Supported endpoint/SDK for Copilot premium request usage (Individual accounts)

[ArjunBhalodia98]

Select Topic Area

Question

Body

I’m a GitHub Copilot Individual subscriber and a contributor to the Zed editor. Zed users have been asking for a built-in way to monitor Copilot premium request usage, similar to what VS Code (and some other IDEs) surfaces in-product.

I’d like to build a small usage/metrics view in Zed that shows a user’s premium requests consumed (ideally the current month, and optionally a simple history). I’ve reviewed existing billing/usage APIs, but I’m not finding a clearly documented + supported + stable approach for Copilot Individual accounts that matches what VS Code displays.

What I’m trying to achieve (in Zed):

• Show premium requests consumed for the current billing period
• Ideally include breakdown and remaining included quota
• Avoid relying on private/unstable endpoints or reverse engineering VS Code behavior

Questions

• Is there a documented, supported API endpoint (or SDK) that Copilot Individual accounts can use to retrieve premium request usage (current month totals, breakdown by model, and/or remaining included quota)? If possible, is it possible to get this in real time like how VS Code does?
• Are there plans to provide a public endpoint specifically for Copilot usage metrics that IDEs can use (beyond enterprise/org reporting)?

Why this matters
Users want transparency so they can understand consumption and avoid surprises. A supported usage surface would help third-party editors provide a consistent and trustworthy experience without scraping or guessing.

[ghchen99]

Right now, for individual GitHub Copilot subscribers, there isn’t a supported public API that lets you pull premium request usage in real time like VS Code does. VS Code can show that info in-product because it talks to GitHub’s internal endpoints, but those aren’t documented or guaranteed to be stable, so building on them would be risky. For individual accounts, the officially supported way to see usage is through the GitHub web UI under Settings → Billing → Copilot, where it shows your current month’s requests and lets you download a usage report if needed. That report is really the only way to reliably get a history or breakdown outside the IDE.

GitHub does have enterprise and organization APIs that provide usage metrics, but those only work if you’re an org or enterprise admin. Individual accounts aren’t covered, so unfortunately you can’t programmatically pull the same data for personal Copilot subscriptions yet. The community has asked for this, and it seems GitHub is aware, but there hasn’t been any public announcement about adding a dedicated individual usage endpoint.

For your Zed integration, the safest path today is to direct users to the official GitHub billing page or instruct them to download their usage CSV. That gives them accurate, trustworthy numbers without relying on private endpoints. You could even make a small UI in Zed that explains where to check, maybe with a “Download Usage Report” button linking straight to GitHub’s page. It’s not as seamless as live stats in VS Code, but it’s fully supported and avoids future breakage.

[iamwujiabao]

This is a common frustration for developers building third-party IDE integrations. Here is the current reality regarding Copilot usage APIs:

1. The "Individual" vs. "Enterprise" Gap
GitHub currently lacks a stable, public API for Copilot Individual usage metrics. While there are robust REST APIs for Enterprise and Organization accounts (e.g., GET /orgs/{org}/copilot/usage), these endpoints do not support individual subscriptions.

2. Why VS Code has it (and you don't yet)
VS Code can display real-time usage because it utilizes internal, undocumented telemetry and billing endpoints that are part of the tight integration between Microsoft and GitHub. These endpoints are not part of the public REST API, are not versioned, and can change without notice, making them unsuitable for production use in third-party editors like Zed.

3. Is there a workaround?
There is no "clean" API workaround for real-time month-to-date totals. The only supported methods are:

• The Web UI: Directing users to Settings -> Billing and plans -> GitHub Copilot.
• Usage Reports: Users can manually download a CSV usage report from the web UI, but there is no API to trigger this download for individual accounts.

4. Recommendation for Zed Integration
Since relying on private endpoints is risky for a stable editor, the best approach is to:

• Provide a "Check Usage" link: Add a button in the Zed settings UI that links directly to the [GitHub Copilot Billing page](https://www.google.com/search?q=https://github.com/settings/billing/copilot).
• Monitor the Copilot API Roadmap: Keep an eye on the [GitHub Public Roadmap](GitHub Public Roadmap). There is ongoing community pressure to normalize the Individual and Enterprise APIs, but no official release date has been set.