AI Tools in Visual Studio

Overview

Microsoft Visual Studio now ships with a suite of AI-powered tools that accelerate coding, reduce errors, and help you adopt modern cloud‑first practices. This tutorial walks you through setup, core features, and real‑world usage of:

• IntelliCode – AI‑assisted IntelliSense
• GitHub Copilot – Generative code suggestions
• Azure AI Integration – Embedding cloud AI services

Getting Started

Ensure you have Visual Studio 2022 version 17.8 or newer.

# Download Visual Studio
winget install Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Community

# Verify version
vswhere -latest -property displayVersion

IntelliCode

IntelliCode provides context‑aware completions based on millions of open‑source projects.

1. Open Extensions → Manage Extensions.
2. Search for IntelliCode and install.
3. Restart Visual Studio.

After installation, you’ll see a star icon next to suggestions. Press Tab to accept.

GitHub Copilot

Copilot generates code snippets from natural language prompts.

// Prompt: generate a function that batches API calls with exponential backoff
async function batchCalls(urls) {
  const results = [];
  for (const url of urls) {
    let attempts = 0;
    while (attempts < 5) {
      try {
        const res = await fetch(url);
        if (!res.ok) throw new Error('Network error');
        results.push(await res.json());
        break;
      } catch (e) {
        attempts++;
        await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, Math.pow(2, attempts) * 100));
      }
    }
  }
  return results;
}

To use Copilot:

• Install the GitHub Copilot extension.
• Sign in with your GitHub account.
• Start typing a comment and press Ctrl+Enter.

Azure AI Integration

Leverage Azure Cognitive Services directly from your code.

using Azure.AI.TextAnalytics;

var client = new TextAnalyticsClient(
    new Uri("https://<your-resource>.cognitiveservices.azure.com/"),
    new AzureKeyCredential("<your-key>")
);

var response = client.AnalyzeSentiment("<Your text here>");
Console.WriteLine($"Sentiment: {response.Value.Sentiment}");