GitHub Copilot in VS Code v1.144

GitHub Copilot in VS Code v1.144 was released on .

Summary

Your agent can now run in the cloud while your machine sleeps, route across models with Copilot Fusion, and even generate images. VS Code 1.144 is here. Curious what else is new?

Release Context

Shipped around the same time

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Release Notes

Session continuity Run and continue Copilot tasks in the cloud Cloud sessions let you run Copilot tasks from VS Code without keeping your development machine online. Your repository and tools run in a managed environment on GitHub's infrastructure. From the Chat view in the editor window or the Agents window, you can: Select Cloud and choose a GitHub repository to start a task. Send follow-up instructions, respond to approval requests, and review the agent's changes. Reopen an existing cloud session from the sessions list to continue the same conversation. Your cloud sessions are als... Agent Host Protocol v1.0 We've published the first version of the Agent Host Protocol, the protocol that VS Code uses to communicate with its agents locally and on remote machines, including for cloud automations. It's an open, extensible protocol designed to be an easy way to build custom UI's for your agents, or build agent platforms that plug into any UI that speaks it. You can add a websocket-based agent host to your VS Code instance via the command Agents: Add Remote Agent Host... in the Agents... Models Route and orchestrate models with GitHub Copilot Fusion Instead of picking a model for each task, select Copilot Fusion in the model picker and let Copilot intelligently route requests and orchestrate models for you. Copilot Fusion brings together Project HydraFusion's multi-model orchestration and Copilot auto model selection's task-aware model selection to balance performance and cost efficiency... Compare models and harnesses by default and in more projects Setting: setting(sessions.chat.compareAgents.enabled) Model comparisons run the same prompt across models for side-by-side review. They are enabled by default for eligible new sessions in the Agents window, unless overridden by user settings or experiments. In this release, we expanded model comparison to more scenarios: Explore ideas without a project: Run independent attempts from a folderless Chat, without a Git repository, judge, or synthes... Image generation in Copilot (Preview) Setting: setting(chat.copilot.imageGeneration.model), setting(chat.copilot.imageGeneration.watermark). Agents can generate images from your prompts with GPT Image 2.5 Flare. Ask the agent to create an image for your website, a chat background, a new icon, or a website wireframe. You can also add an existing image as chat context and ask the agent to modify it or generate variations. The default image model is GPT Image 2.5 Flare. To disable image generation, set setting(chat.copilot.imageGeneration.model) to off. Image generation requ... Agent integration Let agents use desktop apps with computer use Setting: setting(chat.agentHost.computerUse.enabled) Some tasks happen in desktop apps rather than in your code or the terminal. With Computer Use, the agent can see and control apps on your computer. Computer Use works in Copilot harness sessions that run on your own macOS or Windows machine. When a task needs Computer Use, the agent asks you to allow turning it on, or you can run /computer on. Computer Use stays on for Copilot until you run /computer off. Learn... Canvases (Preview) Setting: setting(chat.canvases.enabled) Previously introduced in VS Code 1.142, Canvases are shared, interactive surfaces where you and the agent can inspect and update the same artifact. This release makes canvases easier to find, manage, and open. Manage canvases in the Agent Customizations editor The Agent Customizations editor's Canvases section lists the canvases available to the active Copilot session and groups their contributing canvas ext... Agents Assisted permissions are generally available Agents can make many tool calls to accomplish a task. Approving every tool call ensures that each action is explicitly authorized, but it can become cumbersome for frequent or low-risk calls. Giving the agent full autonomy might be risky and result in unintended actions or security issues. With assisted permissions (now generally available for Copilot sessions), the agent performs an LLM-based risk assessment for each tool call and automatically approves low-risk calls. When a call is deemed higher risk or if the risk cannot be determined,... Session composer controls (Experimental) Starting a new agent session is something you do often, so we've grouped the key settings at the top and added shortcuts for quick access. Choose the environment first With session continuity, where you run an agent session and where you access it from is completely up to you. So, when you create a new session in the Agents window, selecting the environment where the session runs is likely the first thing you do. Use the environment picker to choose from This Computer, Cloud, an eligible remote host, or a supported Dev Container.... Copilot harness as the default The Copilot harness continues to be the default for new sessions in VS Code. It's our latest harness, built on the Copilot SDK, a shared foundation that helps align behavior, capabilities, and improvements across Copilot products. When you start a new session, Copilot in the harness picker indicates that the session uses the Copilot harness: In VS Code, you can keep Copilot harness sessions running in the background and access them from both the VS Code editor window and the Agents window. These sessions run through the Agent Host, the same cloud memory service that other Copilot surfaces like Copilot CLI, Copilot cloud agent, and Copilot code review also use. Agents recall relevant repository facts and your preferences when a session starts, and store new learnings as you work, so you don't have to repeat the same context in every new conversation. Memories are stored as repository facts, which are shared with others who have access to the repository, or a... Manage worktree storage (Experimental) Setting: setting(chat.agentSessions.sessionStorageCleanupSuggestion.enabled) Last release, we introduced worktree storage cleanup for agent sessions to help you reclaim disk space used by worktrees. This release adds more ways to find the worktrees you want to remove: See all past worktrees: The Any time option is selected by default, to let you review recent worktrees as well as older ones. Find worktrees by workspace: Each row shows its workspace, and a workspace filter narrows the results. Changing the workspace filter c... Enable extensions in agents window Extensions can run and be enabled or disabled directly from the Agents window. This requires setting(extensions.experimental.agentsWindowManagement) to be set to true. Agent customizations Connect services with Copilot connectors (Preview) Bring the Slack discussion behind a change, project context from Notion, or API documentation from Microsoft Learn into your agent sessions. Copilot connectors are GitHub-managed MCP servers that connect your agent to these services without local server setup or MCP configuration. Open Browse, choose Copilot Connectors in the source menu, and select Connect on a service. Authorize access in your brows... Discover marketplace customizations (Preview) Add skills, tools, and entire workflows to your agent without building them from scratch. Browse, the new home page for Customizations, brings together GitHub Feed and plugins from marketplaces configured by you or your enterprise. Explore Editor's picks, Plan, build, and ship, and Connect your work, or searc... Richer editing for GitHub Copilot custom agents When you customize agents for the GitHub Copilot harness, completions, hovers, and validation help you choose available models, tools, and skills and catch configuration errors before you run the agent. Models: The model attribute offers Copilot model IDs as a single value or an ordered list of preferences. Tools: The tools attribute offers Copilot tool aliases, such as read, edit, and execute, alongside qualified client and extension tools. Skills: The skills attribute offers available skills, with descript... Harness-aware defaults for custom agent editing When your .agent.md file has no target attribute, the editor now uses the active customization harness to provide matching completions, hovers, and diagnostics. Switching harnesses refreshes this guidance without reopening the file. An explicit target: vscode or target: github-copilot continues to override the default. Share links to plugins and customizations You can share deep links in a README or team guide to help others add an agent plugin marketplace, install a specific plugin, or open a page in the customization di...

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