GitHub Copilot Uses Your Code for Their APIs

Your code is the real copilot

⚡️TLDR;

GitHub Copilot suggests code based on the coding tabs you have open. It’s context aware but it’s not actually reading your entire code base yet.

🎩 Limits of LLM Magic

LLM means Large Language Model. It basically means there’s machine learning that read a ton of text (or code) and can guess what the next line of text should be.

From the article:

GitHub Copilot can process about 6,000 characters at a time

This means copilot can only read 6000 characters to guess how to auto-complete your code. So it can’t read your entire code base (yet)

🤔 How does it choose those magical 6,000 characters?

Here’s how a prompt is created:

1. Algorithms first select relevant code snippets or comments from your current file(s). Other file tabs are included

2. These snippets and comments are then prioritized, filtered, and assembled into a prompt that asks the LLM to give a coding suggestion

🔧 High bar or low bar for suggestions?

Low-bar. The more people accept a suggestion, the more data the Copilot LLM has on making a better suggestion.