The code referencing feature is powered by a fast search engine that can quickly find matching code and its license. Currently, the matching code snippets are listed in the order the search engine finds them, but GitHub plans to add functionality to sort the inventory by repository license, commit date, etc. The company is also considering adding a feature to only show results that match specific licenses based on user feedback.
Key takeaways:
- GitHub has launched a private beta of a code referencing feature for GitHub Copilot, which allows developers to see matching public code suggestions instead of automatically blocking them.
- With this feature, developers can decide whether to use the suggested code, reject it, or have Copilot rewrite it so it doesn't match the original code.
- The code referencing feature is more likely to generate matching code when there isn't a lot of context for Copilot to work with, such as when a developer is just starting a project.
- GitHub is considering adding the ability for developers to sort matching code snippets by repository license, commit date, etc., based on feedback from users.