Image: Microsoft / code.visualstudio.com VS Code 1.128: Copilot Vision Goes GA, Claude Agent Keyboard Shortcuts, and Quick Chats Without a Workspace
VS Code 1.128 ships Copilot Vision as generally available, adds full keyboard navigation for multi-chat Claude agent sessions, lets you start a chat in the Agents window without opening a project first, and brings OS-level keyboard shortcuts so VS Code commands work even when the app isn't focused.
VS Code 1.128 landed July 8. The headliner is Copilot Vision graduating out of preview, but the release also adds a lot of polish to multi-chat agent sessions and removes a small but persistent annoyance: you no longer have to open a workspace before starting a chat.
Copilot Vision is now generally available
You can attach images and PDFs to chat by pasting them in, dragging and dropping, or right-clicking. Agents can also read images via tool calls, so you can hand a screenshot of a failing UI to an agent and have it reason about what it sees alongside the code.
This was in preview for a while. The GA release means it’s no longer behind a flag and the behavior is considered stable.
Quick chats without a workspace
Previously, the Agents window required an open folder before you could start a chat. 1.128 removes that restriction. Quick chats live in their own Chats section, persist across reloads, and launch via Cmd+K Cmd+N. Small thing, but useful if you want to ask something quickly without spinning up a project first.
Keyboard navigation for multi-chat sessions
The multi-chat feature introduced in 1.127 gets a full set of keyboard shortcuts in this release:
- Cmd+T — create a new chat
- Shift+Cmd+T — reopen a closed chat
- Shift+Cmd+] and Shift+Cmd+[ — navigate between chats
- Ctrl+Tab — switch chats
- Cmd+W — close the current chat tab
- Shift+Cmd+O — search open and closed chats
The Agents window also now supports deep links: vscode:// URLs that jump directly to a specific chat, which could be useful for linking to sessions from issue trackers or team wikis.
OS-level keyboard shortcuts
VS Code commands can now fire even when the app doesn’t have focus. You add a systemWide property to a keybinding in keybindings.json, and the shortcut works system-wide, not just when VS Code is the frontmost window. The obvious use case is triggering the Agents window or a quick chat from any context without having to switch apps first.
BYOK models for agent host sessions (experimental)
There’s a new experimental option to use bring-your-own-key language models in agent host sessions. It requires enabling chat.agentHost.byokModels.enabled and restarting the host process. Also new: custom temperature and top_p parameters for custom endpoint models, which helps with providers that have strict parameter requirements.
Browser tab placement
A minor but configurable addition: workbench.browser.newTabPlacement controls where integrated browser tabs open. Options are the active editor group (the default), a dedicated locked side group, or a separate auxiliary window. Useful for keeping browser previews from disrupting your editor layout.
Full release notes are at code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_128.