GitHub Copilot (Free for Students)

What is this?

GitHub offers a free AI coding assistant to verified students — no trial, no credit card, no expiry while you are enrolled. It works inside VS Code (and other editors) and gives you AI completions, chat, and an agent that can build features autonomously.

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Step 1 — Link your university account

1. Go to education.github.com
2. Sign in with your GitHub account (create one free if needed)
3. Click Get student benefits
4. Verify with your XJTLU email address
5. Wait for approval — usually within a few hours

Once approved, GitHub upgrades your account to Copilot Student automatically.

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Step 2 — Install GitHub Copilot in VS Code

1. Open VS Code
2. Extensions panel → search GitHub Copilot
3. Install both:
   • GitHub Copilot (completions)
   • GitHub Copilot Chat (chat + agent mode)
4. Sign in when prompted — use the same GitHub account

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What you get

Feature	What it does
Inline completions	Suggests the next line or block as you type — press Tab to accept
Copilot Chat	Ask questions about your code, get explanations, generate snippets
Agent mode	Give it a task in plain language — it edits multiple files, runs commands, and loops until done

All three are free with your verified student account. No quota on completions or chat.

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Agent mode — what it can actually do

Agent mode is in VS Code’s Copilot Chat panel (look for the agent icon or type @agent).

Good uses:

• “Scaffold a Flask API with two routes and a SQLite database”
• “Add form validation to all input fields in this file”
• “Write unit tests for this function and run them”
• “Refactor this component to use the new API”

What to expect:

• It creates a plan, edits files, runs terminal commands, and checks the output
• It loops when something fails — you watch it self-correct
• It works well for clearly scoped, single-feature tasks

Supervise the output

Agent mode is powerful but not perfect. It can go in the wrong direction on vague or complex tasks. Read every file it changes before you commit. You are responsible for the code — understanding it is part of the assessment.

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Recommended workflow for this course

Week	How to use Copilot
Weeks 4–5	Inline completions + Chat for syntax help and code explanation
Week 5 onwards	Agent mode for scaffolding new features — one task at a time
Throughout	Chat to explain code you do not understand

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Stay within your ability

Do not attempt features that are beyond your current understanding just because Copilot exists. If you cannot follow what it produced, the scope was too ambitious — reduce the feature, not your responsibility for it.