VS Code Now Continues GitHub Copilot Sessions From Other Apps
GitHub CopilotVS Code 1.135 lets the editor's Sessions list surface recent Copilot or Claude agent conversations started elsewhere — including Copilot CLI, the GitHub Copilot app, Claude Code, and Codex — so developers can pick a session back up inside VS Code instead of returning to the original tool. By default VS Code shows up to two recently updated external sessions, controllable via the chat.agentSessions.showExternal setting.
Key Takeaways
- VS Code's Sessions list can now discover and continue agent sessions started in other applications, including Copilot CLI, the GitHub Copilot app, Claude Code, and Codex.
- By default, VS Code surfaces up to two recently updated external sessions, with the count and sources configurable via the Sessions list menu.
- The feature is controlled by the
chat.agentSessions.showExternalsetting, which can also disable it entirely. - Continuing an external session uses the developer's existing Copilot subscription inside VS Code — no re-authentication or re-explaining context needed.
- It's part of a broader Agent Host push in VS Code 1.135 that also introduced the Rubber Duck cross-model reviewer in the same release.
- The change reflects a shift toward treating agent sessions as portable state rather than tool-locked conversations.
Sources & Mentions
1 external resource covering this update
One Sessions List Across Tools
Developers increasingly start agent sessions from wherever is most convenient — a terminal, a phone, a different editor — and finishing that work back in VS Code previously meant re-explaining context to a new session. VS Code 1.135 changes that by teaching the built-in Sessions list to discover and display recent Copilot or Claude agent sessions created in other applications.
What's New
The Sessions list can now surface sessions started in Copilot CLI, the standalone GitHub Copilot app, Claude Code, and Codex. Selecting one of these external sessions opens the full conversation and lets the developer continue it directly inside VS Code, using their existing Copilot subscription. By default, VS Code shows up to two of the most recently updated external sessions, though developers can adjust how many appear and filter which sources are shown through the Sessions list menu, or turn the behavior off entirely with the chat.agentSessions.showExternal setting.
Why It Matters
This closes a real gap in how developers actually work with agentic coding tools: session state used to be siloed per tool, so switching from a terminal-based CLI session to the editor meant losing continuity. By treating agent sessions as portable across surfaces, GitHub is positioning VS Code as a hub where in-progress agent work — regardless of where it started — can be reviewed, steered, and finished. It also reduces the friction of trying different agent harnesses without being locked into finishing a task in whichever tool it happened to start in.
Availability
External session continuation ships with VS Code 1.135 and works with any GitHub Copilot subscription that supports Agent Host sessions in the editor.