GitHub Copilot CLI: Install on Mac/Windows (brew, winget) & Fix "command not found"

GitHub Copilot CLI brings the power of Copilot's coding agent directly to your terminal. It can help with code generation, debugging, git workflows, and shell commands - all through natural language.

Quick Install

If you already have a GitHub Copilot subscription, install the CLI with one command for your platform, then run copilot and use /login to authenticate.

macOS — Homebrew:

brew install copilot-cli

Windows — WinGet (PowerShell):

winget install GitHub.Copilot

Linux, WSL, or any platform — official install script:

curl -fsSL https://gh.io/copilot-install | bash

Any platform with Node.js — npm:

npm install -g @github/copilot

After install, launch it in any terminal:

copilot

Then run /login inside the CLI to authenticate via your browser. Prerequisites, troubleshooting, and platform-specific notes follow below.

Prerequisites

Before installing Copilot CLI, ensure you have:

• An active GitHub Copilot subscription (Individual, Business, or Enterprise)
• PowerShell v6 or higher (Windows only - see note below)
• Organization approval (if using Business/Enterprise, verify your admin has not disabled CLI access)

Windows Note: Windows 11 ships with PowerShell 5.1 by default. You will need to manually install PowerShell 6 or later, or use WSL for the best experience.

Installing on macOS

macOS users have three installation options.

Option 1: Homebrew (Recommended)

The easiest method for macOS users:

brew install copilot-cli

For prerelease/beta features:

brew install copilot-cli@prerelease

To update later:

brew upgrade copilot-cli

Option 2: Install Script

Quick installation with a single command:

curl -fsSL https://gh.io/copilot-install | bash

Option 3: npm

If you prefer npm:

npm install -g @github/copilot

For prerelease versions:

npm install -g @github/copilot@prerelease

Installing on Windows

Windows users have multiple options, with WSL being recommended for the best experience.

Option 1: WinGet (Recommended for Native Windows)

Open PowerShell and run:

winget install GitHub.Copilot

For prerelease versions:

winget install GitHub.Copilot.Prerelease

Option 2: WSL (Recommended for Best Experience)

For the most stable experience on Windows, use Copilot CLI within WSL:

1. Install WSL if you have not already:

wsl --install

2. Open your WSL terminal (Ubuntu or your preferred distribution)

3. Install using the install script:

curl -fsSL https://gh.io/copilot-install | bash

Or use Homebrew in WSL:

brew install copilot-cli

Option 3: npm on Windows

If you have Node.js installed:

npm install -g @github/copilot

Windows PowerShell Requirements

Native Windows PowerShell support is experimental. If you choose native Windows over WSL:

1. Check your PowerShell version:

$PSVersionTable.PSVersion

2. If below version 6, install the latest PowerShell from Microsoft's GitHub releases

Authentication

After installation, authenticate with your GitHub account:

1. Start Copilot CLI:

copilot

2. Use the /login slash command when prompted

3. Follow the browser authentication flow to connect your GitHub account

Alternative: Personal Access Token

If you prefer token-based authentication:

1. Generate a fine-grained PAT at github.com/settings/personal-access-tokens/new

2. Select the Copilot Requests permission

3. Set the environment variable:

macOS/Linux/WSL:

export GH_TOKEN="your-token-here"

Windows (PowerShell):

$env:GH_TOKEN="your-token-here"

Verify Installation

After authentication, verify everything is working:

copilot --version

Then try a simple command:

copilot "explain what files are in this directory"

Basic Usage

Once installed, navigate to any code directory and run:

copilot

Common tasks:

# Ask questions about your code
copilot "how does the authentication work in this project?"

# Generate code
copilot "write a function to parse CSV files"

# Get help with git
copilot "create a commit message for my staged changes"

# Change AI model
/model  # Shows available models

Changing Models

The default model is Claude Sonnet 4.5. To change models:

1. Start Copilot CLI: copilot
2. Use the /model command
3. Select from available options (GPT-5 mini, GPT-4.1, etc.)

Models included with your Copilot subscription do not consume premium requests on paid plans.

Updating Copilot CLI

Keep your installation up to date:

Homebrew:

brew upgrade copilot-cli

WinGet:

winget upgrade GitHub.Copilot

npm:

npm install -g @github/copilot@latest

Troubleshooting

"command not found: copilot"

If the command is not found after installation:

1. Close and reopen your terminal
2. Check if the installation directory is in your PATH
3. Try reinstalling with a different method

Authentication Issues

If you cannot authenticate:

1. Verify your Copilot subscription is active at github.com/settings/copilot
2. Check if your organization has enabled CLI access (Business/Enterprise users)
3. Try using a Personal Access Token instead

PowerShell Version Issues (Windows)

If you see errors about PowerShell version:

1. Install PowerShell 7+ from github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell
2. Or switch to using WSL for better compatibility

Next Steps

• Read the official Copilot CLI documentation
• Explore Copilot CLI features
• See where Copilot CLI stores its configuration files

Compare other AI coding CLIs

• Install Claude Code CLI, Anthropic's agentic terminal assistant
• Install OpenAI Codex CLI for OpenAI-model-backed coding
• Install Google Gemini CLI for its 1M-token context window
• Learn how to orchestrate multiple AI tools using Claude as an Engineering Manager