VS Code removes `git.addAICoAuthor` default after Copilot commit tags appeared

• VS Code 1.118 changed the Git extension's git.addAICoAuthor default from off to all, 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 disableAIFeatures is enabled and that the setting would revert to off in 1.119.
• The setting did not move in one direction only. As the discussion digest notes, it went from off to all, then to chatAndAgent, before an official revert PR set the default back to off for 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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.