Getting started with prompts for Copilot Chat on GitHub

Explore example prompts to ask Copilot Chat about code, repositories, pull requests, and more.

In this article

Chat with Copilot on GitHub

Copilot Chat responds differently depending on where you are on GitHub. The following examples show the kinds of questions you can ask in each context.

General software questions

  • tell me about nodejs web server frameworks
  • how can I create an Express app
  • what is the best way to update an npm package

Repository questions

Navigate to a repository to ask about its code, structure, or history.

  • What is the main purpose of this repo?
  • Where is rate limiting implemented in our API?
  • What was the last merged PR by USERNAME

File and code questions

Open a file or select specific lines, then ask about them.

  • Explain this file.
  • How could I improve this code?
  • Write a unit test for this method.

Pull request questions

Navigate to a pull request to ask about changes, reviews, or failing workflows.

  • Summarize the changes in this PR.
  • What's the purpose of this file?
  • Tell me why this job failed

Security alert questions

Navigate to a code scanning, secret scanning, or Dependabot alert to ask about it.

  • How would I fix this alert?
  • Which line of code is this alert referencing?

Issue, discussion, and commit questions

Navigate to any issue, discussion, or commit and ask Copilot Chat about it.

  • What is the purpose of this issue?
  • What is the expected output of this commit?