Microsoft’s Windows Terminal has just integrated GitHub Copilot’s AI capabilities through a new feature called Terminal Chat, allowing developers to receive code suggestions, troubleshoot errors, and translate commands directly within the command line. Available to GitHub Copilot’s Individual, Business, and Enterprise subscribers, Terminal Chat simplifies work in the terminal by providing natural language guidance, specifically tailored to the active shell environment.
In a related development, GitHub today introduced several AI-driven updates to Copilot, which are covered comprehensively in our separate coverage.
Terminal Chat: Bringing AI Assistance to Windows Terminal
Terminal Chat’s recent launch enables users of Windows Terminal Canary to get real-time command suggestions and explanations for complex commands or errors. To set up Terminal Chat, users need to select GitHub Copilot as a service provider in Terminal Chat settings and complete a quick authentication step with GitHub credentials. Once active, the feature offers tailored command recommendations based on the active shell, reducing the need for constant switching between applications.
The new feature also supports command translation—developers can ask Copilot for the PowerShell equivalent of a Unix command, for instance, and get a context-aware suggestion. For example, a user who needs a “touch” command in PowerShell would receive New-Item
as a recommendation. Additionally, Terminal Chat avoids automatic command execution, allowing users to assess suggestions before copying them into the command line. Windows Terminal, introduced as Microsoft’s standard command-line interface on Windows 11, now gains a powerful AI-driven enhancement with Copilot’s Terminal Chat.
GitHub Copilot Expands in Microsoft’s Developer Tools
The integration of Terminal Chat into Windows Terminal builds on Microsoft’s larger AI strategy, which debuted at the Build 2023 developer event, highlighting the company’s intent to enhance productivity through AI. Alongside Windows Terminal, GitHub Copilot has also been embedded in WinDbg, Microsoft’s powerful debugging tool for identifying and fixing issues within applications and device drivers. As a tool often used to analyze Windows memory dumps, WinDbg now leverages GitHub Copilot’s AI capabilities to simplify the debugging process for complex errors like blue screen crashes.
Since its inception in 2021, GitHub Copilot has rapidly grown to become a primary AI coding assistant, designed by Microsoft and OpenAI to speed up software development with code suggestions powered by public code data from GitHub, the popular development platform Microsoft acquired in 2018. Originally launched as an autocompletion tool, Copilot now provides more interactive support across Microsoft’s development ecosystem, especially through Terminal Chat and integrations in Visual Studio Code.
GitHub Copilot X
Last year Microsoft introduced GitHub Copilot X, which incorporated OpenAI’s GPT-4 model, providing Copilot with enhanced capabilities, including interactive chat, automatic pull request tags, and AI-driven documentation support. With these upgrades, developers can use Copilot X not only for coding but also for in-depth documentation, with the AI offering direct answers to code-related queries in real-time.
These advanced features, particularly the conversational aspect, reflect Microsoft’s commitment to improving the AI experience for developers working with complex codebases. Copilot X’s release represented an important expansion of Microsoft’s original vision for Copilot, which has become a widely used resource within developer environments.
Legal and Privacy Concerns in AI-Driven Coding
As GitHub Copilot’s functionality grows, legal and ethical questions around the use of AI in software development continue to surface. Since November 2022, Microsoft, GitHub, and OpenAI have faced a class-action lawsuit, alleging that Copilot’s use of publicly available code in its training data violates open-source licenses. The plaintiffs argue that Copilot’s data sources lack proper attribution, potentially infringing on developers’ rights to control how their code is used.
Additionally, Apple has restricted employees from using GitHub Copilot and other generative AI tools, to prevent the potential leak of confidential information to third-party AI models. Apple´s approach reflects wider industry concerns about AI in the workplace, where companies increasingly weigh the risks of AI data exposure.
To address privacy issues, Microsoft has made Terminal Chat configurable via Group Policies, allowing companies to set access controls for Copilot based on organizational policies. For organizations managing sensitive information, the feature gives administrators the flexibility to permit or restrict Copilot’s functionality in command-line environments, especially in fields requiring strict data handling practices.
Community Feedback and the Open-Source Roadmap for Terminal Chat
Microsoft’s Terminal Chat currently remains in Windows Terminal Canary, a pre-release phase intended to gather feedback from users and developers who want to contribute to the tool’s roadmap. As an open-source project, Windows Terminal invites community input to help Microsoft refine features like Terminal Chat, report bugs, and share ideas directly on GitHub. Developers interested in exploring Microsoft’s latest AI projects within Windows Terminal can follow updates through GitHub’s feature branches.
Last Updated on November 7, 2024 2:16 pm CET