GitHub Copilot Log Collector for Visual Studio

Automatically collects and analyzes GitHub Copilot usage metrics from Visual Studio.

Features

• Non-blocking startup: Runs in background, doesn't slow down VS startup
• Incremental parsing: Only processes new log entries, tracks state between runs
• Smart request detection: Filters out non-request log lines to avoid overcounting
• Aggregated metrics: Groups by date, model, action, and user
• Auto-runs every 60 minutes: Background collection with health checks every 5 minutes

Privacy & Data Collection

What data is collected:

• Usage statistics only (request counts, dates, model names, action types)
• User-provided metadata (name, team, company - entered by you)
• No code, prompts, or completions are captured
• No file paths or project details are recorded
• No credentials, tokens, or sensitive data is collected

All data stays local:

• Metrics are saved only to your Desktop folder (Desktop\copilot-vs-log\metrics\)
• No data is sent to any external servers or services
• No telemetry, analytics, or tracking of any kind
• You have full control over the collected files

This extension is designed solely for tracking your own Copilot usage metrics locally.

Verify Installation

1. Go to View → Output (or press Ctrl+Alt+O)
2. Select "Copilot Log Collector" from the dropdown menu
3. You should see initial collection logs within a few seconds

Troubleshooting

Extension not appearing in Output window?

• Go to Extensions → Manage Extensions
• Check if "GitHub Copilot Log Collector" is listed and enabled
• Try restarting Visual Studio

VSIX installation failed?

• Make sure all Visual Studio instances are closed
• Run the VSIX installer as Administrator (right-click → Run as administrator)
• Check that you have Visual Studio 2022 or later installed

No metrics being collected?

• Ensure GitHub Copilot extension is installed and active
• Use Copilot features (code completions, chat) to generate logs
• Check the output window for any error messages

Output

Metrics saved to: Desktop\copilot-vs-log\metrics\

• all_metrics.json - All aggregated metrics
• YYYY-MM-DD_aggregated.json - Daily metrics

JSON Structure

{
  "date": "2025-10-02",
  "source": "copilot-chat",
  "servedBy": "gpt-41-copilot",
  "action": "completion",
  "numRequests": 68,
  "name": "John Doe",
  "team": "Engineering",
  "company": "Acme Corp",
  "ide": "Visual Studio"
}

Metrics Fields

• date: Date in YYYY-MM-DD format
• source: copilot or copilot-chat
• servedBy: AI model name (e.g., gpt-41-copilot, gpt-4o-mini)
• action: Action type (e.g., completion, conversation)
• numRequests: Total number of API requests
• name/team/company: User metadata
• ide: IDE name (always "Visual Studio")

How It Works

1. Startup: Loads user settings, starts timers, runs initial collection in background
2. Incremental Parsing: Only parses new log entries since last run (tracks file positions)
3. Request Detection: Filters lines with request keywords (completion, request, response, etc.) + timing patterns
4. Aggregation: Groups records by date, source, model, action, user
5. Export: Saves JSON files with camelCase formatting

View Output

View → Output → Select "Copilot Log Collector" from dropdown

Sample Output

=== Recollecting 60 minutes time current 10/13/2025 2:30:00 PM found 3 files ===
User: John Doe, Team: Engineering
Parsed 150 new records incrementally
Aggregated into 12 metric groups
Updated: C:\Users\...\Desktop\copilot-vs-log\metrics\2025-10-13_aggregated.json
Updated: C:\Users\...\Desktop\copilot-vs-log\metrics\all_metrics.json
  Total Requests: 150
  Unique Dates: 1

Configuration

Settings: %AppData%\CopilotLogCollector\userconfig.txt Parser state: %AppData%\CopilotLogCollector\parserstate.json

Requirements

• Visual Studio 2022 or later
• GitHub Copilot extension installed