Kayla Cinnamon guides developers on making Windows Terminal highly personalized for coding, highlighting GitHub Copilot CLI setup, custom profiles, and integrating useful prompt features.

Making Windows Terminal Awesome with GitHub Copilot CLI

Kayla Cinnamon offers practical advice for developers seeking to enhance their Windows Terminal setup and streamline command-line development with GitHub Copilot CLI.

Why Personalize Windows Terminal?

Windows Terminal provides flexibility for developers to tailor the environment, making coding more efficient and enjoyable. Personalization ranges from backgrounds and pane layouts to advanced prompt styling.

Using GitHub Copilot CLI in Terminal

  • GitHub Copilot CLI enables conversational code assistance straight from the terminal, eliminating the need for IDEs.
  • Useful for troubleshooting unfamiliar languages, running shell commands, and automating repetitive tasks during development.
  • Installation: Run npm install -g @github/copilot globally, then launch with copilot.
npm install -g @github/copilot
  • The CLI offers prompt-based command suggestions and even helps with shell-specific tasks like managing PowerShell history.

Always Show Copilot Banner

  • Force the Copilot banner on each launch by:
    1. Setting "banner": "always" in the config.json (C:\Users\USERNAME\.copilot\config.json or ~/.copilot/config.json for WSL).
    2. Using copilot --banner flag manually.

Running Shell Commands in Copilot CLI

  • Prepend shell commands with ! to execute within Copilot CLI, staying in the Copilot context.

Terminal Customizations

Create a Copilot CLI Profile

  • Duplicate your PowerShell profile and update name, icon, and starting directory.
  • Add -c copilot to command line settings to auto-launch Copilot CLI:
"C:\Program Files\PowerShell\7\pwsh.exe" -c copilot

Utilize Pane Functionality

  • Open additional panes per profile (Alt + profile select), close with Ctrl + Shift + W.

Restore Tabs on Relaunch

  • Enable “Restore window layout and content” in Startup settings for continuity.

Custom Backgrounds & Retro Effects

  • Apply backgrounds per profile or globally via Appearance settings.
  • Enable “Retro terminal effects” for a glowing aesthetic and scan lines.

Prompt Customizations with Oh My Posh

  • Enhance prompt appearance and info with Oh My Posh.
  • Install via winget install JanDeDobbeleer.OhMyPosh --source winget.
  • Download a Nerd Font for full glyph support.
  • Choose and apply themes, add segments for Git info, npm, React, or even your Spotify song.

Display GitHub Copilot Usage Stats

  • In Oh My Posh v28.1.0+, add the Copilot segment to show premium and chat quota:
{
  "type": "copilot",
  "template": "  {{ .Premium.Percent.Gauge }} ",
  "cache": { "duration": "5m", "strategy": "session" },
  "properties": { "http_timeout": 1000 }
}
  • Authenticate with oh-my-posh auth copilot to enable stats.

Additional Resources

Connect

Reach out to Kayla Cinnamon on Bluesky or X for questions.

Get the most out of your terminal command line and let your coding environment truly work for you!

This post appeared first on “Microsoft Blog”. Read the entire article here