GitHub Copilot for Eclipse

GitHub Copilot for Eclipse brings AI-assisted coding to the Eclipse IDE with these core capabilities:

• Code completions for in-editor suggestions from code context or natural-language comments.
• Next Edit Suggestions provide context-aware suggestions for your next code edits.
• Agent Mode for conversational help and more autonomous, project-aware assistance.
• Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration to connect Copilot with external tools and services.
• Advanced Agentic Capabilities include Custom Agents, Isolated Subagents, and Plan Agent, with more agentic capabilities coming soon.

Usage-based billing support

Starting from version 0.18.0, we have added internal support for the upcoming usage-based billing experience, including experience updates to the usage panel, usage notifications, and model picker. These changes will become visible once usage-based billing is rolled out.

To ensure compatibility with the new billing experience, we strongly recommend upgrading the plugin to 0.18.0 or later as soon as possible.

Clients using older plugin versions will continue to function. However, the billing and usage experience may not be optimal and may not accurately reflect the latest usage-based billing experience.

Getting access to GitHub Copilot

Sign up for GitHub Copilot Free, or request access from your enterprise admin.

To use GitHub Copilot, an active subscription is required. Learn more about business and individual plans at github.com/features/copilot.

Prerequisites

• Eclipse IDE
• An active GitHub Copilot subscription

Upcoming requirements in 0.23.0

Starting with GitHub Copilot for Eclipse 0.23.0, the minimum supported environment will be Eclipse IDE 2025-12 (4.38) and Java 21 to run Eclipse. This does not require changing the Java version used by your projects.

0.22.0 is the advance-notice release and retains the existing environment compatibility, including TM Terminal support. On affected environments (Eclipse older than 4.38 or an Eclipse Java runtime older than 21), a startup notice explains the upcoming requirements. It appears at most once per Eclipse startup until you select Don't remind me again or upgrade your environment. Dismissal applies to this announcement in the same Eclipse configuration, including when switching workspaces, and is independent of the automatic What's New setting.

Before upgrading to 0.23.0, update Eclipse and the Java runtime used to launch it. If necessary, set the Eclipse launcher runtime using the -vm option in eclipse.ini; keep it before -vmargs. Your project JDK and compiler settings can remain unchanged.

If you cannot upgrade your environment, you can continue using the last compatible 0.22.x version. Once published, its GithubCopilotForEclipse.zip installation archive will remain available from GitHub Releases. Download the ZIP from the selected 0.22.x release, then use Help > Install New Software... > Add... > Archive... to select it and install GitHub Copilot. The legacy version will not have a separate online update site.

Install and set up

Option 1: Eclipse Marketplace

1. Open Eclipse Marketplace and go to the GitHub Copilot plugin page.
2. Drag Install to your running Eclipse workspace.
3. Restart Eclipse.
4. Sign in to GitHub Copilot from Eclipse.

Option 2: Install from update site

1. In Eclipse, open Help → Install New Software…
2. Add this update site URL: https://azuredownloads-g3ahgwb5b8bkbxhd.b01.azurefd.net/github-copilot/
3. Select GitHub Copilot and complete installation.
4. Restart Eclipse and sign in.

Core capabilities

Code completions

Inline suggestions (ghost text) appear as you type in the editor. Suggestions can range from small edits to multi-line changes.

Next Edit Suggestions

Next Edit Suggestions predict your next edit location and propose the next change based on your recent edits and context.

Agent and Ask Mode

Ask Mode provides conversational AI assistance for explaining code, generating code from requirements, suggesting refactors, and providing debugging guidance.

Agent Mode works autonomously across your project context to identify and fix issues, propose implementation steps, and support larger coding tasks with iterative guidance.

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

MCP support enables integrating external tools and services into Copilot workflows where configured.

Advanced Agentic Capabilities

• Custom Agents allow users to create personalized agents with specific instructions and behaviors.

• Isolated Subagents can be spawned by the main agent to handle specific tasks or contexts independently.

• Plan Agent can generate multi-step plans to accomplish complex tasks, breaking them down into manageable actions.

• Skills are reusable, specialized AI assistant templates that enrich chat context in Agent Mode. Skills are defined as SKILL.md files and can be scoped to a workspace or shared globally.

  • Creating Skills

    Place a SKILL.md file in any of these directories:

    • Project-scoped: .github/skills/<skill-name>/, .claude/skills/<skill-name>/, .agents/skills/<skill-name>/
    • User-scoped (global): ~/.copilot/skills/<skill-name>/, ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/, ~/.agents/skills/<skill-name>/

    Each SKILL.md file can include YAML front matter with metadata (name, description) followed by Markdown content that provides domain knowledge, workflows, or instructions for the AI assistant.

    Skills are automatically discovered and available in Agent Mode. You can enable or disable skills in Window → Preferences → Copilot → Chat → Enable Skills.

For other available features in Eclipse, see the Copilot feature matrix.

Privacy and responsible use

We follow responsible practices in accordance with our Privacy Statement.

To get the latest security fixes, please use the latest version of GitHub Copilot for Eclipse.

Data and telemetry

The GitHub Copilot for Eclipse plugin collects usage data and sends it to Microsoft to help improve our products and services. Read our privacy statement to learn more.

Security

Please do not report security vulnerabilities in public issues.

See SECURITY.md for vulnerability reporting instructions.

Support

For bug reports and feature requests, use this repository’s Issues.

For support guidance, see SUPPORT.md.

Contributing

This project welcomes contributions and suggestions. Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for details on how to get started, build the project, submit pull requests, and follow our code style guidelines.

Most contributions require you to agree to a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) declaring that you have the right to, and actually do, grant us the rights to use your contribution. For details, visit Contributor License Agreements.

Trademarks

This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products, or services. Authorized use of Microsoft trademarks or logos is subject to and must follow Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines. Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship. Any use of third-party trademarks or logos are subject to those third-party's policies.

License

Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.