Devs Can Now Sign Up for Private Preview of GitHub Copilot for Azure -- Visual Studio Magazine

Devs Can Now Sign Up for Private Preview of GitHub Copilot for Azure

By David Ramel
05/23/2024

During this week's Build 2024 developer conference, Microsoft announced a private preview of GitHub Copilot for Azure, which lets developers use the AI pair programming tool in the cloud.

Developers can't yet use the tool, but they can now sign up for the private preview by filling out a survey, answering questions about their work, intended use cases and so on. Applicants need to have a license for GitHub Copilot and an Azure subscription.

The tool will come as an extension that will integrate with GitHub Copilot Chat in Visual Studio Code, later becoming available in the Visual Studio 2022 IDE.

Microsoft said it showcases how building in natural language with more capabilities can increase development velocity, helping developers explore and manage Azure resources, while also troubleshooting issues and locating relevant logs and code.

"GitHub Copilot for Azure is like having a personal guide to the Azure cloud," Microsoft announced as Build 2024 kicked off this week. "It's here to answer your questions about Azure services, the resources you have deployed, and help you with your troubleshooting. Wondering 'which Azure database is commonly used with Django?' or 'why is my container app returning 404 errors?' Look no further -- GitHub Copilot for Azure can help!"

The post outlined how developers can use the upcoming tool:

In-Chat Azure Expertise: Devs can type "@azure" in Copilot Chat to get real-time insights and answers without leaving their code.
Personal Resource Management: Devs can list their storage accounts or find the URL for their Azure container app.
Deployment Guidance: Devs can get help in understanding how to deploy an application on Azure.
Troubleshooting: Devs can get help in navigating Log Analytics to diagnose problems.

A somewhat similar tool, GitHub Copilot for Azure Data Studio, is already available, announced during Build 2023.

About the Author

David Ramel is an editor and writer at Converge 360.

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