160 lines
9.7 KiB
Markdown
160 lines
9.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Customizing the development environment for Copilot coding agent
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shortTitle: Customize the agent environment
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intro: "Learn how to customize {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot %}'s development environment with additional tools."
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versions:
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feature: copilot
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topics:
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- Copilot
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type: how_to
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redirect_from:
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- /early-access/copilot/coding-agent/customizing-copilot-coding-agents-development-environment
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- /copilot/customizing-copilot/customizing-the-development-environment-for-copilot-coding-agent
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---
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> [!NOTE]
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> {% data reusables.copilot.coding-agent.preview-note-text %}
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>
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> For an introduction to {% data variables.copilot.copilot_coding_agent %}, see [AUTOTITLE](/copilot/concepts/about-copilot-coding-agent).
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## About customizing {% data variables.copilot.copilot_coding_agent %}'s development environment
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While working on a task, {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %} has access to its own ephemeral development environment, powered by {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %}, where it can explore your code, make changes, execute automated tests and linters and more.
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You can customize {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %}'s environment to:
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* [Preinstall tools or dependencies in {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %}'s environment](#preinstalling-tools-or-dependencies-in-copilots-environment)
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* [Set environment variables in {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %}'s environment](#setting-environment-variables-in-copilots-environment)
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* [Upgrade from standard {% data variables.product.github %}-hosted {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} runners to larger runners](#upgrading-to-larger-github-hosted-github-actions-runners)
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* [Enable Git Large File Storage (LFS)](#enabling-git-large-file-storage-lfs)
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* [Disable or customize the agent's firewall](/copilot/customizing-copilot/customizing-or-disabling-the-firewall-for-copilot-coding-agent).
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## Preinstalling tools or dependencies in {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %}'s environment
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In its ephemeral development environment, {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %} can build or compile your project and run automated tests, linters and other tools. To do this, it will need to install your project's dependencies.
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{% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %} can discover and install these dependencies itself via a process of trial and error, but this can be slow and unreliable, given the non-deterministic nature of large language models (LLMs), and in some cases, it may be completely unable to download these dependencies—for example, if they are private.
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Instead, you can preconfigure {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %}'s environment before the agent starts by creating a special {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} workflow file, located at `.github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml` within your repository.
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A `copilot-setup-steps.yml` file looks like a normal {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} workflow file, but must contain a single `copilot-setup-steps` job. This job will be executed in {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} before {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %} starts working. For more information on {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} workflow files, see [AUTOTITLE](/actions/using-workflows/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions).
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Here is a simple example of a `copilot-setup-steps.yml` file for a TypeScript project that clones the project, installs Node.js and downloads and caches the project's dependencies. You should customize this to fit your own project's language(s) and dependencies:
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```yaml copy
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name: "Copilot Setup Steps"
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# Automatically run the setup steps when they are changed to allow for easy validation, and
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# allow manual testing through the repository's "Actions" tab
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on:
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workflow_dispatch:
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push:
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paths:
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- .github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml
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pull_request:
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paths:
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- .github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml
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jobs:
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# The job MUST be called `copilot-setup-steps` or it will not be picked up by Copilot.
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copilot-setup-steps:
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runs-on: ubuntu-latest
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# Set the permissions to the lowest permissions possible needed for your steps.
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# Copilot will be given its own token for its operations.
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permissions:
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# If you want to clone the repository as part of your setup steps, for example to install dependencies, you'll need the `contents: read` permission. If you don't clone the repository in your setup steps, Copilot will do this for you automatically after the steps complete.
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contents: read
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# You can define any steps you want, and they will run before the agent starts.
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# If you do not check out your code, Copilot will do this for you.
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steps:
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- name: Checkout code
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uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
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- name: Set up Node.js
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uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
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with:
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node-version: "20"
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cache: "npm"
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- name: Install JavaScript dependencies
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run: npm ci
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```
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In your `copilot-setup-steps.yml` file, you can only customize the following settings of the `copilot-setup-steps` job. If you try to customize other settings, your changes will be ignored.
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* `steps` (see above)
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* `permissions` (see above)
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* `runs-on` (see below)
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* `container `
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* `services`
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* `snapshot`
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* `timeout-minutes` (maximum value: `59`)
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For more information on these options, see [AUTOTITLE](/actions/writing-workflows/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobs).
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Your `copilot-setup-steps.yml` file will automatically be run as a normal {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} workflow when changes are made, so you can see if it runs successfully. This will show alongside other checks in a pull request where you create or modify the file.
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Once you have merged the yml file into your default branch, you can manually run the workflow from the repository's **Actions** tab at any time to check that everything works as expected. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/actions/managing-workflow-runs-and-deployments/managing-workflow-runs/manually-running-a-workflow).
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## Setting environment variables in {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %}'s environment
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You may want to set environment variables in {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %}'s environment to configure or authenticate tools or dependencies that it has access to.
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To set an environment variable for {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %}, create a {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} variable or secret in the `copilot` environment. If the value contains sensitive information, for example a password or API key, it's best to use a {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} secret.
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{% data reusables.repositories.navigate-to-repo %}
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{% data reusables.repositories.sidebar-settings %}
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{% data reusables.actions.sidebar-environment %}
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1. Click the `copilot` environment.
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1. To add a secret, under "Environment secrets," click **Add environment secret**. To add a variable, under "Environment variables," click **Add environment variable**.
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1. Fill in the "Name" and "Value" fields, and then click **Add secret** or **Add variable** as appropriate.
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## Upgrading to larger {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}-hosted {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} runners
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By default, {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %} works in a standard {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} runner with limited resources.
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You can choose instead to use larger runners with more advanced features—for example more RAM, CPU and disk space and advanced networking controls. You may want to upgrade to a larger runner if you see poor performance—for example when downloading dependencies or running tests. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/actions/using-github-hosted-runners/using-larger-runners/about-larger-runners).
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Before {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %} can use larger runners, you must first add one or more larger runners and then configure your repository to use them. See [AUTOTITLE](/actions/using-github-hosted-runners/managing-larger-runners). Once you have done this, you can use the `copilot-setup-steps.yml` file to tell {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %} to use the larger runners.
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To use larger runners, set the `runs-on` step of the `copilot-setup-steps` job to the label and/or group for the larger runners you want {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %} to use. For more information on specifying larger runners with `runs-on`, see [AUTOTITLE](/actions/using-github-hosted-runners/running-jobs-on-larger-runners).
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```yaml
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# ...
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jobs:
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copilot-setup-steps:
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runs-on: ubuntu-4-core
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# ...
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```
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> [!NOTE]
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> * {% data variables.copilot.copilot_coding_agent %} is only compatible with Ubuntu x64 Linux runners. Runners with Windows, macOS or other operating systems are not supported.
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> * Self-hosted {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} runners are not supported.
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## Enabling Git Large File Storage (LFS)
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If you use Git Large File Storage (LFS) to store large files in your repository, you will need to customize {% data variables.product.prodname_copilot_short %}'s environment to install Git LFS and fetch LFS objects.
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To enable Git LFS, add a `actions/checkout` step to your `copilot-setup-steps` job with the `lfs` option set to `true`.
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```yaml copy
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# ...
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jobs:
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copilot-setup-steps:
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runs-on: ubuntu-latest
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permissions:
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contents: read # for actions/checkout
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steps:
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- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
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with:
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lfs: true
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```
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## Further reading
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* [AUTOTITLE](/copilot/customizing-copilot/customizing-or-disabling-the-firewall-for-copilot-coding-agent)
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