How to Use Shell Command Generation in GitHub Copilot CLI

GitHub Copilot CLI transforms how you interact with the command line by letting you describe what you want to accomplish in plain English. Instead of memorizing complex syntax, flags, and options, you simply tell Copilot what you need, and it generates the appropriate shell command.

Introduction to Shell Command Generation

Shell command generation bridges the gap between knowing what you want to do and knowing how to do it. Whether you are a beginner learning the command line or an experienced developer who occasionally forgets obscure flags, Copilot CLI acts as your command-line translator.

The key advantage is context awareness. Copilot understands your current directory, your shell type, your operating system, and even the files present in your workspace. This context enables it to generate commands tailored to your specific environment.

Basic Usage Examples

Start an interactive Copilot session and describe your task:

copilot> find all JavaScript files modified in the last week

Copilot responds with the appropriate command:

find . -name "*.js" -mtime -7

File Operations

Common file operation requests and their generated commands:

copilot> show the 20 largest files in this directory
du -ah . | sort -rh | head -20

copilot> count all lines of code in Python files
find . -name "*.py" -exec wc -l {} + | tail -1

copilot> compress the logs folder into a dated archive
tar -czvf logs-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz logs/

Git Commands

Git operations become conversational:

copilot> show commits from the last 3 days with stats
git log --since="3 days ago" --stat

copilot> undo my last commit but keep the changes
git reset --soft HEAD~1

copilot> find which commit introduced a specific line
git log -p -S "function processPayment" --source --all

System Information

Gather system details without memorizing tools:

copilot> show memory usage by process
ps aux --sort=-%mem | head -20

copilot> check disk space on all mounted drives
df -h

copilot> list all listening network ports
lsof -i -P -n | grep LISTEN

Complex Command Generation

Copilot excels at generating complex commands involving pipes, loops, and conditionals that would otherwise require significant research.

Pipe Operations

Chain multiple commands together:

copilot> find all TODO comments in source files and count by file
grep -r "TODO" --include="*.ts" . | cut -d: -f1 | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

copilot> extract unique IP addresses from access log and count occurrences
awk '{print $1}' access.log | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -20

Loops and Batch Processing

Process multiple files or items:

copilot> rename all .jpeg files to .jpg
for f in *.jpeg; do mv "$f" "${f%.jpeg}.jpg"; done

copilot> convert all PNG images to WebP format
for img in *.png; do cwebp "$img" -o "${img%.png}.webp"; done

Conditional Operations

Execute commands based on conditions:

copilot> delete node_modules folders older than 30 days
find . -name "node_modules" -type d -mtime +30 -exec rm -rf {} +

copilot> backup files only if they changed today
find . -mtime 0 -exec cp {} backup/ \;

Understanding and Explaining Commands

Before executing an unfamiliar command, ask Copilot to explain it:

copilot> explain this command: awk '{sum+=$5} END {print sum}' file.txt

Copilot provides a breakdown:

This awk command:
- Processes file.txt line by line
- Adds the 5th field ($5) of each line to a variable 'sum'
- After processing all lines (END), prints the total sum

Useful for: Summing numeric values in columnar data

You can also request safer alternatives:

copilot> is this command safe: rm -rf /*

Copilot warns you about dangerous operations and suggests safer patterns.

Executing vs Copying Commands

Copilot CLI offers multiple execution modes:

Suggest Mode (Default)

Commands are displayed for review before execution:

copilot> delete all .tmp files

Suggested command:
find . -name "*.tmp" -delete

[Execute] [Modify] [Cancel]

Direct Execution

For trusted operations, execute immediately:

copilot> !ls -la
# The ! prefix executes shell commands directly

Copy to Clipboard

When you want to save or modify a command:

copilot> generate a command to sync folders with rsync
# Select "Copy" to add the command to your clipboard

Shell-Specific Generation

Copilot adapts commands to your shell environment:

Bash and Zsh

Standard Unix shell syntax with proper quoting:

copilot> create an alias for common git status
alias gs='git status'

PowerShell

Windows-native commands when appropriate:

copilot> list all running processes using more than 100MB memory
Get-Process | Where-Object {$_.WorkingSet64 -gt 100MB} | Sort-Object WorkingSet64 -Descending

Fish Shell

Fish-compatible syntax when detected:

copilot> set an environment variable permanently
set -Ux MY_VAR "value"

Common Use Cases

Finding Files and Content

copilot> find config files containing "database"
grep -rl "database" --include="*.config" --include="*.json" .

copilot> locate the largest log files
find /var/log -type f -name "*.log" -exec ls -lh {} + | sort -k5 -rh | head -10

Processing Data

copilot> extract email addresses from a file
grep -oE "[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}" input.txt

copilot> convert CSV to JSON
jq -R -s 'split("\n") | .[1:-1] | map(split(","))' data.csv

Managing Services

copilot> restart nginx and check its status
sudo systemctl restart nginx && systemctl status nginx

copilot> show all failed systemd services
systemctl --failed

Tips for Better Command Generation

1. Be specific about your goal: Instead of "list files," say "list files larger than 10MB sorted by size"

2. Include constraints: Mention file types, time ranges, or size limits upfront

3. Specify output format: Request "as a table" or "in JSON format" when needed

4. Reference your context: Say "in the current project" or "for this git repository"

5. Ask for dry-run options: Request commands that preview changes before making them

Safety Considerations

Always exercise caution with generated commands:

• Review before executing: Especially commands using rm, mv, or chmod
• Test with dry-run flags: Many commands support --dry-run or -n options
• Start with small scope: Test on a single file before running on entire directories
• Understand wildcards: Verify glob patterns match only intended files
• Check destructive operations: Commands that delete or overwrite should be double-checked
• Use version control: Ensure important files are committed before bulk operations

When uncertain, ask Copilot to explain what a command does or to add safety checks to the command itself.

Next Steps

• Review Copilot CLI slash commands for session management
• Learn about Copilot agents for specialized tasks
• Explore generating commits and PRs for git workflows