Copilot Chat Porter

A VS Code extension that enables GitHub Copilot Chat to export and import its own conversation history via:

• Language Model Tools
• URI Handler
• Command Palette

Features

Export Chat History

The AI agent can export the current chat session as a JSON file to the workspace — just ask in natural language:

• "把对话导出到 history/session1.json"
• "Export this conversation to exports/today.json"
• "保存当前对话" (auto-generates a timestamped filename)

Import Chat History

Restore a previously exported session and continue the conversation:

• "从 history/session1.json 恢复之前的对话"
• "Load the chat from exports/today.json"

The restored session opens in a new chat tab with full history.

Attachment Saving

Optionally copy externally-referenced files (outside the workspace) alongside the exported JSON, making the export self-contained and portable:

• "导出对话并把附件保存到 attachments 目录"
• "Export with attachments to the assets folder"

Files are deduplicated by content — identical files are skipped, and name conflicts get a numeric suffix (report-1.pdf). All file paths in the JSON are automatically rewritten to point to the local copies.

External Script Access (URI Handler)

Trigger export/import from shell scripts, Copilot Hooks, or any external process:

# Export
code --open-url "vscode://Vizards.copilot-chat-porter/export?outputPath=exports/chat.json&attachmentsDir=attachments"

# Import
code --open-url "vscode://Vizards.copilot-chat-porter/import?inputPath=exports/chat.json"

For synchronous result feedback, pass a callback parameter pointing to a Named Pipe:

PIPE=$(mktemp -u /tmp/porter-XXXXX.pipe)
mkfifo "$PIPE"
code --open-url "vscode://Vizards.copilot-chat-porter/export?outputPath=exports/chat.json&callback=$(python3 -c "import urllib.parse; print(urllib.parse.quote('$PIPE'))")"
RESULT=$(timeout 30 cat "$PIPE")
rm -f "$PIPE"

Command Palette

Export and import directly via Cmd+Shift+P:

• Copilot Chat Porter: Export Chat History — save dialog + optional attachments directory
• Copilot Chat Porter: Import Chat History — open dialog to select a JSON file

What's in the exported JSON?

Included	Not Included
All user messages (raw text)	Detailed tool call I/O
AI responses (including thinking)	Per-turn token usage
File references and variables	Raw LLM prompts
Agent and model info	Debug-level logs
Timestamps
Edited file events

Requirements

• VS Code >= 1.99.0
• GitHub Copilot Chat extension

Usage

Via AI (recommended)

Simply tell Copilot in Agent Mode to export or import:

User: Save our conversation to history/chat.json
Agent: (calls exportChatHistory tool) → Done ✅

User: Restore the session from history/chat.json
Agent: (calls importChatHistory tool) → Opened in new tab ✅

User: Export and save all attachments to the assets folder
Agent: (calls exportChatHistory with attachmentsDir) → Done ✅

You can also reference the tools explicitly with #exportChatHistory or #importChatHistory in the chat input.

Via Command Palette

• Cmd+Shift+P → "Copilot Chat Porter: Export Chat History"
• Cmd+Shift+P → "Copilot Chat Porter: Import Chat History"

Via External Scripts

Use the URI Handler to integrate with Copilot Hooks or automation scripts. See External Script Access above.

Path Rules

Parameter	Absolute	Relative	Base
outputPath	✅	✅	Workspace root
inputPath	✅	✅	Workspace root
attachmentsDir	❌ (error)	✅	Exported JSON's directory
callback	✅	❌	—

Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Compile
npm run compile

# Watch mode
npm run watch

Press F5 in VS Code to launch the Extension Development Host for debugging.

How It Works

The extension provides three entry points that share the same core export/import logic:

1. Language Model Tools — Two tools (exportChatHistory, importChatHistory) registered via vscode.lm.registerTool, invoked by Copilot's agent automatically based on natural language input.
2. URI Handler — Listens for vscode://Vizards.copilot-chat-porter/<action>?<params>, enabling external scripts to trigger operations via code --open-url.
3. Command Palette — Standard VS Code commands with file dialogs for manual use.

Under the hood, export calls VS Code's internal workbench.action.chat.export command, and import calls workbench.action.chat.import. When attachmentsDir is provided, the extension scans the exported JSON for file URI objects ($mid + scheme: "file"), copies external files into the specified directory with deduplication, and rewrites all path references in the JSON via string replacement.

License

MIT