports SQL... but not chat or agent.

Summary of Key Differences

- VS Code: Full-featured — completion, chat, edits, agent mode, CLI integration.
- JetBrains IDEs: Almost on par with VS Code—adds rich features like Extensions from Marketplace.
- Eclipse: Now supports completion, chat, and agent mode (in preview).
- Visual Studio (Windows):Supports both post-2022 versions for completion and chat.
- Xcode: Supports completion, chat, and agent mode (preview).
- Vim/Neovim: Basic completion only.
- Azure Data Studio: Useful for SQL tasks; completion only.

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