Exercise: Explore Copilot Chat

Objective

Try each Copilot Chat mode, attach context, discover tools, and understand the different ways to send messages.

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Tasks

1. Try Ask Mode

• Open Copilot Chat (⌘ Shift I on macOS / Ctrl Shift I on Windows/Linux)
• Set the mode to Ask (dropdown at the top)
• Ask: What files are in this project?
• Ask: Explain what the HomePage component does

✅ Success: You got helpful answers without any files being modified.

2. Try Edit Mode

• Switch to Edit mode
• Open src/components/HomePage.tsx in the editor
• In the chat, type: Change the page title to "Welcome to My Academy"
• Review the diff that appears — accept or discard the change

✅ Success: You saw a proposed edit and chose whether to apply it.

3. Try Agent Mode

• Switch to Agent mode
• Type: List all the module titles in this project and tell me how many there are
• Watch Copilot read files and reason through the answer

✅ Success: Copilot autonomously explored your project to answer the question.

4. Attach Context

Try each of these attachments in a chat message:

• Type # and select #file — pick any file and ask a question about it
• Open the Simple Browser preview, then type #browser — ask Copilot what it sees
• Type #codebase and ask: Where is the quiz data stored?

✅ Success: You provided context three different ways and got more accurate responses.

5. Discover Available Tools

• In Agent mode, click the toolbox icon (🧰) in the chat input
• Browse the list of available tools
• Note any MCP-provided tools (they'll have a server name prefix)

✅ Success: You can see what tools Copilot has access to in your workspace.

6. Understand Approvals

• In Agent mode, ask Copilot to create a new file: Create a file called test-note.txt with the text "Hello from Copilot"
• When Copilot asks for approval to create the file, click Allow
• Then delete the file manually (right-click in Explorer → Delete)

Now try changing the approval level:

• Click the ▾ dropdown arrow next to the Send button
• Look for approval/trust settings

✅ Success: You experienced the approval flow and know where to adjust it.

7. Practice Send Types

• Type a multi-line message using Shift + Enter for line breaks
• Use the ▾ dropdown next to Send to send a message in a specific mode
• Try sending the same question in Ask mode vs. Agent mode — notice the difference

✅ Success: You used different send methods and understand when each is useful.

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Deliverables

• Asked a question in Ask mode (no edits)
• Made an edit in Edit mode (reviewed the diff)
• Ran an autonomous task in Agent mode
• Attached context using #file, #browser, or #codebase
• Browsed available tools in the toolbox
• Experienced the approval flow for a file creation
• Used Shift+Enter for multi-line input and the Send dropdown

Bonus

• Try switching models mid-conversation — ask the same question with GPT-4o and then Claude Sonnet. Compare the answers.
• If your workspace has an MCP configured (check .vscode/mcp.json), try asking Copilot to use one of its tools.