Configure AI features
Once you have set up a language model provider, you can configure how AI features behave in Positron.
ai.enabled is true by default, but AI functionality is only active once you have authenticated with a language model provider.
Turn features on or off
You can turn off individual features or disable all AI features at once. To browse the AI settings in Positron, open the Settings editor with Preferences: Open Settings (UI) and search for @feature:ai, or go to Features > AI.
Turn off all AI features
To turn off all Positron AI features at once, set ai.enabled to false. This overrides individual feature settings and disables:
- Posit Assistant
- Posit AI Next Edit Suggestions (NES)
- Notebook AI features
- Console Fix & Explain
- Quarto AI actions (the Ask Assistant button)
- Quarto Fix & Explain
- GitHub Copilot (Chat, Completions)
- Git commit message generation
Turn off a specific feature
To disable a specific feature without affecting others:
| Setting | Features affected |
|---|---|
assistant.enabled |
Posit Assistant (set to false to disable) |
nextEditSuggestions.enabled |
Posit AI NES (set to { "*": false } to disable) |
github.copilot.enable |
GitHub Copilot ghost-text completions and Next Edit Suggestions (set to { "*": false } to disable both) |
github.copilot.nextEditSuggestions.enabled |
GitHub Copilot Next Edit Suggestions (set to false to disable) |
notebook.ai.enabled |
Notebook AI features (set to false to disable) |
console.assistantActions.enabled |
Console Fix & Explain (set to false to disable) |
git.suggestions.enabled |
Git commit messages (set to false to disable) |
Turn a provider on or off
Positron shows every provider by default. To hide one, or to allow only a specific set, edit providers.json.
GitHub Copilot chat
Positron hides the GitHub Copilot chat interface by default, since Posit Assistant is the default chat experience in Positron. To show the GitHub Copilot chat UI again, set chat.disableAIFeatures to false.
Regardless of that setting, GitHub Copilot ghost-text completions and NES are available once you connect GitHub Copilot as a provider.
Check your AI configuration
To see how Positron applies the settings on this page, run the AI: Create Diagnostic Report command. The report lists which features are on, which providers you are signed in to, and the AI settings that differ from their defaults. See AI diagnostics for what the report contains and what it redacts.