VSCode GitHub Copilot Chat doesn't work with Claude Code Agent

[medley56]

Summary

When using GitHub Copilot Chat with Claude Code installed, it offers the ability to use Claude instead of GitHub Copilot as the backing Agent. Prompts entered in this mode error with Error: Claude CLI Error: Claude Code process exited with code 1. I realize this feature is in Preview, but thought you'd still want to know about this.

Possibly Related Context

I am running VSCode in a devcontainer with root.

I am not enabling dangerous permissions mode actively in any way. Claude Code does not run with dangerous permissions enabled when using it directly in the Claude Code extension.

Claude Code extension interface works just fine. This behavior is limited to the GitHub Copilot Chat interface.

Version Info

• Copilot Chat Extension Version: 0.44.1
• VS Code Version: 1.116.0
• OS Version: MacOS 15.7.1
• Feature (e.g. agent/edit/ask mode): Claude Code Agent
• Selected model (e.g. GPT 4.1, Claude 3.7 Sonnet): Claude Haiku 4.5
• Logs: Yes, below

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Install extension
2. Install Claude Code
3. Install Claude Code Extension
4. Authenticate with Anthropic using Claude Code Extension OAuth flow
5. Open Copilot Chat window
6. In bottom left, select "Claude" (instead of "Local")
7. Send a prompt message

Developer Logs from GitHub Copilot Chat

2026-04-17 20:24:25.106 [info] Successfully activated the GitHub.vscode-pull-request-github extension.
2026-04-17 20:24:25.106 [info] [githubTitleAndDescriptionProvider] Initializing GitHub PR title and description provider provider.
2026-04-17 20:24:25.106 [info] Successfully registered GitHub PR title and description provider.
2026-04-17 20:24:25.106 [info] Successfully registered GitHub PR reviewer comments provider.
2026-04-17 20:24:26.766 [info] BYOK: Copilot Chat known models list fetched successfully.
2026-04-17 20:24:32.508 [info] [ClaudeLanguageModelServer] Claude Language Model Server started on http://localhost:42325
2026-04-17 20:24:32.991 [error] claude-agent-sdk stderr: --dangerously-skip-permissions cannot be used with root/sudo privileges for security reasons
2026-04-17 20:24:32.999 [error] [ClaudeRuntimeDataService] Failed to query agents from SDK: Error: Query closed before response received
2026-04-17 20:24:32.999 [error] Error: Claude Code process exited with code 1
	at sGe.getProcessExitError (/root/.vscode-server/extensions/github.copilot-chat-0.44.1/dist/extension.js:328:21072)
	at ChildProcess.r (/root/.vscode-server/extensions/github.copilot-chat-0.44.1/dist/extension.js:328:23968)
	at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:634:26)
	at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:531:35)
	at ChildProcess.emit (node:domain:489:12)
	at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:293:12)
	at Process.callbackTrampoline (node:internal/async_hooks:130:17)

[mshannon-sil]

I'm running into the same issue of the Claude agent not working with GitHub Copilot, and I agree that what triggers this is running VSCode in a devcontainer as root. When I run it outside of the devcontainer, it works fine.

[yCodeTech]

For me, when I use Claude (instead of Local) it uses my personal Copilot Pro subscription instead of my workplace's Claude Code/Anthropic subscription (I'm trying to find a way to not use my personal one at work). I think if we're authenticated in the Claude Code extension, then Copilot Chat should automatically use this when using the Claude agent type. This would greatly help those who don't have access (like me) to the Anthropic API key to use in the BYOK. And it would actually be a natural progression for BYOK.

[RauchenwaldC]

For me, when I use Claude (instead of Local) it uses my personal Copilot Pro subscription instead of my workplace's Claude Code/Anthropic subscription (I'm trying to find a way to not use my personal one at work). I think if we're authenticated in the Claude Code extension, then Copilot Chat should automatically use this when using the Claude agent type. This would greatly help those who don't have access (like me) to the Anthropic API key to use in the BYOK. And it would actually be a natural progression for BYOK.

See #314952

[TylerLeonhardt]

/duplicate #323049

[vs-code-engineering]

Thanks for creating this issue! We figured it's covering the same as another one we already have. Thus, we closed this one as a duplicate. You can search for similar existing issues. See also our issue reporting guidelines.

Happy Coding!