I use copilot through VSCode. The copilot plugin lets me either ask questions or ask for edits to my code. I can choose which files to include as an additional context to the prompt. I can additionally choose which model to use. Some models are unlimited, others have some monthly quota. GPT-4o is unlimited and quite good with short tasks.
It has also shortcuts for instance fixing errors in the code by just selecting "fix with copilot". Its a bit hit or miss but for simple things work well.
It is very good and seamless. Cannot think of ever copy pasting multiple files of code to some web chats and back.
I think the Coplit plugin is probably the closest thing to an AI IDE that actually works. As per my other comment, I don't actually use any IDE to begin with, but one of my coworkers who uses VSCode has been very fond of the latest iteration of the Copilot plugin.
From your description of how this plugin works, I see why it works so well. It is basically just focusing on the essentials (populating the appropriate context) and then does as best as it can to get out of the way ( <- this part is really important I think)
But you aren't just asking for edits to your code, right? Copilot will actively suggest code completion as you type. This is the real benefit over chat as it's like pair programming.
That, and the way it generates commit comments, I don't think I will write another commit message even again.
The first paragraph implies that they are. I’m doing the same, works really well for writing new code or refactoring. Then polish it up by pointing out bad parts in the chat. At the end I step in and do some manual polish.
I use VS Code too and in agent mode I can say things like “move the database querias into a new module called models.py and convert the SQL into SQLModel classes”. It’s pretty awesome to do chores.