VS Code Adds Copilot Co-Author to Commits by Default

Microsoft merged a pull request in the Visual Studio Code repository that sets the git.addAICoAuthor setting to all by default. Previously set to off, this configuration now adds a Co-Authored-by trailer for Copilot to commits whenever the extension detects AI-generated code contributions. The change appeared in pull request #310226, titled Enabling ai co author by default, and went into the main branch on April 16, 2026.

Visual Studio Code, an open-source code editor from Microsoft with 184k stars and 39.6k forks on GitHub, integrates GitHub Copilot, an AI-powered coding assistant. The repository handles over 5k issues and 1.9k pull requests. This specific PR, opened by cwebster-99 on April 15, 2026, updated extensions/git/package.json to switch the default value. A second commit fixed a runtime fallback in extensions/git/src/repository.ts to match, after Copilot AI suggested the adjustment during review.

Pull Request Details and Reviews

Contributor cwebster-99 requested reviews from Copilot and dmitrivMS, marking the PR ready on April 15, 2026, at 21:22. Copilot AI reviewed the changes and noted a mismatch between the schema default of all and the runtime fallback of off in repository.ts. It proposed updating the fallback to all, which dmitrivMS implemented in commit 35a83af. DmitrivMS approved and merged commit 7049f52 into main on April 16, 2026, after 25 of 26 checks passed. The bot vs-code-engineering notified lszomoru due to file changes and added the PR to the 1.117.0 milestone.

GitHub Actions bot reported screenshot changes in three areas: chat/aiCustomizations/aiCustomizationManagementEditor/McpBrowseMode/Light, editor/inlineCompletions/other/JumpToHint/Dark, and agentSessionsViewer/NeedsInput/Light. The PR drew early reactions: 1 thumbs up, 114 thumbs down, and 17 confused emojis.

Strong Community Backlash

Comments poured in after the merge. On April 25, 2026, rgs2151 asked why this became default, earning 48 thumbs up. Anonymni-hlasatel called it crazy to make it default without notifying users, with 43 thumbs up. Flying-sheep urged a revert on April 26, 2026, stating that even with chat.disableAIFeatures set to true, Copilot co-author tags appeared in most commits, unacceptable behavior that got 52 thumbs up and 5 eyes reactions.

Edenchazard sought an explanation for the default choice, noting random commits gained the tag without Copilot use, with 35 thumbs up. Jamiejcole labeled it ridiculous, especially without Copilot, edited on April 27, 2026, receiving 12 thumbs up. Marxoffice accused the team of injecting the name into every commit silently, calling it vandalism, and confirmed it on hand-written commits via VS Code Git UI, gaining 32 thumbs up.

Ongoing Complaints and Examples

Ringoz reported the same issue despite disabling AI features, 15 thumbs up on April 28, 2026. NoiceBroice referenced the PR in another repo with a commit showing Co-authored-by: Copilot copilot@github.com. Cloudyluna reacted with what the hell on May 2, 2026, 6 thumbs up. Gabereiser criticized it as pretending usage by adding tags without knowledge, eroding trust in Microsoft for code handling, 7 thumbs up.

0xku mentioned switching to Zed fully, 8 thumbs up. Gokaygurcan added git.addAICoAuthor: off to config, 4 thumbs up. GerardoSuarezRamos contrasted with Cursor's approach, no auto-attribution, and warned of metadata noise, 3 thumbs up, 1 thumbs down. Snehesht predicted better Zed adoption and noted HN front page coverage, 7 thumbs up, 2 laughs. Whitequark questioned the decision bluntly, 11 thumbs up, 1 confused.

Follow-up Developments

Edenchazard opened PR #313725 on May 2, 2026, to default git.addAICoAuthor back to off. It remains open, assigned to cwebster-99, with Copilot review and dmitrivMS approval pending full merge. The original PR has 17 participants and mixed bot interactions.

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