GitHub Copilot: Bring Your Own Key Custom Endpoints in JetBrains
GitHub CopilotGitHub Copilot for JetBrains now supports OpenAI-compatible custom endpoints as part of its Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) capability, letting developers connect their own API keys and models, including locally running models such as Ollama or Azure OpenAI deployments, instead of relying solely on GitHub-hosted models. Calls made through BYOK are billed by the developer's own provider and do not count against Copilot usage quotas. The expansion is in public preview for Business and Enterprise customers.
Sources & Mentions
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Bringing Custom Models to JetBrains
GitHub Copilot's Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) capability, which already let developers connect API keys from providers such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Microsoft Foundry, and xAI, has been expanded in JetBrains IDEs to support OpenAI-compatible custom endpoints. Rather than being limited to a fixed list of named providers, developers can now point Copilot at any endpoint that speaks the OpenAI API format, including self-hosted or locally running models like Ollama.
Setting It Up
Configuration happens from inside Copilot Chat: developers open the model picker, select "Manage Models," choose their provider, click "Add Models," and enter their API key and endpoint details. Once saved, the custom model becomes available alongside GitHub-hosted models across Agent, Plan, Ask, and Edit modes.
Billing Stays With the Provider
A key detail for teams evaluating BYOK is billing. API calls routed through a custom endpoint are billed according to that provider's own terms, using the developer's existing credits or enterprise agreement, they do not draw down GitHub Copilot's usage quota. For organizations that already have committed spend or negotiated rates with a specific model provider, this makes it possible to use that investment inside the Copilot interface rather than paying for both a Copilot allotment and a separate provider bill.
Availability
Custom endpoint support for BYOK is in public preview for GitHub Business and Enterprise customers, joining Visual Studio Code, Eclipse, and Xcode, which already support BYOK in their latest releases.