Copilot on VSCode

Question 1

What are the 4 different ways to initiate a chat conversation with Copilot ?

Answer 1

1. Chat view
2. Inline Chat
3. Quick Chat
4. Copilot Edits view

Question 2

There are many use cases for Copilot in VS Code. List 7 use cases involving direct code generation

Answer 2

1. Code completions in the editor
2. Iterate on large changes across multiple files using multi-turn chat conversation
3. Provide guidance and support for common coding tasks and challenge, which can be tailored to the current workspace or project context
4. Improve code understanding by explaining selected code
5. Suggestions for code refactoring and improvements
6. Generate a new workspace with scaffolding for the project structure based on a specific tech stack
7. Generate scaffolding for a new Juypter notebook

Question 3

There are many use cases for Copilot in VS Code. List 5 use cases related to debugging and testing

Answer 3

1. Propose bug fixes
2. Propose fixes for failing tests and terminal command errors
3. Configure testing framework setup
4. Generate unit test cases for this testing framework based on specific context
5. Generate test cases for edge cases and boundary conditions

Question 4

There are many use cases for Copilot in VS Code. List 6 use cases that does not involve direct code generation.

Answer 4

1. Generate code documentation for selected code snippet
2. Suggestions for terminal or shell related commands / functionality
3. New rename suggestions for source code symbols
4. Semantic search results
5. Generate commit messages and PR descriptions
6. Get help on relevant VS Code commands

Question 5

What is the purpose of adding chat context to a chat prompt in the Chat view ?

Answer 5

To help Copilot give you the best and most relevant answers by scoping the response to a specific context

Question 6

What is automatically added as context to the chat prompt in the Chat view ?

Answer 6

The currently active editor
If a block of code selected in the editor, only that selection is added as context.

Question 7

List the 3 ways to add context to your chat prompt

Answer 7

1) Use the paperclip button icon in any of the chat interactions, then select the specific type of context from a Quick Pick
2) Drag and drop editor tabs, or files or folders from the Explorer view, Search view, or editor breadcrumb onto the Chat view.
3) Use chat variables by typing the # character

Question 8

What is Inline Chat and how is it helpful ?

Answer 8

Inline Chat enables you to have a chat conversation with Copilot directly from the editor.
Allows preview code suggestions (modifications / refactoring) in-place within your code, which can be useful for quickly iterating on code changes.

Question 9

Where is another common location that inline Chat is available at and how is it used ?

Answer 9

In the terminal to help you answer questions related to the terminal and shell commands, using the @terminal chat participant

Question 10

Where is the Chat view located by default ?

Answer 10

The Secondary Sidebar

Question 11

When Copilot chat returns source code in a code block, state 2 features of this block

Answer 11

a) Depending on the language extension, the code block in the chat response might support IntelliSense, which enables you get information about methods and symbols by hovering over them
b) Hovering over the code block presents various options such Smart Apply generated code block in Active Editor, Insert generated code block at Cursor, and Copy.

Question 12

When would you use Quick Chat ?

Answer 12

If you want to ask Copilot a quick question and don’t want to start a full Chat view session or open Inline Chat in your editor

Question 13

What are multi-turn conversations and how are they possible ?

Answer 13

Iterating and prompting Copilot to improve on initial suggestions
This is possible since Copilot has both the context of the generated code and chat conversation history

Question 14

What are smart actions and how are they accessed ?

Answer 14

Actions to obtain specific help from Copilot without using a prompt. They are accessed from the editor context menu when a block of code is highlighted.

Question 15

Give the 5 types of smart actions available through the editor context menu?

Answer 15

1. Explain
2. Fix
3. Review and Comment
4. Generate Docs
5. Generate Tests

Question 16

How is the Fix smart action alternatively accessed and how does it appear?

Answer 16

From the context menu that appears when the cursor is positioned on a term or statement where an error or issue has been flagged.
It appears as Fix using Copilot

Question 17

What other Copilot feature is the Fix Smart action a shortcut for ?

Answer 17

Inline chat with the /fix slash command

Question 18

What does a Code Action icon (small lightbulb) with an additional sparkle at its edge mean?

Answer 18

It provides a comprehensive list of options code fix or code refactoring, including Copilot smart actions

Question 19

What are chat participants and how are they accessed?

Answer 19

They are domain experts (context-specific components) integrated with the Copilot environment which enable Copilot Chat to interact with various aspects of the user’s workflow.
Accessed by typing @ followed by the participant name

Question 20

List the 4 main built-in chat participants and the knowledge/context that they possess

Answer 20

1. @workspace has context about the code in your workspace
2. @vscode knows about commands and features in the VS Code editor
3. @terminal has context about the integrated terminal shell and its contents
4. @github has knowledge about your GitHub repositories, issues, pull requests, and topics

Question 21

1.1.21 Where else can additional chat participants be obtained from?

Answer 21

Extensions from the VS Marketplace

Question 22

1.1.22 How do chat participants provide shortcuts to specific functionality?

Answer 22

Through slash commands

Question 23

1.1.23 How do you include slash commands in a chat prompt? Give a simple example

Answer 23

Start with the participant followed by the slash / and finally the command, for e.g. @workspace /fix

Question 24

1.1.24 Give 3 common built-in slash commands for the @workspace participant ?

Answer 24

1. @workspace /explain (or /explain): explain how the selected code works
2. @workspace /fix (or /fix): propose a fix for the problems in the selected code
3. @workspace /new (or /new): scaffold code for a new workspace or new file

Question 25

1.1.25 What is the purpose of the conversation history?

Answer 25

For Copilot to use as context in subsequent prompts in a multi-turn conversation

Question 26

1.1.26 In what way can you work with the conversation history to get more relevant responses in a multi-turn conversation?

Answer 26

Delete a previous prompt and its response from the conversation history

Question 27

1.1.27 What are the 3 key features of Copilot Edits ?

Answer 27

1. Combines conversational flow of Copilot Chat and fast feedback 2. Allows iteration on large changes on multiple files in the workspace through multi-turn chat conversation 3. Edits are applied directly in the editor so that they can be reviewed in place

Question 28

1.1.28 What are the general sequence of actions associated with working with Copilot Edits?

Answer 28

1. Add files to the working set 2. Request code edits 3. Save generated edits 4. Accept or discard edits 5. Undo edits

Question 29

1.1.29 What is the working set in the context of Copilot Edits and how does Copilot use it?

Answer 29

The relevant files you want to work with. Copilot Edits will limit changes only to the working set, except when suggesting to create new files

Question 30

1.1.30 When will you transfer a chat session over to Copilot Edits from Copilot chat, how is it done and what is the advantage of doing this?

Answer 30

When you are satisfied and ready to apply suggested code changes provided in Chat response. This done by selecting Edit with Copilot in the Chat view The advantage of doing this is that you can let Copilot Edits apply all the changes across multiple files in the project, instead of having to apply each code block individually from the Chat view

Question 31

1.1.31 What are the 6 steps involved in requesting code edits in Copilot Edits?

Answer 31

1) Enter a chat prompt specifying the edit required 2) Copilot Edits lists the files that are edited and provides a short description of the changes 3) Opens editor tabs for all affected files that were edited 4) Visually indicates which files in the working set are edited 5) You can select an affected file from the working set (based on its visual change) or from the list of edited files 6) You can view the proposed edits (typically highlighted in green) in the file and decide whether to accept or discard them.

Question 32

1.1.32 What are the 4 options available for working with the suggested code edits in the Copilot Edits chat area?

Answer 32

1. You can select to view all edits which appears in a new editor 2. You can choose to accept or discard all the suggested edits in the working set 3. You can select the individual affected files in the working set to decide whether to accept or discard their corresponding changes 4. You can undo the last edit or redo the last edit in the Copilot Edits view title bar