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Getting Started (Go)

This guide covers the Go-specific setup: building the CLI and running the tutorial subcommands. For installing the Copilot CLI and authenticating with GitHub — shared by every language edition — follow the common Getting Started guide first.

Prerequisites

Requirement Minimum Version Purpose
Go 1.26+ Runtime and build toolchain
GNU Make latest Build targets
Node.js (npm) or GitHub CLI (gh) latest Installing the Copilot CLI
GitHub Copilot subscription — Required for API access

Verify your Go toolchain:

go version   # go1.26 or later

Build the CLI

The tutorial subcommands are part of the Go CLI. Build it with the project's Makefile:

cd src/go

# Build the CLI into ./dist/
make build

# Show the available tutorial subcommands
./dist/template-github-copilot-go tutorial --help

These subcommands do not require a separately running Copilot CLI server — the SDK starts one for you on demand via stdio. Use --cli-url host:port only if you already have a Copilot CLI running in TCP mode (see CLI Server Mode).

Run Your First Subcommand

cd src/go
./dist/template-github-copilot-go tutorial chat-bot --prompt "What is GitHub Copilot?"

Expected output (streaming):

GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered coding assistant developed by GitHub and OpenAI...

Global Flags

The root command exposes a global --verbose/-v flag (inherited by every subcommand) that lowers the log level to DEBUG, surfacing diagnostic logs such as the Copilot client connection mode and session lifecycle:

./dist/template-github-copilot-go tutorial chat-bot --verbose --prompt "Hello!"

The tutorial command also exposes persistent OpenTelemetry flags inherited by all tutorial subcommands. They default to the matching environment variables, and telemetry remains disabled when no endpoint is provided:

Flag Environment variable Purpose
--otel-endpoint OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT OTLP HTTP endpoint, for example http://localhost:4318
--otel-capture-content OTEL_INSTRUMENTATION_GENAI_CAPTURE_MESSAGE_CONTENT Optional true/false to capture prompt and response content in spans
--otel-bsp-schedule-delay OTEL_BSP_SCHEDULE_DELAY Optional span batch flush interval in milliseconds

Example:

./dist/template-github-copilot-go tutorial chat-bot \
  --otel-endpoint http://localhost:4318 \
  --otel-bsp-schedule-delay 500 \
  --prompt "Hello!"

Project Layout

src/go/cmd/tutorial/
├── README.md      # Subcommand index (points to these docs)
├── tutorial.go    # `tutorial` parent command group
└── chatbot.go     # Tutorial 1: CLI chatbot (chat-bot subcommand)

Environment Variables

The Go CLI relies on the common Copilot variables (COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN, COPILOT_CLI_PATH, COPILOT_CLI_URL) documented in the common Getting Started. OpenTelemetry can additionally be configured with the standard OTEL_* variables listed above, or with the equivalent tutorial flags.

Next Steps

Now that your environment is ready, work through the tutorials:

  1. CLI Chatbot — build your first Copilot-powered Go program