Integrate Github Copilot with Strapi

These integration guides are not official documentation and the Strapi Support Team will not provide assistance with them.

What Is GitHub Copilot?

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered coding assistant that integrates directly into your development environment to provide real-time code suggestions and conversational help. Developed by GitHub in collaboration with OpenAI, it leverages advanced language models to understand context from your codebase and generate relevant code.

Here's what Copilot offers developers working with Strapi:

• Inline suggestions appear as "ghost text" while you type, proposing complete lines or blocks of code based on surrounding context
• Copilot Chat provides a conversational interface in supported IDEs, allowing you to ask technical questions and receive explanations
• Multi-file editing capabilities streamline changes across your codebase
• Autonomous coding features for accepting GitHub issue assignments and creating pull requests

Copilot supports numerous programming languages and integrates with major IDEs including Visual Studio Code (version 1.74.0 or later), Visual Studio (2022 version 17.4.4 or later), JetBrains IDEs (version 2023.1 or later), Neovim, Vim, and Xcode. For JavaScript and TypeScript development, common in Strapi projects, it performs particularly well due to extensive training data from public repositories.

Why Integrate GitHub Copilot with Strapi

Strapi v5 development involves significant boilerplate: defining content-type schemas with attribute types and relations, creating controllers that extend core controllers and handle HTTP requests, writing services that implement business logic, and building comprehensive test suites.

According to the Strapi productivity guide and multiple developer productivity studies, GitHub Copilot addresses this repetitive work by generating common patterns from descriptive comments or partial implementations, with developers reporting up to 30% time savings on development tasks.

You save time by letting Copilot handle repetitive coding patterns, faster iteration cycles when prototyping new API endpoints, and shifting cognitive focus toward architectural decisions rather than syntax.

For instance, when creating a new content-type, Copilot can suggest the entire schema structure after you type the opening comment describing your data model. According to code quality research, Copilot can improve overall code functionality and reviewer-assessed readability, and may sometimes suggest useful validation and error-handling patterns, but direct evidence for a reduction in logic errors or improvements being specifically due to better code structure or validation suggestions remains limited.

Beyond time savings, Copilot serves as an interactive learning tool for developers new to Strapi v5. Suggestions expose v5-specific patterns like the document service API and response structures, helping teams transition from v4 or learn Strapi conventions without constant documentation reference.

Code review becomes essential when Copilot suggests patterns from its training data that may reflect v4 conventions incompatible with Strapi's architecture. Use Copilot strategically: generate boilerplate quickly, then apply framework expertise to ensure code follows Strapi v5 conventions and implements security correctly.

How to Integrate GitHub Copilot with Strapi

Integrating GitHub Copilot with your Strapi development workflow requires environment setup, IDE configuration, and strategic context provision to ensure suggestions match Strapi v5 patterns. The process takes approximately 15-20 minutes for initial setup, with ongoing optimization as you establish project-specific patterns.

Prerequisites

You need a GitHub Copilot subscription to use the service. GitHub offers Copilot Free (2,000 code completions and 50 chat requests monthly), Copilot Pro ($10/month with unlimited IDE completions and 300 premium requests monthly), Copilot Business ($19/user/month), or Copilot Enterprise ($39/user/month).

The Free tier works for initial evaluation but hits limits quickly for typical development work—a single day of coding can exhaust the 2,000 completion quota. The Pro tier removes this friction for most daily active coding workflows, making it a practical upgrade for regular use. (Note: A Pro+ tier with additional premium requests is also available for individuals at $39/month.)

Your IDE must meet version requirements:

• Visual Studio Code needs version 1.104.1 or later
• JetBrains IDEs require the GitHub Copilot plugin version 1.5.61 or later
• Neovim needs 0.6 or later
• Vim requires version 9.0.0185 or later

Strapi v5 officially supports Node.js v20 (LTS) or Node.js v22. Ensure your development environment matches these versions before beginning integration.

Network access to your specific Copilot subscription endpoints (such as *.business.githubcopilot.com or *.enterprise.githubcopilot.com) is essential according to the latest GitHub installation guides. Your firewall or proxy must allow these endpoints, along with any editor-specific requirements outlined in the documentation.

Installing and Activating GitHub Copilot in Your IDE

For Visual Studio Code, open the Extensions view with Ctrl+Shift+X (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+X (macOS). Search for "GitHub Copilot" and install the official extension published by GitHub. After installation, click the Copilot icon in the status bar (bottom-right corner) and select "Sign in to GitHub." This opens your browser for GitHub authentication, as detailed in VS Code's setup guide.

Configure Copilot for your Strapi workspace by adding this to your workspace .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "github.copilot.enable": {
    "*": true,
    "javascript": true,
    "typescript": true,
    "yaml": true,
    "markdown": true,
    "json": true
  }
}

For JetBrains IDEs (2023.1+), install via Settings → Plugins → GitHub Copilot and authenticate through Tools → GitHub Copilot → Login. Neovim users can install github/copilot.vim via any plugin manager (e.g., vim-plug, packer) or the built-in packpath, then run :Copilot setup.

Verify installation by creating a new JavaScript file and typing a comment like // function to calculate sum of array. Copilot should display ghost text suggesting the function implementation.

Providing Context for Strapi v5 Development

GitHub Copilot effectiveness with Strapi v5 depends heavily on careful context engineering and manual code review. You can establish this context through three methods:

• Opening relevant Strapi files simultaneously exposes project structure to Copilot
• Writing descriptive comments specifying Strapi v5 patterns guides code generation
• Creating custom instruction files documents conventions across your team

Organize your workspace to expose Strapi's structure to Copilot. Create a .github/copilot-instructions.md file documenting project-specific patterns—such as createCoreController and createCoreService factories, the strapi.documents() API, and { data, meta } response structures—so Copilot can better understand your codebase, following GitHub's general guidance to provide repository context in custom instructions.

Write detailed comments before functions: "Create article using Strapi v5 entity service API with author relation, validate required fields, and sanitize output with HTTP status codes."

When Copilot suggests code, verify it uses current v5 APIs. Check that services use strapi.documents() rather than older entity service methods. For consistency with core APIs, controllers may return { data, meta } structures, but this is not strictly required.

Using Inline Completions for Strapi Schemas and Routes

Inline completions appear as ghost text while you type, suggesting code based on surrounding context and comments. To generate a Strapi content-type schema, open src/api/article/content-types/article/schema.json and write a descriptive comment:

// Strapi v5 content-type schema for blog articles
// File: src/api/article/content-types/article/schema.json

{
  "kind": "collectionType",
  "collectionName": "articles",
  "info": {
    "singularName": "article",
    "pluralName": "articles",
    "displayName": "Article"
  },
  "options": {
    "draftAndPublish": true
  },
  "attributes": {
    "title": {
      "type": "string",
      "required": true,
      "minLength": 3
    },
    "slug": {
      "type": "uid",
      "targetField": "title"
    },
    "content": {
      "type": "richtext",
      "required": true
    },
    "author": {
      "type": "relation",
      "relation": "manyToOne",
      "target": "plugin::users-permissions.user",
      "inversedBy": "articles"
    }
  }
}

As you type each attribute, Copilot suggests appropriate validation rules and type configurations. Press Tab to accept suggestions, Alt+] for the next option, or Escape to dismiss.

Generating Boilerplate with Copilot Chat

Copilot Chat accelerates scaffolding by generating complete file structures from natural language prompts. Open Copilot Chat in your IDE and describe the component you need with Strapi v5-specific requirements.

For example, prompt: "Create a complete Strapi v5 custom API for user analytics, including routes with GET /articles/search and POST /articles/:id/publish endpoints, controller with error handling using strapi.entityService, and service layer with business logic. Use Strapi v5 conventions with createCoreController factory and try-catch error handling."

Copilot generates the complete file structure with imports, factory functions, and method implementations. Review the output carefully. Verify it uses strapi.entityService.findMany() for queries, handles errors with appropriate HTTP status codes, and follows your project's patterns.

For plugin development, use a folder structure with server-side subfolders like routes/index.js, controllers/, services/, and config/index.js inside your plugin. The main server/index.js should export a function returning an object with optional register() and bootstrap() methods, along with other plugin components, following the conventions in the official documentation.

GitHub Copilot Chat enables progressive development workflows through iterative prompting. After generating initial code, refine with follow-up prompts like "Add Yup validation" or "Include pagination patterns."

Use the /tests slash command to generate test cases. In the chat interface, type /tests using the Jest framework while viewing a controller file. Copilot suggests test suites with setup, teardown, and assertions, as described in GitHub's testing tutorial.

Writing Unit Tests with Copilot Assistance

Developers can use GitHub Copilot to help generate Jest and Supertest test cases for Strapi v5 by providing natural language prompts and leveraging general-purpose slash commands.

Create tests/api/article/article.test.js and provide test context with descriptive comments explaining the test requirements. Copilot generates the test structure with Jest's lifecycle hooks (beforeAll, afterAll, beforeEach, afterEach) and individual test cases with assertions.

For integration tests using Supertest, write comments describing endpoint behavior. Use GitHub Copilot to generate test cases for Strapi v5 controllers using Jest and Supertest, ensuring tests use Strapi's test database configuration with beforeAll, afterAll, and beforeEach hooks.

When testing custom services, Copilot helps generate mock data and assertions. Generated tests include Jest matchers like toEqual(), toBeDefined(), and toHaveLength().

Project Example: Build a Developer Documentation Portal with GitHub Copilot and Strapi

This example demonstrates integrating GitHub Copilot throughout the development process of a production-ready documentation portal. You'll create content types for articles and categories, build custom search endpoints, implement versioning logic, and deploy the complete system using AI assistance at each stage. The project illustrates practical workflows applicable to any Strapi application, from initial scaffolding through production deployment.

Building a developer documentation portal with Strapi v5 requires systematic implementation of specific architectural components:

• Parent/child category relationships through self-referential relations
• Version-specific article display through a dedicated version content-type with isLatest boolean fields
• Full-text search using $containsi filters
• Code snippet components as repeatable components with language enumeration
• Custom API endpoints through Strapi routes and controllers

These components work together to create a scalable documentation system that supports multiple versions, hierarchical content organization, and efficient content discovery.

The development process follows seven stages that demonstrate key Copilot integration techniques: project initialization with database configuration, content-type schema definitions using inline completions, custom API endpoint implementation through Copilot Chat, search strategy implementation with native filters or Algolia integration, versioning logic with lifecycle management for automatic latest version tracking, comprehensive testing with Jest and Supertest, and deployment preparation with Docker containerization.

Each stage showcases specific prompting strategies, context engineering approaches, and code review practices that maximize Copilot's effectiveness while maintaining Strapi v5 convention compliance.

The resulting system provides a fully functional CMS backend with robust version management, hierarchical category navigation, full-text search capabilities, and authentication controls. This architectural pattern extends beyond documentation portals to any content-heavy application requiring version control, complex relationships, and advanced search functionality.

Through systematic Copilot integration at each development stage, teams can significantly reduce boilerplate generation time while learning Strapi v5 best practices through AI-suggested patterns.

Step 1: Initialize Strapi Project with Copilot Assistance

Run npx create-strapi@latest docs-portal --typescript to create a new Strapi v5 project with TypeScript. During initialization, select PostgreSQL as your database and custom installation to configure environment variables. The initialization process creates the complete project structure, including API folders, configuration files, and database connection setup. This takes 2-3 minutes depending on your network speed and system performance.

Step 2: Create Documentation Content Types

Start by generating the article content-type schema using inline completions. Create src/api/article/content-types/article/schema.json with required attributes: title (string), slug (uid auto-generated from title), content (richtext), excerpt (text), category (many-to-one relation), versions (many-to-many relation), repeatable code snippet components, and SEO component. Next, build the category and version content types with self-referential parent/child relationships and isLatest boolean flags.

Step 3: Build Custom API Endpoints

Copilot Chat accelerates custom route scaffolding: "Generate Strapi v5 custom routes for article API with GET /articles/search accepting query params for search term, category, and version filters." Then generate the corresponding controller methods with input validation, entity service queries, population of related fields, pagination support, and error handling.

Step 4: Implement Search and Versioning Logic

From here, add lifecycle hooks for automatic version management. Create src/api/version/content-types/version/lifecycles.js and prompt Copilot: "Generate Strapi v5 lifecycle hooks that validate version number format in beforeCreate and set isLatest to false for other versions when one is marked latest in afterCreate/afterUpdate." Implement full-text search using Strapi's REST API filter operators or integrate the Algolia integration.

Step 5: Test and Deploy

Testing requires comprehensive test suites, which must be set up manually with standard tools such as Jest and Supertest, although GitHub Copilot can assist by generating code snippets for tests. Create integration tests that verify search endpoints, versioning logic, category hierarchy navigation, and authentication protection. Configure Docker deployment with multi-stage builds, set up environment variables, enable Redis caching, and configure a CDN for media asset delivery.

Strapi Open Office Hours

If you have any questions about Strapi 5 or just would like to stop by and say hi, you can join us at Strapi's Discord Open Office Hours, Monday through Friday, from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm CST: Strapi Discord Open Office Hours.
For more details, visit the Strapi documentation and Github Copilot documentation.