GitHub’s coding assistant, Copilot, is now available on Xcode in public beta, allowing Apple developers to use artificial intelligence directly in Xcode. This integration aims to improve productivity, accelerate development, and provide an optimized coding experience.
GitHub comes to Xcode
Apple developers know that with Xcode 16, the American firm has already integrated AI-based assistance to suggest automatic code completion. Basically, you start typing something, and you see the code complete before your eyes. You then just have to validate, or not, to add the block to your file. Well the principle is the same with Copilot from GitHub. Except that the tool in question goes further on other platforms, in particular with its chat which should arrive on Xcode soon or the possibility of generating documentation very easily.
Here’s how the largest code hosting platform presents its tool:
We are happy to announce that GitHub Copilot for Xcode is now available for public preview. This is a major milestone in our ongoing mission to make Copilot an essential tool for developers across a wide variety of platforms. Now Apple developers can benefit from the same intelligent coding assistance, seamlessly integrated into their favorite IDE. With this public beta, Xcode users can increase their productivity, accelerate their development, and improve their overall coding experience with Copilot. We’re excited to bring the power of Copilot to even more developers, empowering them to innovate and build faster.
The main features of GitHub Copilot for Xcode are:
- Real-time code suggestions: Intelligent code completions as you type.
- Multiple language support: Compatible with Swift, Objective-C, and more.
- Multi-line suggestions: Generates multiple lines of code for faster development.
- Content filtering: Ensures code recommendations meet professional standards.
- Option to block matches with public code: Ability to block suggestions that are too similar to public code.
How to install GitHub Copilot
Add the GitHub Copilot extension for Xcode
1. Make sure you have access to GitHub Copilot. For more information, see “About GitHub Copilot.”
2. Verify that you have a compatible version of Xcode. To use GitHub Copilot with Xcode, you need Xcode version 8.0 or later and macOS Monterey (12.0) or later. Check out information about Xcode on the Apple Developer site.
3. Download the latest version of the GitHub Copilot extension for Xcode from the github/CopilotForXcode repository and install it. A background element will be added to allow the application to launch automatically when Xcode is opened.
Grant the required permissions
Two permissions are required to use the extension: “Accessibility” and “Xcode Source Editor Extension”. When you first start the extension, you will be asked to enable the “Accessibility” permission.
The “Xcode Source Editor Extension” permission must be enabled manually:
1. Open the GitHub Copilot extension app.
2. Click Extension Permission, then select Xcode Source Editor.
3. Enable GitHub Copilot and click Done.
After granting the required permissions, restart Xcode. You will see a new item in the Editor menu titled GitHub Copilot.
Connecting to GitHub Copilot
Before you can use the GitHub Copilot extension for Xcode, you must authorize the extension to access your GitHub account:
1. Open the GitHub Copilot extension app.
2. Click Login to GitHub and follow the instructions to authorize the extension.
Price and availability
Xcode users with a Copilot license can install the Copilot extension to start using this feature, currently in preview mode. GitHub is actively seeking user feedback to refine the tool.
Copilot subscriptions start from $10 per month or $100 per year.
