Visual Studio Code v1.102 Changelog

This update is all about making the AI assistant (GitHub Copilot) smarter and more customizable. It mostly matters to developers who use AI to help write code, giving them much more control over how the AI behaves, what rules it follows, and how it runs commands on their computer.

What's new

• Copilot Chat is open source: The code for the AI chat extension is now public. Anyone can read how it works under the hood, suggest improvements, or help build new features.
• Custom AI modes: You can now create special "modes" for the chat. For example, you can set up a "Research" mode that only gives information, or a "Planning" mode that helps you map out a project, each with its own specific rules.
• Generate custom instructions: Instead of trying to figure out how to tell the AI about your project's rules, a new command lets the AI scan your code and automatically write a rulebook for itself.
• Smart instruction files: You can set up rule files that the AI only reads when it needs them. For example, it will only load your specific TypeScript coding rules if you are actually working with TypeScript files.
• Import community setups: You can now easily import custom AI modes and prompts (pre-written instructions) shared by other people online via simple web links.
• Background Copilot agent: You can now hand off tasks to the Copilot agent and let it work on them in the background while you do other things.
• Middle-click scrolling: You can now click your mouse's scroll wheel and drag your mouse to quickly scroll through your code, which is a common feature in other text editors.

Improvements

• Pick your AI model: When creating a custom mode, you can now choose exactly which AI model (the specific brain) it should use to answer your questions.
• Better editing for AI rules: When you are typing out instructions or modes for the AI, the editor now helps you out by auto-completing text, checking for errors, and showing explanations when you hover over settings.
• Easier settings menu: There is a new gear icon in the chat window that neatly organizes all your custom modes, prompts, and tool sets in one place.
• Edit past questions (Experimental): If you asked the AI a question and want to tweak it, you can now click on your previous message to edit the text or change the attached files. When you resend it, the chat resets to that point and gives you a fresh answer.
• Auto-approving terminal commands (Experimental): When the AI agent needs to run commands in your terminal (like checking the status of your code), you usually have to approve it every time. You can now set up an "allow list" of safe commands (like git status) that the AI can run automatically without bugging you, while blocking dangerous ones.

Fixes

• The release notes mention that several bug fixes were made to the new custom chat modes to make them work more smoothly.
• Three small follow-up updates (1.102.1, 1.102.2, and 1.102.3) were released shortly after the main launch to patch various issues and keep the editor stable.

Breaking changes

No breaking changes in this release.