CLI Usage

This guide covers the GitHub Copilot Command Line Interface (CLI), a powerful tool that brings AI-assisted coding to your terminal.

Overview

GitHub Copilot CLI enhances your command line experience with:

  • Natural language explanations of shell commands

  • Command generation from natural language descriptions

  • Shell command transformations and improvements

  • Git operations assistance

Installation

Prerequisites

  • Node.js 16 or higher

  • npm or yarn

  • GitHub CLI (gh)

  • GitHub Copilot subscription

Standard Installation

# Install GitHub Copilot CLI
npm install -g @githubnext/github-copilot-cli

# Authenticate
gh auth login
gh copilot auth login

Verification

After installation, verify that the CLI works correctly:

gh copilot explain "ls -la | grep '^d'"

You should receive an explanation of the command, which lists directories in the current location.

Core Commands

GitHub Copilot CLI offers three primary commands:

1. gh copilot explain

Explains what a command does in natural language.

# Basic usage
gh copilot explain "find . -type f -name '*.js' -mtime -7"

# With alias
gh explain "docker ps --filter 'status=exited'"

Example output:

This command finds all JavaScript files (*.js) modified in the last 7 days in the current directory and its subdirectories.

2. gh copilot suggest

Generates shell commands from natural language descriptions.

# Basic usage
gh copilot suggest "create a tar archive of the logs directory"

# With alias
gh suggest "find all PNG files larger than 1MB"

Example output:

I'll help you create a tar archive of the logs directory.

$ tar -czvf logs.tar.gz logs/

This command creates a compressed tar archive named 'logs.tar.gz' containing the contents of the logs directory.

Would you like me to run this command? [Y/n]

3. gh copilot what-the-shell (or wts)

Transforms one command into another based on your needs.

# Basic usage
gh copilot what-the-shell "curl https://api.github.com/repos/cli/cli/releases/latest" --flags "--include rate limit info"

Example output:

I'll help transform your command to include rate limit info.

$ curl -I https://api.github.com/repos/cli/cli/releases/latest

This command performs a HEAD request to show only the headers, which will include rate limit information.

Would you like me to run this command? [Y/n]

Advanced Usage

Environment Variables

Customize Copilot CLI behavior with environment variables:

# Disable automatic command execution
export GITHUB_COPILOT_NO_AUTO_EXECUTE=1

# Change the model used by Copilot (expert users)
export GITHUB_COPILOT_MODEL=gpt-4

Creating Aliases

Set up aliases in your shell configuration file (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, etc.):

# Shorter aliases for common commands
alias explain="gh copilot explain"
alias suggest="gh copilot suggest"
alias wts="gh copilot what-the-shell"

Integration with Shell History

Use Copilot CLI to improve previous commands:

# Get the last command from history and explain it
gh copilot explain "$(history | tail -n 1 | sed 's/^[0-9 ]*//')"

# Transform your last command
gh copilot what-the-shell "$(history | tail -n 1 | sed 's/^[0-9 ]*//')" --flags "make it verbose"

Real-World DevOps Scenarios

Scenario 1: Kubernetes Troubleshooting

# Get suggestions for troubleshooting a pod
gh suggest "how to check if a pod is stuck in pending state"

# Possible output:
# $ kubectl describe pod <pod-name> -n <namespace>

Scenario 2: Complex Log Analysis

# Get help creating a complex log analysis command
gh suggest "find errors in nginx logs from the last hour and count occurrences by IP address"

# Possible output:
# $ grep "ERROR" /var/log/nginx/error.log | grep -E "$(date -d '1 hour ago' +'%d/%b/%Y:%H')" | awk '{print $1}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr

Scenario 3: Infrastructure Deployment

# Get suggestions for AWS CLI commands
gh suggest "create an AWS EC2 instance with t3.micro type and Amazon Linux 2"

# Possible output:
# $ aws ec2 run-instances --image-id ami-0323c3dd2da7fb37d --instance-type t3.micro --key-name MyKeyPair --security-group-ids sg-903004f8 --count 1

Tips for Effective Use

  1. Be Specific: The more detailed your description, the more accurate the suggestions.

  2. Learn from Explanations: Use the explain command to learn unfamiliar commands.

  3. Iterate on Suggestions: If the initial suggestion isn't quite right, refine your request.

  4. Combine with Traditional Tools: Use Copilot CLI alongside traditional command line tools like man, tldr, and --help.

  5. Review Before Executing: Always review suggested commands before running them, especially for destructive operations.

Security Considerations

  1. Command Review: Always review suggested commands before execution.

  2. Sensitive Information: Avoid including sensitive information in your requests.

  3. System Access: Remember that executed commands have the same permissions as your current user.

  4. Network Connectivity: All queries are sent to GitHub's servers, requiring internet connectivity.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

  1. Authentication Problems

    • Run gh auth status to check GitHub CLI authentication

    • Try re-authenticating with gh auth login followed by gh copilot auth login

  2. Command Not Found

    • Ensure Node.js is installed and in your PATH

    • Verify installation with npm list -g @githubnext/github-copilot-cli

  3. Poor Suggestions

    • Be more specific in your requests

    • Try rephrasing the request

    • Ensure you're using English for best results

  4. API Rate Limits

    • If you encounter rate limits, wait before making more requests

    • Consider upgrading your GitHub plan for higher limits

Getting Help

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