Guide: Convert GitHub Copilot to an OpenAI-Compatible API

Introduction

This guide explains how to use GitHub Copilot through an API compatible with OpenAI's format. You can either use direct curl commands or the provided automation scripts.

Manual API Usage (Advanced)

Prerequisites

• GitHub account with active Copilot subscription
• Terminal/shell access

About the Client ID

The client_id used in this guide (Iv1.b507a08c87ecfe98) is GitHub Copilot's public application identifier. This is the same for all users - you don't need to obtain your own. It's hardcoded in official Copilot extensions and is safe to use.

Step 1: Get Your Copilot Token

Run these commands in sequence:

1. Request device code:

curl -X POST 'https://github.com/login/device/code' \
-H 'accept: application/json' \
-H 'editor-version: Neovim/0.6.1' \
-H 'editor-plugin-version: copilot.vim/1.16.0' \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
-H 'user-agent: GithubCopilot/1.155.0' \
--compressed \
-d '{"client_id":"Iv1.b507a08c87ecfe98","scope":"read:user"}'

Response explanation: - device_code: Unique identifier for this authentication session - user_code: 8-character code (XXXX-XXXX format) to enter on GitHub - verification_uri: URL where you'll authorize the device - expires_in: Time in seconds before the codes expire (usually 15 minutes) - interval: Minimum seconds to wait between polling attempts

2. Authorize your device:

1. Visit the verification_uri from the response
2. Log in with your GitHub account if prompted
3. Enter the user_code (format: XXXX-XXXX)
4. Confirm authorization for the device

You should see a success message indicating the device is authorized

3. Get access token (run repeatedly until success):

Replace YOUR_DEVICE_CODE with the device_code from past step response. This will generate the access token needed for the next step.

curl -X POST 'https://github.com/login/oauth/access_token' \
-H 'accept: application/json' \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
--compressed \
-d '{"client_id":"Iv1.b507a08c87ecfe98","device_code":"YOUR_DEVICE_CODE","grant_type":"urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:device_code"}'

4. Retrieve final Copilot token:

Replace YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN with the token from past step response:

curl -X GET 'https://api.github.com/copilot_internal/v2/token' \
-H 'authorization: token YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN' \
--compressed

The response includes additional information, but we only need the token field.

Step 2: Make API Requests

Required Headers

For all Copilot API requests, you need these two essential headers: - authorization: Bearer YOUR_COPILOT_TOKEN - Authentication with the token from step 4 - Copilot-Integration-Id: vscode-chat - Identifies the integration type

Completions Endpoint

curl -X POST 'https://api.githubcopilot.com/chat/completions' \
-H 'authorization: Bearer YOUR_COPILOT_TOKEN' \
-H 'Copilot-Integration-Id: vscode-chat' \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
-d '{
  "messages": [
    {
      "role": "user", 
      "content": "Write a Python function to calculate the factorial of a number"
    }
  ],
  "max_tokens": 1000,
  "temperature": 0.3,
  "stream": false
}'

Streaming Support: Add "stream": true to the request body if you want real-time response streaming.

Models Endpoint

Get available Copilot models:

curl -X GET 'https://api.githubcopilot.com/models' \
-H 'authorization: Bearer YOUR_COPILOT_TOKEN' \
-H 'Copilot-Integration-Id: vscode-chat'

Response Handling

Example response from completions endpoint:

{
  "choices": [
    {
      "message": {
        "role": "assistant",
        "content": "def factorial(n):\n    if n == 0 or n == 1:\n        return 1\n    else:\n        return n * factorial(n - 1)"
      },
      "index": 0,
      "finish_reason": "stop"
    }
  ],
  "usage": {
    "prompt_tokens": 15,
    "completion_tokens": 45,
    "total_tokens": 60
  }
}

Example response from models endpoint:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "gpt-4o",
      "object": "model",
      "created": 1234567890,
      "owned_by": "github-copilot"
    }
  ]
}

Important Notes

✔ Token Management: - Tokens expire after 25 minutes - Regenerate tokens as needed

✔ Rate Limits: - GitHub may throttle excessive requests - Suggested: 1 request every 2 seconds

✔ Legal Considerations: - Uses unofficial GitHub endpoints - May violate Copilot Terms of Service - Not recommended for production use

Troubleshooting

🔧 Common Issues: - 401 Unauthorized: Token expired - regenerate - 403 Forbidden: Check token permissions - 429 Too Many Requests: Reduce call frequency

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🚀 Quick Start with OpenAI-Compatible API Servers

This repository provides web servers that expose GitHub Copilot through OpenAI-compatible endpoints. You can use them with any OpenAI client library!

Setup

1. Get your access token following Step 1 below (steps 1-3)
2. Configure: Edit config.json and replace YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN_HERE with your actual token
3. Start a server: Choose Node.js or Python - both provide the same OpenAI-compatible API!

Node.js Server (Port 3000)

npm install
npm start

Python Server (Port 5000)

pip install -r requirements.txt
python server.py

OpenAI-Compatible Endpoints

# Get available models
curl http://localhost:3000/v1/models

# Chat completions
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
    "max_tokens": 1000
  }'

Use with OpenAI Libraries

// JavaScript
import OpenAI from 'openai';
const openai = new OpenAI({
  baseURL: 'http://localhost:3000/v1',
  apiKey: 'dummy-key'
});

# Python
import openai
openai.api_base = "http://localhost:5000/v1"
openai.api_key = "dummy-key"

See examples/web-api-examples.md for detailed examples and client usage.

📚 Available Scripts and Examples

This repository provides multiple ways to interact with GitHub Copilot:

🌐 Web API Servers

• server.js - Node.js/Express server with OpenAI-compatible endpoints
• server.py - Python/Flask server with OpenAI-compatible endpoints
• Best for: Integration with existing applications, web services, OpenAI client libraries
• Documentation: examples/web-api-examples.md

🖥️ CLI Scripts

• copilot-client.js - Node.js command-line client
• copilot_client.py - Python command-line client
• Best for: Quick queries, automation scripts, command-line workflows
• Documentation: examples/cli-usage-examples.md

🔧 Configuration

• config.json - Shared configuration file for access tokens
• test-servers.sh - Testing script for web servers

📖 Examples and Documentation

File	Description
examples/web-api-examples.md	Complete web API usage examples with curl, OpenAI clients, and integration patterns
examples/cli-usage-examples.md	CLI scripts examples with automation and scripting use cases

🚀 Quick Start Options

Option 1: Web API Server

npm start                           # → http://localhost:3000
# or
python server.py                    # → http://localhost:5000

Option 2: CLI Scripts

node copilot-client.js chat "Hello world"
# or  
python copilot_client.py chat "Hello world"

Testing & Health Check

./test-servers.sh                   # Test web servers
curl http://localhost:3000/health   # Health check

🤔 Which Option to Choose?

Use Case	Web API Server	CLI Scripts
Web applications	✅ Perfect	❌ Not suitable
OpenAI client libraries	✅ Drop-in replacement	❌ Not compatible
Quick one-time queries	⚠️ Overkill	✅ Perfect
Automation scripts	⚠️ Extra complexity	✅ Simple & direct
Production services	✅ Scalable & robust	❌ Not recommended
Learning & experimenting	⚠️ More setup	✅ Quick start
Integration with existing tools	✅ Standard HTTP API	⚠️ Custom integration needed

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