Enabling ai co author by default by cwebster-99 · Pull Request #310226 · microsoft/vscode

📬 CODENOTIFY

The following users are being notified based on files changed in this PR:

Ladislau Szomoru (@lszomoru)

Matched files:

• extensions/git/package.json
• extensions/git/src/repository.ts

Pull request overview

This PR changes the Git extension’s git.addAICoAuthor setting so that AI co-author trailers are enabled by default, making the default behavior automatically add a Co-authored-by trailer when AI-generated code contributions are detected.

Changes:

• Updates git.addAICoAuthor configuration default from "off" to "all".

Copilot's findings

• Files reviewed: 1/1 changed files
• Comments generated: 1

Why in the world would you default this! 😡

Wth.. makeing this default behaviour and not notifying users is crazy

please revert until it actually works.

I have "chat.disableAIFeatures": true and co-authored by copilot still gets inserted into most commits. This is absolutely unacceptable.

Any explanation for the choice to make this default?

Now I know why random commits of mine were suddenly being "co-authored by copilot" despite not using copilot with that commit. I just don't get the point of this at all.

This is absolutely ridiculous and should not at all be defaulted. Especially when not using Copilot whatsoever.

So the logic here was: "Let's inject our own name into every commit, even for users who never used Copilot, and ship it as a silent default." Who thought that was okay? It's vandalism. Shameful.

Update: I can personally confirm this: on multiple recent commits I hand-wrote every commit message and never touched Copilot while coding, yet there it is — Co-authored-by: Copilot copilot@github.com — injected anyway. At the very least, people who write their own commit messages in the vscode git UI deserve WYSIWYG. That's the bare minimum of respect for the user.

I am not using copilot, I have "chat.disableAIFeatures" and co-authored by copilot still gets inserted into commits.

I guess when no one uses your service, you have to pretend people are by adding it to commit messages without their knowledge. Whether they used it or not. This is exactly why Microsoft can’t be trusted with your code, your commits, or your SDLC.

I was warming up to zed. Stuff like this leaves me no choice but switch completely.

sigh.. lemme add "git.addAICoAuthor": "off" in my config file and get it done with.

thank you micros~1.

Cursor handles this differently — there's no automatic attribution because the workflow assumes you're reviewing every diff before commit. The author is whoever ran git commit, full stop. The Microsoft approach feels off because it conflates "I used the editor" with "I co-authored this," which devalues the signal that Co-Authored-by is supposed to carry.
The deeper issue: if every commit made in any IDE with AI features carries a Co-Authored-by tag, the metadata becomes noise. We already have a hard time tracking real authorship in PR-heavy workflows; auto-tagging makes it worse.

Quick question: what the fuck is wrong with you?

back in 2009 I used windows to buy a software engineering book from amazon. go ahead add Co-Authored-by Bill Gates to my PRs. come on i'm waiting.

Uninstalling, good bye, I'll never switch back to the M$ slop editor.

Do they give you the lobotomy before your initial job orientation at Microsoft, or after? I wonder if you have to use up vacation days for the recovery time.

Slopya Nadella likes this.

This is insanity, please revert

Leave it to Microsoft to take credit for things they had nothing to do with.

Microslop be Microsloppin'

They add Copilot to everything and their mother, so that they can boast 17 morbillion Copilot users to shareholders. A surprisingly simple strategy, but apparently works lmao

Pro-tip: You can achieve the same power as Visual Studio Code by just using Emacs with a framework like Doom Emacs or Spacemacs. If you want an editor truly without AI, use Gram or something :P

Frankly, its quite invasive, and isn't something any IDE should do by default, at all, and definitively not HIDDEN.

I challenge any product manager, to have auto-inserted "With regards, co-authored by Copilot" in any email they send with outlook. But, they should not see that text until AFTER they've sent the email. Courtney Webster (@cwebster-99) , do you take the challenge?

I suspect this is a move to artificially inflate the metric of copilot-authored commits across all of GitHub.

This is actually a terrible change. Please consider reverting it.

So that's why I have commits with Copilot on it.

I'm not asking nicely, I demand that you revert this extremely dumb PR.

i guess it is time to use other editors

To whoever forced this: Are you stupid?

Thank you all for your feedback, professional or otherwise.
Sorry about the regression. I will work on fixing this in 1.119.

There is a number of issues with the Co-Author functionality:

• It should never have been enabled when disableAIFeatures is on.
• It should not add attribution to changes that were not done by AI.
• We need to make sure it receives a more test coverage before change the default.

If you have additional (constructive) feedback, please ping me directly or open an issue.

This borders on fraud. Claiming co-authorship is a legal statement, with legal implications for re-licensing code.

FYI - a follow up PR is here:
#313931

FYI - we have posted update on the subject with more details and analysis here:
#314311