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You can use GitHub Copilot with your voice in Visual Studio Code by pairing Copilot Chat with Microsoft’s official VS Code Speech extension. It lets you dictate text into the editor, speak prompts to Copilot Chat, and listen to replies. It is not a separate, universal voice mode on GitHub.com: speech recognition comes from VS Code, while Copilot still handles prompts and code through its own service.
What voice can do with Copilot
There are two different ways to use speech while coding:
- Editor dictation: Speech recognition transcribes what you say into the active editor or a supported text field, such as a commit-message box. This is speech-to-text, not code-aware generation.
- Copilot voice chat: Speak a natural-language request to GitHub Copilot Chat. Copilot can explain code, suggest or make changes, draft tests, and answer questions, depending on the chat features available in your setup.
You can also have VS Code read Copilot responses aloud. In supported chat contexts, spoken phrases such as “at workspace” and “slash fix” can invoke chat participants and slash commands. VS Code introduced this speech handling in its 1.87 update; availability can depend on the current interface and configuration.
What you need
- A current installation of Visual Studio Code.
- A GitHub account with access to Copilot, and Copilot Chat available in VS Code. Check GitHub’s VS Code quickstart for sign-in and setup requirements.
- The official GitHub Copilot extension if it is not already installed or available in your VS Code installation.
- The official Microsoft VS Code Speech extension.
- A working microphone and permission for VS Code to use it.
Copilot access and limits depend on your plan and, for managed accounts, organization policy. Voice dictation through VS Code Speech is a separate capability; installing it does not itself grant Copilot access.
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Set up voice in VS Code
- Open VS Code and choose Extensions from the Activity Bar, or open the Extensions view with
Ctrl+Shift+Xon Windows/Linux orShift+Command+Xon macOS. - Search for GitHub Copilot. Install the official extension if needed, then sign in to GitHub when prompted.
- In Extensions, search for VS Code Speech and install the Microsoft-published extension.
- Open a project folder and confirm Copilot Chat is available. If your operating system asks for microphone access, allow it.
- Open Chat and look for the microphone control. The Speech extension adds voice input to supported VS Code chat interfaces, including GitHub Copilot Chat.
If your organization manages your account, an administrator may restrict Copilot Chat. In that case, installing the speech extension will not override the policy.
Dictate into the editor
Place the cursor where you want text to appear, then start dictation using either method:
- Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Alt+V
- macOS: Option+Command+V
- Command Palette: run
Voice: Start Dictation in Editor.
A microphone indicator appears at the cursor while dictation is active. Press Escape or run Voice: Stop Dictation in Editor to stop. Dictation can also be useful in supported rich-text fields, including source-control commit input and pull-request review comments. The exact fields available depend on the VS Code surface you are using.
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For example, you could dictate a requirement such as: “Create a TypeScript function called parseUserId that accepts a string and returns a number or null.” The result is a transcription of your words, not necessarily a valid function. For code, identifiers, capitalization, operators, and punctuation are easy to misrecognize. A reliable approach is to dictate a short specification or comment, then ask Copilot to implement it and inspect the result.
Speak to Copilot Chat
With a supported chat view or editor context available, start voice chat with the shortcut or Command Palette:
- Windows/Linux: Ctrl+I
- macOS: Command+I
- Command Palette: search for
Chat: Start Voice Chat. Other listed commands includeChat: Inline Voice Chat,Chat: Quick Voice Chat, andChat: Voice Chat in Chat View.
The shortcut’s behavior can depend on focus: it may open inline chat in the editor or use the Chat view. Follow the microphone indicator to tell whether recognition is active. You can also select code before asking about it, or mention a file, the current selection, or the workspace in your request.
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Examples of useful spoken prompts:
- “Explain the selected function and identify possible null-handling bugs.”
- “Write unit tests for this class using Vitest.”
- “Refactor this loop into a readable map and filter chain.”
- “At workspace, find API calls that do not handle a 404 response.”
- “Slash fix the TypeScript error in the current file.”
Speech recognition can convert supported spoken phrases such as “at workspace” and “slash fix” into chat syntax. If a phrase is transcribed literally or does not trigger the intended action, check the prompt before sending it and enter the participant or command directly.
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Control pauses, push-to-talk, and spoken replies
Prevent a pause from sending an unfinished prompt
Voice chat can submit a prompt after you pause. If you think while speaking, this may send your request before you have finished. Adjust accessibility.voice.speechTimeout in VS Code Settings or your settings.json. Setting it to 0 disables automatic submission, so you can finish the prompt and send it yourself. A longer timeout gives you more time between phrases, at the cost of waiting longer for submission.
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VS Code also supports press-and-hold use of the voice shortcut. Hold the editor dictation shortcut—Option+Command+V on macOS or Ctrl+Alt+V on Windows/Linux—to keep recognition active; releasing it stops dictation. In voice chat, holding the voice-chat shortcut keeps listening active, and releasing it stops recognition and submits the prompt. This can be convenient for short commands, but holding a key is less practical for a long explanation.
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Optional “Hey Code” activation
VS Code can listen for the phrase “Hey Code” to start a voice-chat session. The setting is accessibility.voice.keywordActivation; check its current control in VS Code Settings because settings and behavior can evolve. When enabled, a microphone indicator appears in the status bar while the feature listens for the activation phrase. This is optional, not a recommended default: an always-listening microphone can raise privacy concerns, use power, distract you, or activate accidentally.
Have replies read aloud
Set accessibility.voice.autoSynthesize to true to have chat responses synthesized after voice input. You can also use a response’s speaker control to play it selectively. Press Escape or use the interface control to interrupt playback. Read-aloud can help with accessibility or let you follow a long explanation without keeping your eyes on the chat pane.
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VS Code’s current voice documentation says the Speech extension supports 26 languages. With accessibility.voice.speechLanguage set to auto, it uses the VS Code display language by default when that language is supported. Language extensions may be installed when speech recognition is first used. Support and recognition quality are not necessarily equal across languages; see the current VS Code voice documentation for settings and availability.
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VS Code documents speech recordings as processed locally on your computer, without an internet connection required for recognition. That does not mean a voice conversation with Copilot stays local: once you send a transcribed prompt, Copilot processes it, along with any relevant code context, under the service, account, and organization policies that apply to your GitHub Copilot use. For those details, consult GitHub’s Copilot documentation and your organization’s rules.
In a shared space, people nearby may hear what you dictate. Avoid speaking passwords, API keys, customer data, or confidential requirements aloud. Treat Copilot’s suggested changes as code to review, test, and security-check—not as verified output.
Troubleshooting voice Copilot
| Symptom | What to check |
|---|---|
| No microphone icon in Copilot Chat | Confirm VS Code Speech is installed and enabled, and that you are in a supported chat interface. Check that Copilot Chat is available and you are signed in. Update VS Code and the extension if necessary; organization policy may disable Chat. |
| VS Code does not hear you | Check operating-system microphone permission, the selected input device, and whether another application is using or controlling the microphone. Confirm the Speech extension is enabled, then reopen VS Code if the microphone control does not appear. |
| Speech is cut off or the prompt sends too soon | Increase accessibility.voice.speechTimeout, set it to 0 to turn off pause-based submission, or use shorter prompts and send them manually. |
| The wrong language is recognized | Check accessibility.voice.speechLanguage and the VS Code display language. Confirm the language is supported and its language extension is available. |
| Code transcription has incorrect symbols or names | Stop dictation and inspect the text. Correct exact identifiers and punctuation manually, or use the transcription as a requirement and ask Copilot to produce code from it. |
| Speech appears in the prompt, but Copilot does not answer | Local transcription may be working while the Copilot service path is not. Check GitHub sign-in, Copilot access or limits, network connectivity, extension status, organization restrictions, and whether the prompt was sent to the intended chat mode. |
When voice is a good fit
Voice is especially useful for explaining what you want, asking about code, dictating comments or documentation, and reducing repeated keyboard input. It can support accessibility needs, but it is not necessarily a complete hands-free workflow: selecting code, navigating, checking diffs, correcting punctuation, approving changes, and running tests may still call for keyboard or mouse input.
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For a short trial, install the free VS Code Speech extension and test it with the Copilot access available to your account. Upgrade only if your Copilot usage limits or required features justify it; dictation itself does not require buying a Copilot plan. The GitHub plans page is the place to check current plan details, since prices, limits, and included features can change.
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