Changing settings with the /settings command

You can use the /settings slash command to view and change your settings from within an interactive CLI session. This command controls user-level settings such as whether Copilot 命令行界面（CLI） updates itself automatically, which color palette the interface uses, what's displayed in the footer, and many other options.

Use /settings to:

• Browse and edit settings interactively — Run /settings on its own to open a searchable editor that lists every setting with a description and its current value.
• Change a setting with a single command — Run /settings KEY VALUE to change a particular setting without opening the editor.
• Check a setting's value — Run /settings show KEY to display the current value of a setting.

You can also use /config, which is an alias of /settings.

Changes you make with /settings or /config are written to your personal settings file (by default, ~/.copilot/settings.json) and persist across sessions.

Opening the settings editor

To browse and edit settings interactively, enter the slash command with no arguments:

/settings

/settings

The editor lists every setting you can change, and the setting's current value. As you move up or down through the list, a short description of the highlighted setting is shown at the bottom of the editor. This allows you to browse and edit settings without needing to know their exact names.

For more information about the available settings, see GitHub Copilot CLI 配置目录.

While the editor is open, you can use the following keyboard shortcuts:

Most changes take effect immediately—for example, switching the color palette updates the interface as soon as you select a new value.

Changing a single setting inline

If you already know which setting you want to change, you can set it directly from the CLI's prompt box, without opening the editor:

/settings KEY VALUE

For example:

/settings autoUpdate off

/settings autoUpdate off

Copilot writes the value and confirms it, for example: Set autoUpdate = false.

You can configure settings that take set values without needing to remember the exact key or value, just by using the navigation and Enter keys. For example, to prevent the agent from asking clarifying questions:

1. Type /settings, without pressing Enter, to display a list of options.

2. Use the ↓ key to move down the list until ❯ points to /settings askUser Allow the agent to ask clarifying questions, then press Enter.

3. Use the ↓ key to move down the list of options for this setting until ❯ points to /settings askUser off, then press Enter.

4. Press Enter again to submit the /settings askUser off command.

   The CLI confirms the change: Set askUser = false.

Viewing valid values for a setting

To display the valid values that are available for a setting, enter /settings KEY with no value. For example, to see the valid values for theme:

/settings theme

/settings theme

Viewing the current value of a setting

To display a setting's current value, use show. For example:

/settings show theme

/settings show theme

This outputs a line such as theme = high-contrast. The show form is useful for quickly checking a value, or for capturing settings in logs.

Changing settings that require a restart

Most settings apply right away, but a few only take full effect after Copilot 命令行界面（CLI） restarts—for example, experimental and the proxy settings. When you change one of these, Copilot tells you a restart is needed, and may restart the session for you.

Settings you can't change from the command line

Not every setting is editable through the inline /settings KEY VALUE method:

• Security-sensitive settings—such as those that change how credentials are stored or that run a shell command—are deliberately excluded, because flipping them in a single line with no confirmation is risky.
• List and structured settings can't be set inline. Enter /settings then press Ctrl+E to open settings.json in your configured terminal editor, then edit the setting there.
• Settings managed by your repository or organization are shown for reference, but their values come from those sources and override your personal value. Changing them in your user settings has no effect.

In each of these cases, Copilot explains why the change wasn't applied and points you to the right place to make it.

Commands replaced by /settings

Some older slash commands have been folded into /settings. They still work, but display a notice telling you about the equivalent /settings command.

Settings you might want to change

Some commonly used settings include:

• autoUpdate — Automatically download updated CLI versions.
• theme — Color palette (default, github, dim, high-contrast, or colorblind).
• renderMarkdown — Render Markdown in the terminal.
• banner — How often to show the startup banner (always, once, or never).
• beep — Beep when Copilot needs your attention.
• includeCoAuthoredBy — Add a Co-authored-by trailer to commits.
• footer.showBranch — Show the current Git branch in the footer.

For the full list of available settings and how user, repository, and organization settings combine, see GitHub Copilot CLI 配置目录.

Further reading

• 配置 GitHub Copilot CLI
• 关于自定义的概述 GitHub Copilot 命令行界面 (CLI)