April from Microsoft Developer guides viewers through setting up the AI Toolkit and GitHub Copilot within Visual Studio Code, focusing on environment preparation for developing agents using Microsoft Foundry models.

AI Toolkit + GitHub Copilot - Part 1: Environment Setup

This video, hosted by April from Microsoft Developer, kicks off the ‘AI Toolkit + GitHub Copilot’ series aimed at preparing developers for building agent-based solutions with Microsoft Foundry models.

Workshop Context

Part of the GitHub Copilot + AI Toolkit Pet Planner workshop, this session focuses on essential environment setup steps:

• Creating a Microsoft Foundry Project: Learn how to set up your Microsoft Foundry workspace at ai.azure.com.
• Installing the AI Toolkit: Get the AI Toolkit from aka.ms/AIToolkit and follow the workshop instructions at aka.ms/AIToolkit/workshop.
• Visual Studio Code Setup: Examine recommended extensions and minimal VS Code configuration required for development.
• GitHub Copilot Integration: Understand how to configure GitHub Copilot to actively assist in coding and agent creation tasks in your Foundry projects.
• Signing In to Azure: Walk through connecting your development environment to Azure services, ensuring your Foundry resources are properly accessible.

Learning Outcomes

• Prepare a local development environment for AI Toolkit and GitHub Copilot.
• Create and configure your Microsoft Foundry project.
• Leverage GitHub Copilot to support AI-powered coding workflows.
• Install and configure required extensions for seamless development within VS Code.

Resources and Community

• Workshop repo & instructions
• AI Toolkit
• Microsoft Foundry portal
• Model Mondays announcements
• Foundry Discord
• Foundry Forum

Chapter Markers

• Introduction
• Access Models with Copilot
• Creating the Microsoft Foundry Project
• Extension Installation
• Azure Sign-In
• Setting the Default Foundry Project

After following this setup, you'll be ready to proceed with developing agents and solutions in later videos of the series, using the latest Microsoft AI and cloud tooling with full GitHub Copilot support.