Feature Request: Add a setting to configure the default agent (Agent/Plan/Ask) for new chat sessions

[markusfalk]

Feature Request

Currently, new Copilot Chat sessions always default to the Agent agent. There is no user-configurable setting to change this default. Users who primarily work with the Plan or Ask agent must manually switch the agent picker at the start of every new chat session.

Proposal

Add a setting (e.g. chat.defaultMode or similar) that allows users to choose which built-in agent (Agent, Plan, or Ask) is selected by default when opening a new chat session.

Example:

{
  "chat.defaultMode": "plan"
}

Accepted values could be "agent", "plan", "ask", or the identifier of a custom agent.

Use Case

Different teams and individuals have different workflows. Some prefer a plan-first approach where they review a structured implementation plan before any code changes are made. Others may primarily use Ask for research and exploration. Being able to set the default agent per workspace (via .vscode/settings.json) would allow teams to optimize for their preferred workflow without the friction of manually switching the agent on every new session.

Current Workaround

• Manually selecting Plan from the agent picker each time a new chat session is started.
• Using the vscode://GitHub.Copilot-Chat/chat?mode=plan URL scheme, which is not practical for everyday use.

Environment

• VS Code Version: 1.114.0
• OS: macOS (arm64)
• Copilot Chat Extension: 0.42.x

[vs-code-engineering]

This feature request is now a candidate for our backlog. The community has 60 days to upvote the issue. If it receives 20 upvotes we will move it to our backlog. If not, we will close it. To learn more about how we handle feature requests, please see our documentation.

Happy Coding!