Copilot smart actions in Visual Studio Code

For several common scenarios, you can use smart actions to get help from Copilot without having to write a prompt. Examples of these smart actions are generating commit messages, generating documentation, explaining or fixing code, or performing a code review. These smart actions are available throughout the VS Code UI.

Generate a commit message and PR information

Copilot can help generate commit messages and the PR title and description based on the code changes in a commit or the changes in a pull request. Use the sparkle icon in the Source Control view or GitHub PR extension to generate a title and description that summarizes your changes.

Rename symbols

When you rename a symbol in your code, Copilot suggests a new name based on the context of the symbol and the codebase.

Generate documentation

Use Copilot to generate code documentation for multiple languages.

1. Open your application code file.

2. Optionally, select the code you want to document.

3. Right-click and select Copilot > Generate Docs.

   

Generate tests

To generate tests for your application code without writing a prompt, you can use the editor smart actions.

1. Open your application code file.

2. Optionally, select the code you want to test.

3. Right-click and select Copilot > Generate Tests.

   Copilot generates test code in an existing test file, or creates a new test file if one doesn't exist.

4. Optionally, refine the generated tests by providing additional context in the Inline Chat prompt.

Explain code

Copilot can help with explaining a piece of code.

1. Open your application code file.

2. Select the code you want to fix.

3. Right-click and select Copilot > Explain.

   Copilot provides an explanation of the selected block of code.

Fix coding errors

To fix coding issues for your application code without writing a prompt, you can use the editor smart actions.

1. Open your application code file.

2. Select the code you want to fix.

3. Right-click and select Copilot > Fix.

   Copilot provides a code suggestion to fix the code.

4. Optionally, refine the generated code by providing additional context in the chat prompt.

Alternatively, if there's a compile or linting problem in a code file, Copilot shows a code action in the editor to help resolve the issue.

Fix testing errors

Copilot integrates with the Test Explorer in VS Code and can help with fixing failing tests.

1. In the Test Explorer, hover over a failing test
2. Select the Fix Test Failure button (sparkle icon)
3. Review and apply Copilot's suggested fix

Alternatively, you can:

1. Open the Chat view
2. Enter the /fixTestFailure command
3. Follow Copilot's suggestions to fix the test

Fix terminal errors

When a command fails to run in the terminal, Copilot displays a sparkle in the gutter that offers a Quick Fix to explain what happened.

Review code

Copilot can help with reviewing your code, either for a code block in the editor or all changes included in a pull request (requires the GitHub Pull Requests extension).

To review a code block in the editor:

1. Open your application code file.

2. Select the code you want to fix.

3. Right-click and select Copilot > Review and Comment.

   Copilot creates review comments in the Comments panel and also shows them inline in the editor.

To review all changes in a pull request:

1. Create a pull request with the GitHub Pull Requests extension

2. Select the Copilot Code Review button in the Files Changed view.

   Copilot creates review comments in the Comments panel and also shows them inline in the editor.

Semantic search results

The Search view lists exact text matches across your files, in addition to matches that are semantically relevant based on your search text.

You can reference search results in your chat prompt by selecting Get results from the search view from the Add Context Quick Pick. Alternatively, type #searchResults in the chat prompt.

Related content

• Get started with the Copilot Quickstart.