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VS Code 1.145: mixed agent harnesses, cron automations, and tools from MCP apps

Author
Microsoft
Published
4 November 2026
Added
5 November 2026
Original
https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_145

Summary

VS Code 1.145 (stable, 2026-11-04) extends the agent features added at GitHub Universe. A session can now contain nested sessions run by a different agent harness, local automations accept cron schedules and workspace custom agents, interactive MCP apps can register tools the model can call, and an enterprise allowedMcpServers list now overrides the registry-only restriction.

Key points

  • Mixed harnesses (Preview): enable chat.agentHost.multipleChatProviders.enabled, then pick a harness in the harness picker when you create a nested session. Each chat keeps its own model, agent, and permission level, so you can ask a second agent for an opinion without leaving the session.
  • Local automations: choose Cron and type a five-field expression when the presets are not precise enough (the dialog validates it and describes the schedule). Not available for cloud automations. A local automation can also run a custom agent defined in the selected workspace.
  • Tools from MCP apps: interactive apps served by an MCP server can register tools that the model calls on its next request (the release notes' example is a ShaderToy server for iterating on shaders).
  • Managed MCP allowlist: for servers VS Code starts, the enterprise allowedMcpServers list now wins over registry-only access: listed servers run even if they are not in the registry, unlisted registry servers are blocked, and [] blocks everything. deniedMcpServers still takes precedence. Prefer serverUrl and serverCommand rules; serverName is a label the server author chooses. Servers run by the Agent Host are not covered.
  • Working set (Experimental, on by default in the editor): review, keep, or undo pending agent edits in Copilot harness sessions (chat.editor.workingSet.enabled).
  • Chat verbosity (Experimental): chat.persistentProgressVerbosity with Conversation, Verbose, and Compact (default) views, picked under More Actions > View Mode. Only the display changes, not the agent's context.
  • Pinned canvases in the sidebar (Experimental, chat.canvases.enabled), and files from anywhere on disk via Add Context > Files.

Why it matters

VS Code is converging on the same pattern as Claude Code and Codex: several agents per session, scheduled local runs, and MCP servers that ship UI plus tools. The allowlist change gives admins one place to say exactly which MCP servers may run.