Visual Studio Code’s team, led by Pierce, explores how VS Code is evolving into an AI-native editor—highlighting new Copilot upgrades, agent APIs, and behind-the-scenes developments at GitHub Universe 2025.

VS Code as an AI-Native Editor: Insights from GitHub Universe 2025

Author: Visual Studio Code (Pierce, host)

Overview

This talk offers a behind-the-scenes breakdown of announcements for Visual Studio Code (VS Code) at GitHub Universe 2025. The episode focuses on VS Code’s journey toward becoming an AI-native editor and features in-depth commentary on the latest advancements—including Copilot integrations and the evolution of coding agents in various environments.

Key Topics Covered

AI-Native Editor Experience
- Discussion on how VS Code is integrating AI natively to enhance the coding workflow.
- Local, cloud, and third-party agent support within the editor and CLI.
GitHub Copilot Upgrades
- Detailed look at new Copilot features within VS Code, as announced at GitHub Universe 2025 (changelog).
- Unified experience for agent-driven coding powered by Copilot and the Mission Control dashboard.
Mission Control
- Introduction to Mission Control as a tool for assigning, steering, and tracking Copilot agents (read more).
Agent Architecture
- Insights on new agent architectures—custom agents, planning agents, and subagents within VS Code Chats.
- Sessions management through cloud agents and agent orchestration APIs.
Open Source AI Editor Milestones
- Updates on progress toward an open-source AI editor (second milestone).

Chapters & Timestamps

00:00 - Intro & Experience at Universe
03:30 - AI-Native Editor
10:00 - How coding is evolving
12:35 - Planning Agent
18:30 - Subagents in Chat
21:10 - Custom Agents
30:15 - Cloud Agents & Agent Sessions
38:00 - VS Code - An Open Platform

Additional Resources

Podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more.

Twitter/X: @code
YouTube: youtube.com/code
GitHub: github.com/microsoft/vscode

Summary

The episode highlights how VS Code is leading the way as an extensible, AI-powered platform for developers, emphasizing practical applications of Copilot, agent infrastructure, and future directions for editing in an AI-driven era.