Use ask mode in VS Code

Chat in Visual Studio Code lets you use natural language to interact with large language models (LLMs) to get help with your code. Ask mode for chat is optimized for asking questions about your codebase, coding, and general technology concepts by using natural language. Ask mode is particularly useful for getting a better understanding of your codebase, brainstorming ideas, and getting help with coding tasks.

Use ask mode

1. Open the Chat view by selecting Open Chat from the Copilot menu in the VS Code title bar, or use the ⌃⌘I (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Alt+I) keyboard shortcut.

2. Select Ask from the chat mode dropdown in the Chat view.

   

3. Type your question in the chat input field and select Send (Enter) to submit it.

   Experiment with some of these example questions to get started:

   • What is the factory design pattern?
   • How do I use the fetch API in JavaScript?
   • How do I create a new React component?

   You can ask questions specific to your codebase by adding context to your prompt by adding workspace files, or using #codebase to reference the entire codebase.

4. Notice that, based on your question, the response might include different types of rich content, such code blocks, terminal commands, links, or references to your code.

   Learn how you can apply code blocks to your codebase, or run terminal commands directly in the integrated terminal.

Add chat context

You can add context to your chat prompt to get more relevant responses, or to ask questions that are specific to your codebase. For example, instead of asking how to implement authentication in a web app, you can ask how to implement authentication in this #codebase.

Select the Add Context button in the chat input field to add context to your prompt, or type # to reference a chat variable.

You can also drag and drop files onto the Chat view to add them as context. Get more details about adding context to your chat prompt.

Apply a code block from chat

When your chat response contains code blocks, you can apply them individually to the corresponding file in your workspace. Copilot performs a smart apply and inserts the changes in the right location within the file.

To apply a code block to your codebase, hover over the code block and select the Apply in Editor button. Copilot tries to apply the proposed changes to your existing code.

Alternatively, you can also copy the code or insert it at the current cursor position. Hover over the code block and select the corresponding action.

Depending on the language extension, code blocks in chat responses might support IntelliSense, similar to the experience in the editor.

If a code block contains a shell command, you can run it directly in the integrated terminal with the Insert into Terminal (⌃⌥Enter (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Alt+Enter)) action.

Quick chat

To ask a quick question without starting a full chat session, you can open Quick Chat. Select Quick Chat from the Copilot menu in the title bar, or use the keyboard shortcut.

You can ask a question in Quick Chat, and if you want to keep the conversation going, promote it to a full chat session with the Open in Chat View button.

Special keywords

In your prompt, you can use special keywords to get more relevant responses:

• Chat participants can enhance your chat experience by providing domain-specific knowledge, for example how to interact with a database or a specific API. Type @ in the chat input field to view and select from the list of available participants. There are several built-in chat participants like @workspace, @vscode, @terminal, and @github. Extensions can also contribute chat participants. Go to the Marketplace or use the integrated Extensions view (⇧⌘X (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+X)) and search by tag chat-participant (tag:chat-participant).

• Slash commands provide a shortcut to commonly used instructions, such as /fix to propose a fix for a problem, or /explain to explain how the selected code works. Type / in the chat input field to view a list of available slash commands.

• Chat variables let you reference specific context in your prompt text. For example, use #file to reference a workspace file, or #codebase to let Copilot find the relevant files to add as context. Type # in the chat input field to view a list of available variables.

Related resources

• Get a quick overview of the Copilot features in VS Code
• Add context to your chat prompt
• Start a multi-file coding session
• Start an agentic coding workflow