Developing features and iterating with Amazon Q Developer in GitHub - Amazon Q Developer

Developing features and iterating with Amazon Q Developer in GitHub

Note

Amazon Q Developer for GitHub is in preview release and is subject to change.

You can use Amazon Q Developer in GitHub to streamline development by automatically implementing new features and bug fixes, taking tasks from idea to a completed pull request. When you add the feature development label to an issue, it uses the issue, including its title and description, as well as repository code as context to generate new code fixes and create a pull request. On the pull request, you can provide feedback and Amazon Q Developer iterates on the suggested code.

You can have Amazon Q Developer perform feature development a limited number of times per month. You can increase your free usage at any time by registering your Amazon Q Developer app installation with your AWS account. For more information, see Increasing usage limits and configuring details in Amazon Q Developer console.

Important

The Amazon Q Developer app attempts to automatically create the Amazon Q development agent and the Amazon Q transform agent labels in GitHub repositories you authorize access to. If the labels are not automatically created, or if they're unintentionally deleted, you can manually create them in GitHub. The labels must be named as Amazon Q development agent and Amazon Q transform agent in order for them to be recognized and processed as Amazon Q Developer labels. For more information, see Creating a label in the GitHub documentation.

To use Amazon Q Developer for feature development

  1. If necessary, sign in to your GitHub account using your GitHub credentials.

  2. Navigate to your GitHub organization, and then navigate to the repository you want to implement new features with Amazon Q Developer.

  3. Choose Issues, and then create a new issue or choose an existing issue. For more information, see Create an issue in the GitHub documentation.

    1. For a new issue, in the Add a title text input field, enter a title that provides context to Amazon Q Developer for the feature development (example: "Create an image recognition app"). The issue description should also be included as it also provides context.

      For an existing issue, you can edit the issue title and description to provide context to Amazon Q Developer for the feature development. For more informaiton, see Editing an issue in the GitHub documentation.

  4. When creating an issue or configuring an existing issue, apply the feature development Amazon Q Developer label. Do one of the following to apply the label to the issue:

    1. Choose the Assign to Amazon Q dropdown menu provided as a browser extension, and then choose the Amazon Q development agent label.

    2. In the right side menu, choose Labels, and then choose the Amazon Q development agent label.

  5. For a new issue, choose Create issue to finish creating the issue with the necessary details for Amazon Q Developer to develop features. If you configure an existing issue, ensure you save the changes. For more informaiton, see Editing an issue in the GitHub documentation.

    When Amazon Q Developer finishes generating code changes for the feature development, it comments on the issue and opens a pull request.

  6. Navigate to the comment left by Amazon Q Developer (example: "I finished generating the proposed code changes and opened a pull request: Resolve Create an image recognition app"), and then choose the pull request link.

    You can also navigate to the Pull requests tab, and then choose the pull request created by Amazon Q Developer.

  7. Choose the Files changed tab to view the code changes.

  8. If you're satisfied with the suggested code changes, you can merge the pull request. For more information, see Merge a pull request.

You can also review the pull request for the feature development and iterate on the suggested code changes by providing feedback to Amazon Q Developer.

To iterate on Amazon Q Developer feature development code

  1. Choose the pull request created by Amazon Q Developer, and then choose the Files changed tab to view the code changes.

  2. For the line of code you want to leave feedback for and have Amazon Q Developer iterate, choose + to add a comment with feedback, and then choose Start a review.

    After you submit the review, Amazon Q Developer begins reviewing the code based on your feedback. When Amazon Q Developer is done revising your feedback, it commits the changes to the pull request and updates you with a comment.

  3. Choose Finish your review, choose the Request changes radio button, and then choose Submit review to have your feedback reviewed.

  4. If you're satisfied with the updated code changes, you can merge the pull request or iterate on the code again with new feedback. For more information, see Merge a pull request.

Amazon Q Developer integrates with GitHub Actions workflows to create an intelligent feedback loop system. When a pull request is created, configured workflows, such as unit tests, automatically execute. If the workflow fails, Amazon Q Developer analyzes the output, and based on the results and failure information, it iterates on the code changes. As code changes are pushed and workflows execute, Amazon Q Developer interprets the results and uses this information to refine its approach. That creates a continuous learning loop where each iteration builds upon previous attempts and Amazon Q Developer is able to evolve its solutions.

The effectiveness of a feedback loop is dependent on having well-defined tests and workflows that provide meaningful feedback to Amazon Q Developer to interpret and act upon. You can configure workflows using GitHub Actions YAML files in your repository, allowing for customized testing and validation processes that Amazon Q Developer can respond to. For more information, see Understanding GitHub Actionsin the GitHub documentation.