GitHub Copilot in VS Code: From Installed to Actually Useful
Week 1: AI-Enablement Coaching for Polarion Developers You've got Copilot running. Now let's talk about the setup, instructions, and skills that actually move the needle.
Most developers I know who have Copilot installed are using it as a smarter autocomplete. That's like buying a sparring partner and only asking them to hold the pads.
This post is about the setup that actually changes how you work: the instructions that teach Copilot your Polarion environment, the skills that make workflows reusable across sessions, and the session patterns that let it run with real Polarion tickets while you stay focused on what matters. The more you invest in the setup, the more it compounds.
Table of Contents
- Choosing the Right Model
- Chat vs. Inline vs. Agent Mode: Pick One and Stick With It
- Custom Instructions: Teaching Copilot About Your Codebase
- Skills: Reusable Workflows That Travel With You
- Local Sessions: Stay in the Loop
- Remote Sessions: Delegate and Stay Unblocked
- The Setup Checklist
- What's Next
Choosing the Right Model
Default is Auto. Skip it. Auto trades control for convenience, and for complex Polarion work (Java services, Velocity templates, multi-file refactors) I want predictable reasoning, not dynamic model routing.