VS Code 1.132 Ships Agent Host Protocol and Multi-Session Agents Window

VS Code 1.132 shipped August 5 with a meaningful shift in how the editor handles agents. The big structural change is Agent Host Protocol support, which lets agents run in their own process and connect across multiple editor windows. The smaller but more immediately visible change is the Agents Window — a dedicated space for managing multiple concurrent sessions.

Agent Host Protocol

Until now, agents in VS Code ran inside the same process as the editor. With Agent Host support, they get their own dedicated process. Multiple editor windows can connect to the same agent session, so you can have one window showing your code and another tracking what the agent is actually doing.

Copilot uses this to align its VS Code behavior with the Copilot CLI and other standalone products that already run through the Copilot SDK. The net effect is more predictable agent behavior across different surfaces. Other agents using the same protocol — Claude, Codex, and others — get the same benefit.

Admins who were using the ChatAgentHostEnabled policy should note it’s been removed. The equivalent is now the chat.agentHost.enabled user setting.

Agents Window

The Agents Window gives you a dedicated space to start, monitor, and manage multiple agent sessions at once. Live status pills above the chat input show what’s happening in real time: how many files changed, links to any documents the agent created, what subagents are running, and what the integrated browser is doing.

This complements the existing chat interface rather than replacing it. The idea is that you can have a long-running agent working in the background while you keep coding in the main editor.

Side chats with /btw

If you’re mid-task with an agent and want to ask a quick question without breaking the agent’s current turn, you can now open a side chat using /btw. The side chat shares context and the prompt cache with your primary chat, so the agent doesn’t have to re-process everything.

This solves a real workflow annoyance: previously, asking a clarifying question meant either interrupting the agent or waiting until it finished.

Multilingual dictation

The integrated dictation feature now uses Nemotron 3.5, which runs on-device and supports multiple languages. It detects language automatically based on your system locale, or you can set it explicitly via the agents.voice.language setting.

The terminal gets a smarter version of this: shell-aware cleanup means “git commit dash m hello world” becomes git commit -m "Hello World" instead of a literal transcription.

You can also add custom dictation instructions through .github/dictation.md or ~/.copilot/dictation.md.

Browser element commenting

The integrated browser now lets you click on a specific element in the page and attach a comment directed at the agent. Instead of describing “the button in the top right of the third card” in text, you select it and annotate it directly. More precise feedback, less back-and-forth.

Markdown diffs

The hybrid Markdown editor now shows diffs — gutter indicators for additions, changes, and deletions — while keeping inline editing working. A new dropdown in the breadcrumb bar lets you switch between regular and diff view. This one is still experimental.

Sources: VS Code 1.132 release notes