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Change three things before using an AI coding tool on sensitive work: decide whether your interactions may be used to improve models, narrow which repositories and files it can index, and limit what agents, connected tools, or cloud sessions can access. These are separate controls. Turning off model training does not necessarily stop repository indexing, and an ignore rule may not protect files from every agent or workflow. The right settings depend on your account type, organization policy, repository, and the particular IDE, command-line interface, or agent you use.
What privacy settings should you review first?
Start by tracing the tool’s access in three separate directions: how submitted content may be used after a request, what code the tool can search or retrieve, and what the tool itself can reach while it works. A setting that addresses one direction should not be treated as a guarantee about the others.
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- Indexing and retrieval: Which repositories and workspace files can the assistant search? Does indexing happen automatically, and is non-hosted workspace content uploaded?
- Execution and connected access: Can an agent read or change files, use network access, call connected tools or MCP servers, or run in a cloud environment?
Before changing a setting, identify whether you are signed in with a personal or managed account, check your organization’s policy, and note the exact product surface you use. A preference in an account page may not change an administrator-controlled setting, and a policy for IDE chat may not cover the CLI or an agent mode.
Does an AI coding tool use my code to train models?
It depends on the provider and plan; there is no universal default. Check the product’s current policy and the controls available to your account rather than assuming that a paid subscription, business account, or local-looking interface automatically prevents model-improvement use.
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GitHub Copilot
GitHub says that, beginning April 24, 2026, interactions from individual Copilot Free, Pro, Pro+, and Max plans may be used for training and improvement. For an individual account, inspect Copilot settings and set Allow GitHub to use my data for AI model training to Disabled if you do not consent. GitHub says Business and Enterprise customer data is not used for this purpose without customer authorization; the personal switch is not shown on those plans. These statements describe GitHub’s plan-specific policy, not the defaults of other coding assistants.
OpenAI Codex
OpenAI says ChatGPT training-data controls apply to content processed through Codex. Its Help Center says Pro and Plus conversations may be used to improve models unless training is turned off, while business products have different defaults. If you use Codex, review the training controls for the relevant ChatGPT account or workspace and confirm which account is active before sending sensitive work. A managed account’s policy may differ from a personal account’s.
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Disabling model-improvement use answers a specific question about downstream use. It does not, by itself, establish whether a coding tool indexes a repository, sends context to fulfill a request, or lets an agent access files and connected services.
Does Copilot index my repository?
GitHub says Copilot Chat’s repository-context feature automatically indexes the repository. GitHub also states, “Copilot will not use your indexed repository for model training.” That distinction matters: indexing supports retrieval for responses, whereas the statement about model training concerns a separate use. An opt-out from training should not be read as an indexing opt-out.
Indexing can also involve workspaces outside GitHub. GitHub says VS Code semantic indexing of non-GitHub workspaces uploads data to GitHub. For managed Business and Enterprise seats, that feature is disabled unless an organization or enterprise owner explicitly enables it. If you work outside a GitHub-hosted repository, check whether semantic indexing is enabled and whether the workspace’s files or metadata are sent as part of it.
Limit repository scope for cloud agents
For a personal Copilot account, the cloud-agent Repository access control offers No repositories, All repositories, or Only selected repositories. If the agent is only needed for a few projects, select only those repositories rather than granting access to everything. If you do not use the cloud agent, choose the no-repository option where available and review other access controls separately.
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Repository access is not the same as a file exclusion. A repository-level permission determines which projects the agent can access; an exclusion attempts to limit particular paths or content within an eligible workflow. You may need both controls, and neither should be assumed to cover every tool or execution surface.
How do I exclude .env files from Copilot?
For Copilot Business and Enterprise, GitHub documents content exclusion controls at repository, organization, and enterprise scopes. Administrators can use them for sensitive files such as .env files and files named for secrets. Organization rules can also address files outside Git repositories. These are owner or administrator controls; do not assume the same feature is available as a personal-plan setting.
- Remove secrets from the working context first. Do not rely on an AI-tool exclusion as the only protection for credentials, tokens, private keys, or confidential configuration. Keep secrets out of tracked files and avoid opening or attaching them in a prompt when they are not needed.
- Ask an organization or repository owner to configure the documented exclusion. Choose the narrowest scope that reliably covers the sensitive paths: repository, organization, or enterprise. Include secret files and confidential directories relevant to the project.
- Check the exact workflow you use. GitHub says Copilot CLI and IDE Copilot Chat Agent mode do not support content exclusion. An exclusion that works for one supported experience should not be presumed to work in those modes or in another connected tool.
- Allow time for settings to propagate, then verify. GitHub says changes can take up to 30 minutes to reach IDEs that already loaded settings. Reload the applicable IDE settings before checking again.
GitHub’s documented verification procedure compares inline suggestions in a normal file with suggestions in an excluded file, then checks whether Chat can use an excluded file when it is attached as context. Treat this as a workflow-specific check, not proof that every route to the information is blocked.
Do content exclusions protect every agent and tool?
No. GitHub explicitly says content exclusion is unsupported in Copilot CLI and IDE Copilot Chat Agent mode. Its documentation also describes limitations involving indirect semantic information in an IDE, symlinks, and remote filesystems. An exclusion therefore is not a universal security boundary for all ways a coding assistant might encounter data.
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Devin Desktop documents a different mechanism: a repository-root .devinignore can exclude additional paths from indexing and agent access, beyond its default ignore rules. It also documents a global .codeiumignore for enterprise users. Those documented semantics are specific to Devin Desktop and should not be transferred to Copilot or another product. Confirm the exact product, feature, and account type before relying on an ignore file.
For any tool, consider possible paths beyond ordinary file search: a file may be explicitly attached to chat, included in a prompt, surfaced through an IDE feature, reached through a symlink or remote filesystem, or made accessible to a connected service. The evidence for one exclusion feature does not establish how these other paths behave. Keep sensitive information out of the workspace or workflow when the tool’s boundary is unclear.
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What permissions should I restrict for agents and cloud sessions?
Give an agent only the access needed for the task. A narrow repository list, limited connected tools, and disabled features you do not use reduce unnecessary access, though they do not replace your organization’s security controls.
Copilot
If you do not need them, restrict cloud-agent repository access, partner agents, and web search. Review these independently: restricting repository access does not necessarily disable partner agents or search, and turning off search does not remove repository permissions. Copilot’s Suggestions matching public code choice is another distinct setting. Where supported, it controls whether suggestions matching public code are blocked; it concerns possible output resemblance, not input processing, indexing, or repository access.
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Before running Codex on sensitive work, review sandbox mode, network access, project trust, inherited environment variables, and enabled MCP servers or other tools. These controls affect what the task can reach or do during execution. In particular, access to network services, environment variables, or connected tools can expose resources beyond the source files you intended to discuss.
OpenAI documents that Codex local workflows run on the device, while cloud tasks run in OpenAI-managed environments. The execution location alone does not establish what data is sent in a request or what content is processed to complete it. Consider the task’s prompts, context, permissions, and connected services along with whether it runs locally or in the cloud.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How can I verify the settings are actually taking effect?
Verify each control in the same product surface and account where you plan to work. A setting that appears correct in an account page is not enough if an organization policy, a different signed-in identity, or an unsupported agent mode changes the behavior.
- Confirm identity and policy: Check whether the active account is personal, Business, Enterprise, or another managed account. Ask the workspace owner which policies apply if the setting is absent or locked.
- Confirm the feature: Identify whether you are using IDE suggestions, chat, Agent mode, CLI, a cloud agent, or a connected tool. Check documented exclusions for that exact surface.
- Reload and retest: After changing content exclusions, reload settings in an already-running IDE and account for GitHub’s stated propagation time of up to 30 minutes. Use the normal-file versus excluded-file checks GitHub documents for supported workflows.
- Check for alternate routes: Review attached context, remote workspaces, symlinks, semantic indexing, and enabled integrations. Do not treat an exclusion test in one interface as evidence about every route.
- Keep permissions narrow: Revisit repository selection and connected tools when projects or responsibilities change. Remove access that is no longer required.
If a test gives an unexpected result, stop using the tool with sensitive files until the account policy and workflow are clear. Ask the organization owner to confirm the effective setting; do not resolve uncertainty by assuming that a control applies more broadly than its documentation says.
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What should you change before your next coding session?
For personal Copilot, review the model-training control and limit cloud-agent repository access to the projects you need. For managed Copilot, ask an owner about training authorization and configure content exclusions at the appropriate administrative scope. For Codex, check the applicable ChatGPT training controls plus sandbox, network, trust, environment, and MCP settings. In either product, keep secrets out of context, confirm the feature-specific limits, and verify exclusions in the workflow you actually use.
The safest practical approach is layered: control model-improvement use, reduce indexed and retrievable scope, restrict execution permissions, and avoid placing credentials or unnecessary confidential files where an assistant can reach them. No single toggle should be treated as proof that a provider never receives code or that every agent is unable to access it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does Copilot repository indexing take?
GitHub says initial indexing of a large repository may take up to 60 seconds. That is a possible indexing time, not a privacy or security measure, and it does not indicate how long other repositories or workflows will take.
What does Copilot’s public-code matching setting do?
Where supported, it controls whether suggestions matching public code are blocked. GitHub describes a comparison against about 150 characters of surrounding code for a suggestion; that output-matching check is not a setting for repository indexing or model-training use.
Does Codex Computer Use include screenshots in training-data controls?
OpenAI says its ChatGPT training-data controls apply to content processed through Codex, including screenshots taken by Computer Use. The applicable account or workspace controls still determine the policy for your use.
Can an organization make a personal Copilot exclusion setting for me?
Copilot Business and Enterprise content exclusions are documented as repository-, organization-, and enterprise-level controls managed by owners or administrators. If you use a personal account, do not assume those managed-plan controls are available to you.
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