🚀 Unlock GitHub Copilot in Cursor: The Ultimate Guide (Free & Unlimited)

#programming #webdev #ai #productivity

Did you know you can use your existing GitHub Copilot subscription inside Cursor IDE without paying for Cursor Pro?

Yes, you read that right.

If you love Cursor's AI features (Composer, Chat, Agent) but already pay for GitHub Copilot, paying another $20/month for Cursor Pro feels redundant.

Today, I'm releasing an open-source tool that bridges this gap.

👉 GitHub Repo: Copilot Proxy for Cursor

🛑 The Problem

Cursor is amazing, but out of the box, it forces you to use its own paid backend for premium models like claude-3.5-sonnet or gpt-4o. Even if you have a GitHub Copilot key, Cursor doesn't let you just "plug it in" as a native provider for its Agent features.

You can add a custom API key, but:

Cursor intercepts model names: If you try to use gpt-4o, Cursor routes it to their server, ignoring your custom key.
Tool Incompatibility: Standard OpenAI proxies don't support Cursor's complex "Agent" tools (file creation, terminal execution, codebase search).
Vision Issues: Sending images often crashes standard proxies.

🛠 The Solution: Copilot Proxy

I built a lightweight Proxy Server that sits between Cursor and GitHub Copilot. It acts as a universal adapter.

✨ Key Features

⚡ Bypass Cursor's Routing: Uses a smart cus- prefix (e.g., cus-claude-3.5-sonnet) to trick Cursor into using your local proxy instead of its paid backend.
🤖 Full Agent Support: Automatically translates Cursor's tool calls (Anthropic format) into OpenAI format. Yes, the Cursor Agent can create files, run terminal commands, and search your code using your Copilot sub!
🔌 MCP Support: Fully supports Model Context Protocol tools (Neon, Playwright, Memory).
🧠 Smart Model Switching:
- Vision Support: Automatically handles images for Gemini/GPT-4o.
- Claude Fix: Prevents crashes on Claude models (which don't support vision via API) by intelligently stripping images while keeping context.

🚀 Quick Setup (Mac/Linux)

You can get this running in 2 minutes.

1. Clone & Install

git clone https://github.com/jacksonkasi1/copilot-for-cursor.git
cd copilot-for-cursor
npm install

2. Start the Services

I've included a script to set this up as a background service (so it runs automatically when you restart).

# Setup the core API and Proxy
chmod +x setup-copilot-service.sh setup-proxy-service.sh
./setup-copilot-service.sh
./setup-proxy-service.sh

3. Connect Cursor

Cursor needs an HTTPS URL, so we use ngrok (free) to expose the local proxy.

ngrok http 4142

Copy the URL (e.g., https://your-url.ngrok-free.app) and go to Cursor Settings > Models:

Add Open AI Model
Base URL: https://your-url.ngrok-free.app/v1
API Key: dummy (it doesn't matter)
Model Name: cus-claude-3.5-sonnet (or check the dashboard for list)

📊 The Local Dashboard

I also built a local dashboard to make life easier. Open http://localhost:4142 to see:

Your Copilot Token status
List of ALL available models (GPT-4o, Gemini, Claude, o1-preview)
One-click copy for Model IDs

⚠️ Important Notes

Educational Use Only: This leverages internal APIs. Use responsibly.
Claude Vision: Currently, the Copilot API endpoint for Claude models does not accept images. My proxy handles this gracefully so your chat doesn't crash, but for vision tasks, use cus-gemini-3-flash.