Install Github Copilot to NeoVim

Once a programmer set a chatbot to write a program that passes the test of “I am not a robot“ the chatbot did the best it could do destroying itself — The guy who loves Chatbots

I have my editor running at same time with others apps consuming lots of memory so I want to use them wisely. I found that light editors like Neovim and NvChad have the option of having AI installed so I though it was a good chance to try to setup myself. So here I present what I learned about it.

Config Lazy Vim

open NvChad plugin file ~/.config/nvim/lua/custom/plugins.lua and paste this

return {
  {
    "github/copilot.vim",
    cmd = "Copilot",
  },
}

• "github/copilot.vim" → the official Copilot plugin repo

• cmd = "Copilot" → lazy‑load only when you run Copilot commands

Add Copilot to NvChad

1. check for where NodeJs binary is stored. I had to use

which node

I got a simlink like /run/user/1000/fnm_multishells/9702_1764251384693/bin/node

Then i read the link to get the folder where bynary is stored

readlink -f /run/user/1000/fnm_multishells/9702_1764251384693/bin/node

reading the link provided a NodeJs binary folder. something like

/home/user/.local/share/fnm/node-versions/v22.20.0/installation/bin/node

2. Create a new file for Copilot plugin Inside ~/.config/nvim/lua/plugins/copilot.lua. and paste this code. Make sure to replace <your_node_folder> with the result of step 1

    return {
      "github/copilot.vim",
      -- enable copilot when you access a filetype with code
      event = "InsertEnter", 
      config = function()
   
        vim.g.copilot_node_command = "<your_node_folder>"
   
        -- enable Copilot globally at startup
        vim.g.copilot_enabled = true
   
        -- optional: enable Copilot by default
        vim.g.copilot_no_tab_map = true
        vim.g.copilot_assume_mapped = true
        vim.g.copilot_tab_fallback = ""
   
          -- Accept suggestion with Ctrl-J
        vim.api.nvim_set_keymap("i", "<C-j>", 'copilot#Accept("<CR>")', { expr = true, silent = true })
   
        -- Cycle suggestions
        vim.api.nvim_set_keymap("i", "<C-k>", "<Plug>(copilot-next)", {})
        vim.api.nvim_set_keymap("i", "<C-h>", "<Plug>(copilot-previous)", {})
   
        -- Dismiss suggestion
        vim.api.nvim_set_keymap("i", "<C-c>", "<Plug>(copilot-dismiss)", {})
      end,
    }
   

   • "github/copilot.vim" → official Copilot plugin

   • event = "InsertEnter" → load when you enter insert mode in a file that has code

   • config block → optional tweaks for keymaps. in this case we use ctrl+j to accept a code suggestion

3. Sync plugins Open Neovim and run:

    :Lazy sync
   

   This will download Copilot into .local/share/nvim/lazy/copilot.vim.

4. Restart Neovim so the plugin loads.

5. Run setup Now you can do:

    :Copilot setup
   

   This will open a browser to authenticate with GitHub.

In my case I got this error after authentication.

after :Lazy sync i got this ERROR

Total: 28 plugins

Failed (1)  LuaSnip 62.33ms  nvim-cmp

fatal: not a git repository: ../../.git/modules/deps/jsregexp006

fatal: could not reset submodule index

How to fix LuaSnip Submodule Error

I used this fix

rm -rf ~/.local/share/nvim/lazy/LuaSnip
git clone --recursive https://github.com/L3MON4D3/LuaSnip ~/.local/share/nvim/lazy/LuaSnip

after that I could use

:Copilot setup

• Use this command to start copilot each time you start NVim (I need to check for a way to autostart it)

You will get a one time code that you need to take note. Follow the wizard and your browser will open a window where you input that code. Complete the wizard by authorizing Github Copilot.

Enable/Disable Manually

you have these commands to turn the suggestions on/off

:Copilot enable
:Copilot disable
:Copilot status