Setting Up Cursor (or VS Code + Copilot) for Free

You have two clean ways to get started in 2026: Cursor (a full AI-first IDE) or VS Code with the GitHub Copilot extension. Both have free tiers that are good enough for every lesson in this track. Pick one and stop agonizing over the choice.

Option A: Cursor

1. 1Go to cursor.com and click Download
2. 2Install the app like any other program
3. 3Launch it and sign in with Google or GitHub
4. 4Accept the free Hobby tier — it includes enough completions and chat for learning
5. 5Open a folder and start typing

Option B: VS Code + GitHub Copilot

1. 1Install VS Code from code.visualstudio.com
2. 2Open the Extensions panel (the blocks icon in the sidebar)
3. 3Search for GitHub Copilot and click Install
4. 4Sign in with a GitHub account — students get Copilot free via GitHub Student Pack
5. 5Create a new file and start typing; ghost text should appear within a line or two

First checks to do

# Type this comment on line 1:
# Function that returns the first N Fibonacci numbers as a list.

# Press Enter. Wait two seconds. Gray text should appear.
# Accept with Tab. You should see something like:

def fibonacci(n):
    sequence = [0, 1]
    while len(sequence) < n:
        sequence.append(sequence[-1] + sequence[-2])
    return sequence[:n]

print(fibonacci(10))

Common install gotchas

• If ghost text never appears, check you are signed in — extensions need auth
• If Python is not recognized, install it from python.org and restart the editor
• Corporate laptops may block extensions — ask IT or use a personal machine
• On a Chromebook, use the Linux developer environment or the web-based vscode.dev

“The best editor is the one you actually open every day.”

The big idea: setup is not the lesson, but it is the gate. Install one of these two, verify ghost text works, and you are ready for everything that follows.