VS Code removes `git.addAICoAuthor` default after Copilot commit tags appeared
VS Code briefly enabled AI co-author tagging by default in its Git extension, then a maintainer said the default will revert to off in 1.119. If you rely on clean commit output, check your Git settings before upgrading.
TL;DR
- VS Code 1.118 changed the Git extension's
git.addAICoAuthordefault fromofftoall, according to the linked PR summary, which meant Copilot could be added as a commit co-author by default. - In the official 1.118 release notes, Microsoft framed the change as enabling AI co-authoring by default for chat and agent workflows, while the HN thread focused on reports that commit trailers were appearing more broadly and inconsistently.
- A VS Code maintainer said, in the discussion digest, that the default should not stay on when
disableAIFeaturesis enabled and that the setting would revert tooffin 1.119. - The setting did not move in one direction only. As the discussion digest notes, it went from
offtoall, then tochatAndAgent, before an official revert PR set the default back toofffor 1.119.
You can read the original default-on PR, the later chatAndAgent adjustment, and the merged 1.119 revert PR. The docs page for Copilot settings now lists git.addAICoAuthor with three modes, and the older 1.110 release notes show the feature originally shipped as opt-in.
Default flip
The initial change was tiny and consequential. The linked PR summary describes a two-file change that switched git.addAICoAuthor from off to all, and the official 1.118 release notes announced it as “Copilot added as a Git co-author by default.”
Enabling ai co author by default
Pull Request #310226 by cwebster-99 changes the default value of the Git extension's git.addAICoAuthor setting from 'off' to 'all', enabling automatic addition of 'Co-authored-by: Copilot' trailers to commit messages when AI-generated code contributions are detected. It updates extensions/git/package.json and extensions/git/src/repository.ts. Merged on 2026-04-16 into main for milestone 1.117.0 by dmitrivMS after 2 commits (+2, -2, 2 files). Later defaults adjusted in follow-up PRs due to issues.
That release-note wording is narrower than the setting name implies. all covers all AI-generated code, including inline completions, not just chat and agent edits, according to the current Copilot settings reference.
Revert in 1.119
The walkback happened in stages. The discussion digest captures the sequence engineers were piecing together on HN: off became all, then chatAndAgent, and then a maintainer said the default would be reverted again.
Discussion around VS Code inserting 'Co-Authored-by Copilot' into commits regardless of usage
Thread discussion highlights: - dmitriv on maintainer acknowledgment: acknowledge and apologize for the mistake of turning this feature on by default... it should not be on when disableAIFeatures is on... revert default to off in 1.119 - ddkto on PR inconsistency: The best part is that copilot commented on the PR saying that this doesn’t actually change the behaviour, creates inconsistency in the codebase and suggested reverting the change! - MaKey on default changed again: they changed the default of 'git.addAICoAuthor' to 'chatAndAgent' afterwards... So it was 'off' -> 'on' -> 'chatAndAgent'
That final step is now official. The merged 1.119 revert PR says it sets git.addAICoAuthor back to off and also disables AI contribution tracking when built-in AI features are disabled. In the HN thread, the maintainer apology summarized the same two issues: default-on was a mistake, and the feature should not run under disableAIFeatures in the main HN thread.
What the setting actually does
This feature predates the controversy. The official 1.110 release notes introduced AI co-author attribution with off as the default, plus two opt-in modes: chatAndAgent and all.
The same 1.110 notes add one detail that got lost in the backlash: VS Code only appends the trailer for commits made from within VS Code. That makes the episode less about Git itself and more about an IDE deciding to mutate commit metadata by default.