VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

Status: Beta. Setup id: copilot. Backfill: Within native retention.

HypAware records GitHub Copilot chats in VS Code from the native Local and Agent Host SQLite stores, read-only. It imports completed model, chat and tool spans every minute by default. Model requests go directly to the provider; this integration requires no model proxy or extra listener.

The qualified scope is local single-folder workspaces. Installed-client checks cover VS Code 1.139.1 with Copilot Chat 0.67.0, for both Local and Agent Host. Other editor and SDK versions need qualification. This integration does not cover GitHub Copilot CLI or inline code completions.

What is recorded

Submitted prompts, assistant output, system context, offered tool definitions, tool arguments/results, errors and visible reasoning when present in the native spans. Provider-supplied token usage, including cache counters, is recorded once per response. Rows use the normal ai_gateway_messages table with client_name = 'copilot' and the session's verified local working directory.

Only completed spans with an unambiguous workspace binding are imported. Hidden reasoning and exact binary attachments are not captured. Parent IDs are preserved where available, but complete subagent trees are not guaranteed.

Set it up

Install a HypAware version containing the bundled @hypaware/copilot plugin, with Node.js 22.13 or newer on macOS or Linux, on the same host as VS Code. This integration needs Node's unflagged node:sqlite builtin. In hyp setup, choose VS Code GitHub Copilot. To add it later:

hyp client attach copilot --dry-run
hyp client attach copilot
hyp client status copilot

Accept the offer to enable recording if prompted. Then reload VS Code, open a local single-folder workspace and complete a Copilot chat turn. Attach success confirms settings were written; it does not prove the editor is emitting data.

Attach enables these application settings in User/settings.json, shared across profiles, while preserving comments and unrelated settings:

{
  "github.copilot.chat.otel.dbSpanExporter.enabled": true,
  "chat.agentHost.otel.dbSpanExporter.enabled": true,
  "chat.agentHost.otel.captureContent": true
}

The Local debug database can contain full content even when content capture for an external exporter is disabled. HypAware applies its own recording and privacy checks before importing; these do not prevent VS Code from storing debug content. Attach preserves existing external destinations and refuses observable incompatible protobuf/gRPC Agent Host exporter settings or environment overrides that disable the required database/content pipeline. Editor-only environment and enterprise policy can still affect capture.

Stable and Insiders installations are discovered at their standard platform locations, including profile databases. Portable mode follows VSCODE_PORTABLE. For a relocated installation, merge a user_data_dirs list of 1 to 8 absolute VS Code user-data roots into the existing Copilot plugin's config block:

{
  "name": "@hypaware/copilot",
  "config": { "user_data_dirs": ["/absolute/path/to/vscode-user-data"] }
}

Use the user-data root, not its User or profile subdirectory. Follow the configuration guide to validate and load the change, then rerun attach and reload VS Code.

Verify capture

After completing a distinctive chat turn, allow the next minute's sweep to run:

hyp status
hyp query sql "select session_id, model, role, content_text from ai_gateway_messages where client_name = 'copilot' limit 20" --refresh always

Source status reports the last scan and counts of stores, selected, read, unchanged, dropped and incomplete spans. A missing database, ambiguous workspace or scan limit can leave capture incomplete. Status does not imply every native span was recorded.

Import retained history

hyp backfill copilot --dry-run
hyp backfill copilot

VS Code's native retention is seven days and the latest 100 conversations. History already evicted, or generated before the native exporters were enabled, cannot be recovered through this integration. Replaying captured spans does not duplicate stored rows or token usage.

The default recovery schedule is every minute. A positive backfill.window_days also bounds scheduled recovery; backfill.sweep_cron changes its schedule. Declining join-time history (backfill.on_join: false) still captures new work, with scheduled scans starting at adapter activation. Manual backfill can widen the history window, subject to native retention. See clients and history.

Privacy and stopping recording

Folder privacy controls and persistent session exclusions apply before import and again before writes. Local-only rows retain their directory so export rules withhold them. To exclude a session, supply its explicit native session ID from the query above:

hyp session ignore <session-id>
hyp session status <session-id>
hyp session unignore <session-id>

To stop Copilot recording:

hyp client detach copilot

Detach disables HypAware recording and restores settings it managed, retaining values you changed afterward with a warning. Reload VS Code to apply restored settings. Detach does not delete native history or previously recorded rows.

Limits and troubleshooting

Remote workspaces, multi-root workspaces and sessions that change working directory are outside the qualified scope. Unowned or ambiguous spans are withheld. Native retention, missing parents and scan size limits can leave history incomplete; this is not an unlimited transcript archive.