You Guys, GPT-5 in VS Code is Here & It's a Game-Changer
Okay, so the moment a LOT of us have been waiting for is finally here. GPT-5 is officially available, & you can use it directly within VS Code. This isn't just another incremental update; this is a pretty massive leap forward in how we're going to be building software. I've been playing around with it, & honestly, it's pretty wild.
For a while now, AI in our IDEs has been getting progressively better, but this feels different. It's more than just a super-smart autocomplete. We're talking about an AI that can handle complex, multi-step coding tasks, understand the context of your entire project, & even help you with high-level architectural decisions. It's like having a senior staff engineer available to you 24/7, ready to pair program, answer your dumbest questions without judgment, & even write entire chunks of code for you.
Microsoft has gone all-in, integrating GPT-5 across a ton of their products, but for us developers, the most exciting news is its arrival in VS Code. This is where the magic really happens, right in our primary workspace. They've made it accessible through two main channels: the ever-popular GitHub Copilot & the increasingly powerful AI Toolkit for VS Code.
So, let's break down what this actually means for your day-to-day coding, how to get it set up, & what you can expect from this new era of AI-assisted development.
Getting Started with GPT-5 in VS Code: Your Two Main Options
Right now, you've got two primary ways to get your hands on GPT-5 in VS Code. Each has its own strengths, & which one you choose will probably depend on your workflow & what you're trying to accomplish.
1. GitHub Copilot: The Integrated Experience
This is probably how most of you will first experience GPT-5. GitHub Copilot, which many of us are already using, is getting a major upgrade. GPT-5 is being rolled out to all paid Copilot plans, so if you're a subscriber, you're in luck.
Here's the thing, it's not just a single, monolithic "GPT-5" mode. They've integrated it into different facets of the Copilot experience:
Copilot Chat: This is where you can have a direct conversation with the AI. You can ask it to explain code, suggest refactors, or even brainstorm ideas. With GPT-5, the reasoning capabilities here are off the charts.
Agent Mode: This is where things get REALLY interesting. The new agentic capabilities allow Copilot to take on more complex, end-to-end tasks. You can give it a high-level goal, & it will figure out the steps to achieve it, including writing code, running tests, & even deploying it.
Ask & Edit Modes: These are more focused, in-editor experiences. You can highlight a block of code & "ask" a question about it, or you can use the "edit" mode to have the AI make specific changes to your code based on your instructions.
How to get it:
Make sure you have the latest version of the GitHub Copilot extension for VS Code. They're rolling this out progressively, so keep an eye out for updates. The July 2025 release (v1.103) is the one that brought in this support.
If you're on a Copilot Business or Enterprise plan, your admin will need to enable the GPT-5 policy in the Copilot settings. Once they do, you'll see a model picker in the Copilot Chat window in VS Code, where you can select GPT-5.
If you're on a personal plan, you should get access automatically as it rolls out. Just keep checking the model picker in Copilot Chat.
2. AI Toolkit for VS Code: The Power User's Choice
For those of you who want a bit more control & flexibility, the AI Toolkit for VS Code is an AMAZING option. The latest version (v0.18.3) comes with full support for the entire GPT-5 family of models, as well as OpenAI's open-source models.
What's super cool about the AI Toolkit is that it's designed for experimentation. You can easily compare the performance of different models, see how they respond to the same prompt, & then generate ready-to-run SDK snippets in Python, JavaScript, & more. It’s a fantastic way to really dig in & understand what each model is best at.
The AI Toolkit gives you access to a whole suite of models:
gpt-5: The big one. This is for advanced reasoning, complex code generation, & orchestrating other LLMs.
gpt-5-mini: A smaller, more cost-effective model that's great for things like real-time agents & lightweight tools where you need a quick response.
gpt-5-nano: The speed demon of the bunch. It's built for super-fast, concise reasoning, making it perfect for things like retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) & quick Q&A.
gpt-5-chat (preview): This one is designed for natural, multi-turn conversations with persistent context. It's what you'd use to build really sophisticated, agentic applications.
How to get it:
Install the AI Toolkit for VS Code from the marketplace.
Update to the latest version (v0.18.3 or newer).
Once you have it installed, you can access the model catalog to explore & compare the different GPT-5 models.
You can use the "View Code" feature to generate the code you need to integrate these models into your own applications.
This is also a great way to start thinking about how you could use these powerful models in your own products. For instance, if you're building a customer support application, you could use
1
gpt-5-chat
to power a conversational AI. The possibilities are pretty much endless. It's a similar idea to what companies like Arsturn are doing, but now the tools to build these kinds of sophisticated AI systems are becoming more & more accessible to all of us. With Arsturn, businesses can create their own custom AI chatbots trained on their data to provide instant support & engage with website visitors, & now with tools like the AI Toolkit, you can start to see how you could build similar, powerful integrations yourself.
So, What Can You Actually DO With This Thing?
This is the real question, right? What does this mean for your actual, day-to-day coding? Here are a few things I've noticed so far:
From Snippets to Scaffolding: Older AI assistants were good at writing small functions or completing a line of code. GPT-5 can scaffold out entire applications. You can literally say, "Create a new React component that fetches data from this API endpoint & displays it in a table," & it will generate the entire file, complete with imports, state management, & even some basic styling.
Debugging on Steroids: We've all been there, staring at a cryptic error message for hours. Now, you can just paste the error into Copilot Chat & ask it what's wrong. Because it has the context of your entire codebase, it can often pinpoint the exact line of code that's causing the issue & suggest a fix. It's like a super-powered rubber duck.
High-Level Architecture: This is one of the most mind-blowing aspects for me. You can now have a conversation with the AI about architectural decisions. "I need to build a real-time notification system. Should I use WebSockets or Server-Sent Events?" GPT-5 will not only give you a detailed breakdown of the pros & cons of each approach but will also provide code examples for both.
Learning New Technologies: Trying to pick up a new framework or language? This is an incredible learning tool. Instead of sifting through pages of documentation, you can just ask the AI to explain concepts, provide examples, & even create a small starter project for you.
The rise of these incredibly powerful & accessible AI tools is going to have a massive impact on the software development industry, but also on how businesses in general operate. The same technology that's helping us write code more efficiently is also revolutionizing customer service, sales, & marketing.
Think about it: the ability to have an AI that deeply understands a specific domain is a game-changer. It's what allows a tool like Arsturn to help businesses build no-code AI chatbots trained on their own data. These chatbots can then provide personalized customer experiences, answer complex questions, & even generate leads, all without human intervention. The integration of GPT-5 into our development tools is just one piece of this larger AI revolution.
The Broader Picture: What This Means for the Future
It's pretty clear that AI is no longer just a fancy add-on for our IDEs. It's becoming a core part of the development process. This doesn't mean that developers are going to be replaced. Far from it. It means that we're going to be able to build more, faster, & at a higher level of quality than ever before.
We're moving away from a world where we have to write every single line of code by hand & into a world where our primary job is to guide a powerful AI to build what we want. Our skills will need to evolve. Prompt engineering, high-level system design, & the ability to critically evaluate AI-generated code will become more important than ever.
It's an exciting time to be a developer. The tools are getting so good, so fast, that the only real limit is our own creativity. The integration of GPT-5 into VS Code is a major milestone in this journey, & I, for one, can't wait to see what we all build with it.
So, go update your extensions, have a play around with the new features, & let me know what you think. I have a feeling we're all going to be pretty blown away. Hope this was helpful