This article is a complete, up-to-date walkthrough for setting up Visual Studio Code, the AL Language extension, and GitHub Copilot for Business Central AL development.
Setting Up VS Code, AL Language, and GitHub Copilot for Business Central Development
Before writing a single line of AL code with AI assistance, you need three things working together correctly: Visual Studio Code, the AL Language extension, and GitHub Copilot. This post walks through the full setup, plus a couple of gotchas that trip up newcomers.
What you need before starting: a Business Central sandbox environment, a GitHub account with an active Copilot subscription, and admin rights on your machine.
Step 1: Install VS Code. It's the only Microsoft-supported IDE for AL development, so unlike some tooling choices in this series, there's no alternative to swap in here.
Step 2: Install the AL Language extension. Search for "AL Language" in the Extensions panel and install the Microsoft-published version. One nuance worth knowing: if you're developing against a specific BC container or sandbox version — common in partner/consulting environments — Microsoft recommends pulling the AL Language extension version that ships directly from that container, rather than the Marketplace version, to avoid compiler-version mismatches that show up as confusing symbol or compilation errors. For most people getting started, the Marketplace version is the right call.
Once installed, open the Command Palette and run AL: Go! This single command creates your project structure, connects to your BC tenant, downloads the symbols your extension needs to reference standard BC objects, and scaffolds a working sample object to start from.
Step 3: Verify the AL connection. Open the sample file and publish it to your sandbox (Ctrl+F5). If it launches cleanly in the BC web client, your foundation is solid.
Step 4: Install GitHub Copilot. This is a separate subscription from both your BC license and VS Code itself — worth knowing upfront so a sign-in wall or "no active subscription" message doesn't throw you off mid-setup. Installing the Copilot extension typically brings Copilot Chat along with it.
Step 5: Verify everything is connected. With your sample AL file open, run /explain this file in the context of Business Central AL development. in Copilot Chat. A response that correctly references your specific file confirms VS Code, AL, your BC connection, and Copilot are all working together.
One setting worth changing immediately: VS Code sends telemetry to Microsoft by default. If that matters to you, search "telemetry level" in Settings and set it to off.
With that, your environment is ready. The next post in this series covers Copilot's chat modes and slash commands — the core vocabulary used in every AL development video from here forward.
Regards,
Comments
Post a Comment