Optimizing GitHub Copilot: Better Results, Fewer Tokens
GitHub Copilot's 400k context window works best with minimal, targeted information rather than maximum context.
“Our goal isn't to give Copilot the most amount of context possible. It is to give it the smallest amount of information for it to accomplish its task.”
Microsoft engineers presented practical guidance at Build on optimizing GitHub Copilot by managing context window usage efficiently, emphasizing that less targeted context outperforms more unfocused context. The session introduced the `\context` command to inspect token usage and framed the 400k token window as a finite resource to be packed deliberately. This is developer education content rather than a product announcement, making it a moderate signal for Copilot power users but not a major industry development.