VS Code Insiders Podcast

Dive into the heart of VS Code’s agent loop as James and Pierce unravel how agents, sub-agents, tools, and harnesses work together to power your coding experience. Learn how the agent loop has evolved, why different models are used for specific tasks, and how you can customize or optimize your own workflows. Perfect for anyone curious about the magic behind AI-driven code assistance! Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode

Justin and James deep-dive into Autopilot and the evolving VS Code chat UX—why shimmers and collapsed containers declutter conversations, and why the input bar split and new permissions picker matter. Learn how Autopilot (Insiders preview) can auto-approve tools, answer prompts, iterate until a task_complete signal or max retries, and when to use default vs bypass approvals; practical tips for safe, hands-off workflows and feedback. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Justin Chen.

Discover how VS Code's subagents revolutionize parallel execution and context management. Learn the fundamentals of agent loops and context windows, then dive into how subagents isolate tasks, run simultaneously, and keep your main agent focused. Plus, explore custom agents and model optimization strategies to supercharge your development workflow. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Harald Kirschner.

In this episode James sits down with Ben and Peng from the VS Code team to unpack a year of AI evolution inside the editor — from Copilot Free to the new agent sessions UI. They explain the three agent flavors (interactive local, background, cloud), why agent orchestration matters, and how VS Code is reshaping UX so you can run parallel sessions, delegate work, and treat agent outputs like inbox items to triage. Key takeaways: build context in local chats then delegate to background/cloud, harden projects with linting/tests to improve agent reliability, and expect session results to include artifacts beyond code (tests, screenshots, videos). If you want practical tips for embedding agents into your workflow and a peek at where VS Code is headed, this conversation is a must-listen. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guests: Benjamin Pasero and Peng Lyu.

Burke and Pierce sit down to review a full year of releases, surprises, partnerships, and AI goodies in VS Code from 2025! Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Burke Holland.

In this episode of the VS Code Insiders podcast, James sits down with Julia to explore the fast-changing world of AI models inside VS Code. They dive into how developers can evaluate models, the role of fine-tuning, and why speed versus complexity matters. From Raptor Mini to Sonnet, this conversation reveals the behind-the-scenes work shaping your coding experience today. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Julia Kasper.

Pamela and Eleanor dig into the real art of AI‑assisted coding—delegating work to background agents, writing specs that models actually follow, and steering different LLM personalities without superstition. Expect hands‑on tactics with Copilot, GitHub Actions, CLI‑first workflows, and the agents.md standard, plus a peek at Eleanor’s open‑source Ruler project for centralized rules. Come for the model face‑offs, stay for the practical tips: richer prompts, sandboxed evals, and even talking to your computer. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Eleanor Berger.

Megan Rogge, Software Engineer on VS Code, joins James to explore how accessibility is woven into the culture and engineering practices of Visual Studio Code. From screen reader support to sound signals and contrast themes, this episode reveals the thoughtful design behind features that empower every developer. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Megan Rogge.

What does it look like for VS Code to be an AI-native editor? How is it evolving with agents running locally in the editor, in a CLI, in the cloud, or even from other companies? Pierce breaks down every part of what was announced for VS Code at GitHub Universe and goes behind the scenes of his part of the keynote. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode

The new planning agent is here to help you plan out your next tasks, but how does it differ from todos? When would you want to use the planning agent, and how does it actually work? Bhavya, software engineer on the VS Code team, sits down to break it all down. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Bhavya U.

Steve Francia joins the pod to talk about building, scaling, and supporting large open source projects and communities from MongoDB, Go, Cobra, Hugo, and so much more. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Steve Francia.

Burke joins the pod to talk about chat modes, how they are evolving, how you can use them as agents, and how he created Beast mode for GPT 4.1 that revolutionized working with this model. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Burke Holland.

Harald joins James to talk through customizing chat, agents, and GitHub Copilot with custom instructions, prompts, and modes. We go deeper int new proposed APIs that pulls them together to create agents and how Harald implement agent memory and shipped it as an extension! Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Harald Kirschner.

James sits down with Scott Tolinski, of Syntax podcast, to talk about how developer education has changed over the years since he started creating tutorials, how AI is impacting how we learn to code and problem solve, and what the future looks like. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Scott Tolinski.

Toby sits down to talk about MCP, model context protocol, why it is important, how the steering commit across companies helps form the open standard, and how the MCP registry standard came to be and how GitHub and VS Code are leveraging it. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Toby Padilla.

Brigit and Josh join the podcast to talk about the latest enhancements to coding agents, aka background tasks, aka background agents in VS Code. They break down why you would use them, how to use them, and their future. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guests: Brigit Murtaugh and Josh Spicer.

Christy joins us to talk about her internship on the VS Code team, her journey, how she landed the internship, how she developed git worktree support in VS Code, and what's next for her. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Christy Nguyen.

This week, VS Code engineer Logan Ramos joins the pod to talk about Bring Your Own Key... or Bring Your Own Model... the ability to configure models from several providers including Azure, OpenAI, xAI, Anthropic, Google, and more. We talk about how and why you would actually use this functionality, but more importantly a new API for extenders to bring ANY model directly into VS Code! Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Logan Ramos.

This week, VS Code engineer Tyler Leonhardt joins the podcast to give an update on the latest enhancements to MCP authentication for developers and how the VS Code team is leveraging MCP to help developer VS Code with help of the Playwright, GitHub, and other MCP servers. James also got a chance to sit down with Kent C. Dodds at the MCP Dev Days to better understand how MCP is evolving his workflow and how he sees its impact going forward. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guests: Kent C. Dodds and Tyler Leonhardt.

What features are coming to VS Code in the next update? The August iteration plan is completely done in the open. How does it work, how you look at it, and how to you get involved? We also sit down with VS Code engineer Daniel Imms about vast improvements coming to the Terminal for agent mode integraiton. Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode Special Guest: Daniel Imms.

GPT-5 and GPT-5 mini are here inside of agent mode in Visual Studio Code. We discuss these new models and new features for developers including tasks lists, manage models, and beast mode! Follow VS Code: X: https://x.com/code Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev YouTube: https://youtube.com/code LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/104107263 GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode