Copilot not working in Remote windows

[kieferrm]

This is a duplicate issue to microsoft/vscode-copilot-release#3375 for information purposes only.

When using Copilot in with DevContainer, SSH, or WSL you will encounter that the Copilot Chat window is stuck in the setup state. The recording below shows the error state as well as a temporary workaround.

The error state is that the Chat window displays a button to suggests to you to "Use Copilot" or "Use Copilot for Free". When clicking the button, supposedly nothing happens.

The workaround:

1. Go to the extension management view
2. Disable the Copilot Chat extension on the remote
3. Reload the window
4. In the extension management view, enable the Copilot Chat extension on the remote

The workaround is necessary for each remote window.

We're working on a fix.

This issues was first reported as microsoft/vscode-copilot-release#3366.

[kieferrm]

A fix will be release in the next official Insiders build, followed by a recovery build for Stable.

[bpasero]

@sandy081 and me investigated further and there are 2 issues with 2 changes planned:

1. Copilot not working connected to remote:

• connect to a remote (WSL, SSH) where we do not install Copilot automatically
• run through the Copilot Free setup which will install Copilot locally and remote
• reload window
• now Copilot local is disabled, remote is enabled and there is a race condition in figuring out if Copilot is enabled or not
• 🐛 we think it is disabled because the local one is and that one wins

The fix is to query extensions without duplicates (local, remote) and only check for enablement of the one in the remote if connected to a remote: #236552

This is the same fix @roblourens did: acd32b1

A variant of the above to reproduce is for users that simply have Copilot already installed locally and connect to a remote. In that case the local one would get disabled and thus reproduces this issue too (for example connecting to a Codespace).

2. Copilot not working connected to a remote:

• have copilot locally installed
• connect to a remote
• go through the setup and finish it
• 🐛 copilot extension is not getting installed on the remote

The fix for that bug also goes into #236552

[bpasero]

Test Plan Item

Testing should be done with fresh user data dir and fresh extensions dir on stable build.

Local

1.) without copilot extensions installed ✅ @sandy081 and @bpasero

• go through free SKU setup
• make sure copilot chat works
• reload window, ensure it works

2.) with copilot extension installed ✅ @sandy081 and @bpasero

• install copilot extension
• go through free SKU setup
• make sure copilot chat works
• reload window, ensure it works

3.) with copilot extension installed but disabled ✅ @sandy081 and @bpasero

• install copilot extension
• disable copilot extension
• go through free SKU setup
• make sure copilot chat works
• reload window, ensure it works

Remote: SSH / Devcontainers / WSL / Codespace

1.) without copilot extensions installed

• connect to remote
• go through free SKU setup
• make sure copilot chat works
• reload window, ensure it works

2.) with copilot extension installed locally

• open a local workspace
• install copilot extension
• connect to a remote
• go through free SKU setup
• make sure copilot chat works
• reload window, ensure it works

3.) with copilot extension installed remotely

• connect to remote
• install copilot extension via extensions view
• go through free SKU setup
• make sure copilot chat works
• reload window, ensure it works

4.) with copilot extension installed locally and remote

• open a local workspace
• install copilot extension
• connect to remote
• install copilot extension via extensions view
• go through free SKU setup
• make sure copilot chat works
• reload window, ensure it works

5.) with copilot extension disabled remotely

• connect to remote
• install copilot extension via extensions view
• disable it
• go through free SKU setup
• make sure copilot chat works
• reload window, ensure it works

6.) with copilot extension installed locally and remotely but disabled

• open a local workspace
• install copilot extension
• connect to remote
• install copilot extension via extensions view
• disable copilot extension remotely
• go through free SKU setup
• make sure copilot chat works
• reload window, ensure it works

SSH - ✅ @sandy081 and @bpasero
Dev Containers - ✅ @sandy081
Codespaces - ✅ @bpasero
WSL - ✅ @aeschli

[leokun]

After reading your previous answer, I jus !t kept the Github Copilot extension on the local app, and not WSL.
Then it perform perfectly on both local or remote with WSL.

Thanks

[joyceerhl]

This should be fixed in the 1.96.2 release.