Native GitHub Copilot inline completions
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Assessment
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100
Research direction
Start by reading CodeFileDocument and CodeFileView, then trace the CopilotClient, CopilotService, CopilotProtocol, CopilotInlineCompletionProvider, and CopilotBinaryResolver entry points. Check the CodeEditTextView and CodeEditSourceEditor dependency versions and run the app with the documented local branches. Done means the package pins support the integration, CI builds, and the Settings sign-in flow and Tab-accepted ghost text work end to end.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Description
Description
Add native GitHub Copilot inline completions to CodeEdit: as you type, the editor shows AI ghost text suggestions and accepts them with Tab. This is the app-level integration that ties together the inline suggestion rendering (CodeEditTextView) and the inline completion coordination layer (CodeEditSourceEditor).
What it adds:
- A Copilot language-server client and service (
CopilotClient,CopilotService,CopilotProtocol) that launches and talks to the officialcopilot-language-serverover LSP, including device-flow sign-in, status, and document sync. - A per-document
CopilotInlineCompletionProviderthat conforms to the editor'sInlineCompletionDelegate, maps the caret to an LSP position, requests completions, strips already-typed prefixes, and adapts results into the editor's ghost-text model. - A
CopilotBinaryResolverthat locatescopilot-language-server(explicit path,PATH, or common install dirs) and builds a launch environment that can findnode(including nvm-managed installs), since the server is a Node script. - A Settings page (enable toggle, device-flow sign-in UI, optional language-server path) and a status bar item reflecting Copilot state.
- Wiring in
CodeFileDocument/CodeFileViewto attach the provider per open document.
Design notes:
- Suggestions render as ghost text via the
CodeEditTextViewoverlay primitive and never mutate the document until accepted. - Disabled by default; opt-in via Settings. Requires a GitHub Copilot subscription.
Alternatives Considered
- A plugin/extension instead of a built-in. CodeEdit does not yet have an extension API surface for inline completions, and the integration needs the editor's cursor/lifecycle hooks, so a built-in (opt-in, behind settings) is the practical option today.
- Driving the suggestion lifecycle in the app rather than the editor. Rejected; the request/accept/dismiss lifecycle lives in
CodeEditSourceEditor(see the dependency below), and the app only supplies a concrete provider.
Additional Context
This is the top layer of a three-repo change for native inline completions:
CodeEditTextView: inline suggestion (ghost text) rendering primitive (CodeEditApp/CodeEditTextView#124, PR CodeEditApp/CodeEditTextView#125).CodeEditSourceEditor: inline completion coordination layer (CodeEditApp/CodeEditSourceEditor#374, PR CodeEditApp/CodeEditSourceEditor#375).CodeEdit(this issue): the GitHub Copilot provider and UI.
I have a working, documented implementation. Locally it builds and runs against the two dependency branches via a workspace that references local checkouts, and I have verified end to end against the real copilot-language-server (device-flow sign-in and inline ghost text that accepts with Tab). The package pins for CodeEditTextView / CodeEditSourceEditor need bumping to the releases that include layers 1 and 2 before this can build in CI. Would the maintainers welcome native Copilot support in CodeEdit?
Screenshots
I will attach a screen recording of the device-flow sign-in and inline ghost text on the PR.
- Dominant language
- Swift
- Stars
- 23k
- Forks
- 1.2k
- PR merge metrics
- No merged PRs in 30d
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
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