If you’ve been waiting to use GPT-5 inside Visual Studio Code, the good news is that Microsoft has now rolled it out to GitHub Copilot Pro users. The upgrade promises smarter code suggestions, faster debugging, and better context awareness. Even better, there’s a 30-day free trial so you can explore all of its capabilities without paying a cent. In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to enable GPT-5 in VS Code, and how to remove usage limits by connecting your own OpenAI API key.
To begin, you’ll need GitHub Copilot Pro because GPT-5 is currently not available on the free tier. Open VS Code and click the Copilot icon in the sidebar to open the Copilot pane. From there, click the model name currently in use in most cases, this will be GPT-4.1, and then select the option to add premium models. This will redirect you to GitHub’s website where you can sign up for a free 30-day trial of Copilot Pro. Microsoft will request your credit card details for verification, although you will not be charged during the trial period. Once you have completed this step, click the “Activate Now” button to enable the Pro subscription.
Next, restart VS Code so that the Pro features are fully available. When the editor reopens, click the current model name again and scroll through the list until you find GPT-5. Select it, issue any prompt to trigger the “Enable” button, and then click “Enable.” You are now ready to start coding with GPT-5.
If you want to bypass Copilot’s built-in usage limits, you can connect your own OpenAI API key. Simply visit the OpenAI Platform and log in to your account. If you do not already have one, you may need to create it and provide your payment details. Once logged in, generate a new API key. Return to VS Code, open the Manage Models option, select OpenAI, paste your API key into the provided field, and press Enter to confirm. This will connect GPT-5 in Copilot directly to OpenAI, giving you full access without Microsoft’s quota restrictions.
Read also:
- OpenAI expands Cloud Power with Google partnership for ChatGPT
- OpenAI Unveils GPT-4.5:Game-Changing AI that’s set to revolutionize conversations
- AI WAR: Alibaba unleashes Qwen 2.5 AI Model, claims it outperforms DeepSeek-V3, GPT-4o
Using GPT-5 in VS Code can significantly improve your productivity. The model’s advanced reasoning capabilities allow it to detect subtle bugs, refactor outdated codebases, and handle complex multi-file projects with greater accuracy than previous versions. Whether you are building new software, cleaning up old repositories, or experimenting with AI-assisted development, GPT-5 offers a powerful boost to your workflow.
