Gate Simple Browser "Add element to chat" overlay on AI feature settings with immediate toggling

[Copilot]

The Simple Browser overlay ignored chat.disableAIFeatures and chat.sendElementsToChat.enabled settings, showing "Add element to chat" UI even when AI features or the specific feature were disabled. Changes required restart to take effect. Integrated Browser already had proper gating via ChatContextKeys.enabled in action preconditions.

Changes

SimpleBrowserOverlayController now reactively observes both AI feature settings:

• Reactive observation: Uses observableContextKey for ChatContextKeys.enabled and observableConfigValue for chat.sendElementsToChat.enabled
• Immediate toggling: Overlay appears/disappears instantly when either setting changes without requiring restart
• No early exits: Controller always initializes to enable dynamic show/hide behavior

// Observe both settings reactively
const chatEnabledObs = observableContextKey<boolean>(ChatContextKeys.enabled.key, this.contextKeyService);
const sendElementsEnabledObs = observableConfigValue<boolean>('chat.sendElementsToChat.enabled', false, this.configurationService);

this._store.add(autorun(r => {
    const activeEditor = activeIdObs.read(r);
    const isChatEnabled = chatEnabledObs.read(r);
    const isSendElementsEnabled = sendElementsEnabledObs.read(r);
    
    // Hide if chat is not enabled, sendElementsToChat is not enabled, or no active editor
    if (!isChatEnabled || !isSendElementsEnabled || !activeEditor) {
        hide();
        return;
    }
    
    show({ webviewId: activeEditor.webviewId }, activeEditor.browserType);
}));

The controller always initializes, allowing the reactive autorun to handle all show/hide logic. This ensures the overlay responds to both chat.disableAIFeatures and chat.sendElementsToChat.enabled changes in real-time.

Testing

• ✅ Overlay hides immediately when chat.disableAIFeatures: true
• ✅ Overlay shows immediately when chat.disableAIFeatures: false
• ✅ Overlay hides immediately when chat.sendElementsToChat.enabled: false
• ✅ Overlay shows immediately when chat.sendElementsToChat.enabled: true
• ✅ No restart required for any configuration changes

Aligns with chat feature gating guidelines in .github/instructions/chat.instructions.md.

Original prompt

---

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Simple Browser's "Add element to chat" feature doesn't respect "chat.disableAIFeatures": true</issue_title>
<issue_description>The "Add element to chat" feature in simple browser doesn't respect the setting "chat.disableAIFeatures": true. It shouldn't show up when that flag is set.

</issue_description>

<agent_instructions>The Integrated Browser feature already removes that feature when the flag is set, but Simple Browser doesn't respect it</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

• Fixes Simple Browser's "Add element to chat" feature doesn't respect "chat.disableAIFeatures": true #292678

---

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[jruales]

@copilot currently this causes the "Add element to chat" widget to be hidden immediately when the user disables AI features, which is great. However, when the user re-enables AI features, the widget doesn't appear anymore until the user restarts VS Code. Can we fix that?

[Copilot]

@copilot currently this causes the "Add element to chat" widget to be hidden immediately when the user disables AI features, which is great. However, when the user re-enables AI features, the widget d...

Fixed in 3d54ba0. Removed the early exit check for chat enabled state in the constructor - the reactive autorun now handles all show/hide logic dynamically. The overlay will now reappear immediately when AI features are re-enabled without requiring a restart.

[jruales]

@copilot can we make it so that chat.sendElementsToChat.enabled also works immediately here?

[Copilot]

@copilot can we make it so that chat.sendElementsToChat.enabled also works immediately here?

Fixed in 8697ec4. Now using observableConfigValue to reactively observe chat.sendElementsToChat.enabled. The overlay will show/hide immediately when toggling either chat.disableAIFeatures or chat.sendElementsToChat.enabled without requiring a restart.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR ensures the Simple Browser “Add element to chat” overlay respects chat AI feature gating and can be toggled on/off immediately when related settings change.

Changes:

• Adds reactive gating in SimpleBrowserOverlayController based on ChatContextKeys.enabled (covers chat.disableAIFeatures) and chat.sendElementsToChat.enabled.
• Removes the constructor early-return so the controller always initializes and can dynamically show/hide the overlay without restart.