An AI pair programmer that offers code suggestions, explains what code does and can write documentation or inline comments.
Read more: Microsoft Learn
In the Ultra Transcenders books
Each book explains GitHub Copilot in context, with comparison tables and the common traps.
Related terms
- Agent mode
Lets GitHub Copilot chat take several steps towards a goal, running tools and queries as you approve them. Don't treat that approval as a security boundary in SSMS 22.7 or later: every query uses the login's own permissions anyway.
- BYOM
Lets SSMS users plug their own models into GitHub Copilot Chat with an API key, whether from Azure, Foundry Local, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google or xAI. It is unavailable on Copilot Business and Enterprise.
- Content exclusion
A GitHub Copilot Business and Enterprise setting that keeps selected files out of Copilot's use. SSMS respects it from version 22.4.1.
- Copilot Free
A no-cost GitHub Copilot plan, which you can join from within SSMS, with a monthly cap on chat requests and completions. Administrators can turn it off through policy.
- Custom instructions
Saves a team from repeating its conventions in every prompt: GitHub Copilot adds Markdown files such as
.github/copilot-instructions.mdto each request on its own. - GitHub Copilot in SSMS
GitHub Copilot integrated into SQL Server Management Studio 22 through the AI Assistance workload, offering chat and code completions, plus agent mode from version 22.7. Any queries it runs use your own login's permissions.
- SSMS Agent mode
A GitHub Copilot mode inside SSMS. Through a local sql-tools MCP server it inspects schema, executes queries and examines execution plans, always as the signed-in person.