The VS Code team, in this update, announces they are open sourcing the GitHub Copilot Chat extension and integrating AI features into the core editor. This significant move, authored by the VS Code team, promotes openness, transparency, and greater community involvement.

VS Code: Open Source AI Editor

Update (June 30th, 2025): the GitHub Copilot Chat extension is now open source.

The VS Code team has announced a major milestone: the GitHub Copilot Chat extension will be open sourced under the MIT license, with relevant AI components planned for integration directly into VS Code core. This step positions VS Code as an open source AI editor and reaffirms the project’s principles of openness and collaboration.

Why Open Source Now?

  • Improved AI Models: Advances in large language models have reduced reliance on proprietary prompting, making openness more feasible and beneficial for the ecosystem.
  • Common UX for AI: Widespread adoption of effective AI user experience patterns across code editors motivates community-driven refinement through open codebases.
  • Ecosystem Growth: Open sourcing Copilot Chat lowers barriers for extension creators, improving debugging and innovation by providing access to previously closed components.
  • Transparency: With community visibility into the Copilot Chat code, questions regarding data collection and usage are more easily addressed.
  • Security: As open source, community feedback, issue reporting, and pull requests can further enhance the security of AI tools.

Next Steps

  • Open sourcing of the Copilot Chat extension and related AI components is scheduled for the coming weeks.
  • The team will refactor these features into VS Code core as part of an ongoing commitment to performance and extensibility.
  • A prompt test infrastructure will also be open sourced, simplifying AI feature development and testing.
  • Community involvement remains key; the VS Code team encourages participation via their iteration plan and GitHub issues.

Resources

By open sourcing its core AI editing capabilities, VS Code and the GitHub Copilot Chat extension aim to invite greater innovation and transparency, shaping the next generation of developer tools in the open.

Authored by the VS Code team

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