Your AI coding assistant for Java, from the AI-Assisted Learning Lab at NC State.
Ask questions, get hints, and learn as you code, right inside VS Code.
For students in participating NC State courses. Sign in with your Unity ID.
Get started
Click the Aila icon in the sidebar.
Sign in with your Unity ID.
Pick your activity and start asking.
What you can do
Chat
Ask anything about Java or your activity. Aila automatically sees the file you're working in, its errors, and your last run.
/hint
Get a hint. Ask again for a bigger one.
/explain
Explain code or a concept. Select code first to ask about it.
/example
See an example of the idea you need.
/error
Understand an error message.
/quiz
Check your understanding with a quick question.
/review
Get feedback on your code.
Ask about code
Select code and press Cmd+I / Ctrl+I.
Inline hints
Pause on an empty line to see a hint. Tab to keep, Esc to dismiss.
Explain this error
Click the lightbulb on a red squiggle.
Ask a TA
Send your question to your course TAs.
Your data
Your chats are saved for your instructors and for course research.
While you're signed in, what you write in VS Code is saved as you work (copies of your files, including
unsaved ones, your edits, and compile/run results), so your instructors can see how your work develops.
A "Saving code" indicator appears in the status bar. Password and key files are never collected.
Sign out of Aila to stop.
When you ask Aila something, your message and the file you're working in (with any selection, its errors,
and your last program run) are sent to OpenAI to generate the reply, so Aila can answer about your code.
The rest of your saved work stays at NC State.
Please don't share passwords or personal information.
You'll see the full details when you first sign in.
Settings
Setting
Default
aila.inlineHints.enabled
true
Show hints in Java files.
aila.inlineHints.automatic
true
Show hints automatically on empty lines (otherwise press Alt+\).
