GitHub Copilot Chat for Obsidian

Chat with GitHub Copilot directly in Obsidian — with OAuth login, real-time streaming responses, document editing, and vault context.

Features

• Sidebar Chat — persistent named conversations with full message history
• GitHub OAuth — secure Device Flow login (no redirect, no API key required)
• GitHub Enterprise support — authenticate against any *.ghe.com domain
• Streaming responses — response displayed as plain text once the stream completes
• Conversation management — create, switch, and delete named conversations; history is persisted across sessions
• Subscription-based model list — available models are fetched from the Copilot API and reflect your plan
• Active Document as Context — Copilot sees the content of your currently open note
• Vault note context — include any note by typing [[note name]] in your message
• Custom system prompt — override the built-in system prompt from settings
• Document Actions:
  • Append the last response to the end of the active document
  • Replace the active document's content with Copilot's response
  • Save response as a new note
• Editor Commands:
  • Explain selection
  • Improve selection
  • Summarize current document

Requirements

• An active GitHub Copilot subscription (Individual, Business, or Enterprise)
• Obsidian 1.4.0+
• Node.js 18+ (build only)
• Desktop only (mobile is not supported)

Installation

Manual (Development Build)

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/hauridev/obsidian-github-copilot-plugin.git
cd obsidian-github-copilot-plugin

# 2. Install dependencies
npm install

# 3. Build the plugin
npm run build

# 4. Copy the required files into your vault
mkdir -p /path/to/vault/.obsidian/plugins/obsidian-copilot-chat/
cp main.js manifest.json styles.css /path/to/vault/.obsidian/plugins/obsidian-copilot-chat/

Then in Obsidian: Settings → Community Plugins → Installed Plugins → enable "GitHub Copilot Chat".

Login

GitHub.com

1. Open Settings → GitHub Copilot Chat
2. Click "Sign in"
3. Visit the displayed URL (https://github.com/login/device) and enter the code
4. The plugin detects the confirmation automatically — you're done

GitHub Enterprise (*.ghe.com)

1. Open Settings → GitHub Copilot Chat
2. Under GitHub Enterprise, enter your domain (e.g. mycompany.ghe.com)
3. Click "Sign in" and follow the same device flow — OAuth and API calls are routed through your enterprise domain automatically

The GitHub OAuth token is stored securely in Obsidian's plugin data (data.json). Copilot API tokens (short-lived, ~30 min) are held in memory and refreshed automatically. Changing the enterprise domain clears the stored token and requires re-authentication.

Conversations

The plugin saves your chat history across sessions. Each conversation is automatically named after the first message you send.

• Use the dropdown in the chat panel to switch between conversations
• Click + to start a new conversation
• Click the trash icon next to the dropdown to delete the current conversation
• All conversations are persisted in Obsidian's data.json and survive plugin reloads

Models

After signing in, click "Load models" in the Model section of the settings to fetch the models available for your Copilot subscription. The list is cached and updated on each login or manual refresh.

If no models have been fetched yet, the following defaults are shown as a fallback:

Model	Notes
gpt-4o	Default, recommended
gpt-4o-mini	Faster, lighter
gpt-4	—
claude-3.5-sonnet	—

Actual availability depends on your Copilot plan.

How the OAuth Flow Works

This plugin uses the same Device Flow as GitHub CLI and the VS Code Copilot extension:

1. Plugin requests a device code from {host}/login/device/code
2. User visits {host}/login/device and enters the displayed code
3. Plugin polls {host}/login/oauth/access_token until authorized
4. The GitHub token is exchanged for a short-lived Copilot API token via api.{host}/copilot_internal/v2/token
5. The Copilot token's endpoints.api field determines the API base URL (e.g. https://api.githubcopilot.com) — this ensures enterprise tenants are routed to the correct endpoint
6. All API requests use Obsidian's built-in requestUrl instead of fetch, which is required for the plugin to work on desktop

{host} is github.com by default, or your configured enterprise domain (e.g. mycompany.ghe.com).

The Client ID Iv1.b507a08c87ecfe98 is the public VS Code Copilot extension OAuth app, the same one used by community tools for Neovim, Emacs, and JetBrains.

Architecture

main.ts                      # Plugin entry — registers sidebar view, commands, settings tab
src/
  auth/GitHubAuth.ts         # Device OAuth flow + Copilot token exchange and caching
  api/CopilotClient.ts       # OpenAI-compatible HTTP client using Obsidian's requestUrl
  views/ChatView.ts          # Obsidian ItemView sidebar — chat UI, conversation management, vault wikilinks
  settings/SettingsTab.ts    # Settings UI and login flow
styles.css                   # CSS with variables for dark/light mode

Network Access

This plugin makes network requests to the following remote services:

Service	Endpoint	Purpose
GitHub OAuth	github.com/login/device/code, github.com/login/oauth/access_token	Authenticate your GitHub account via Device Flow
GitHub API	api.github.com/copilot_internal/v2/token	Exchange your GitHub token for a short-lived Copilot API token
GitHub Copilot API	api.githubcopilot.com (or enterprise equivalent)	Send chat messages and receive responses from Copilot
GitHub Enterprise	*.ghe.com (optional, if configured)	Same as above, routed through your enterprise domain

No data is sent to any third-party servers. All communication goes directly between your machine and GitHub's servers. No telemetry or analytics are collected by this plugin.

Note: A GitHub account and an active GitHub Copilot subscription are required to use this plugin.

Disclaimer

This plugin uses the internal Copilot API (copilot_internal), which is also used by other community tools (Neovim, Emacs, JetBrains). Use is subject to the GitHub Copilot Terms of Service.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open issues and pull requests on the GitHub repository:

https://github.com/hauridev/obsidian-github-copilot-plugin

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/my-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add my feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/my-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT © Marcel Hauri