Description
Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes
Version: 1.101.1 (user setup)
Commit: 18e3a1e
Date: 2025-06-18T13:35:12.605Z
Electron: 35.5.1
ElectronBuildId: 11727614
Chromium: 134.0.6998.205
Node.js: 22.15.1
V8: 13.4.114.21-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19045
I realize VSCode updates are all about inundating VSCode with anything LLM-related your LLMs can suggest during your feature brainstorm sessions, but could you just maybe get back to the basics and focus on what actually matters to VSCode users one of these days? Every release cycle comes jacked full of more and more Copilot features, and shamefully most of them show a serious lack of thought to the UI/UX.
Here's the latest tragedy, containing several issues, all back to back one after another. Great example of the current ship-then-test mentality. This would have been discovered in a matter of minutes had it been properly tested before inclusion in the public build.
Quick breakdown:
-
My search query took a moment to return the first batch of results. Copilot's semantic search, configured to
runOnEmpty, kicked in prematurely even though search results were not empty. Newsflash: Github Copilot is powered by race conditions.So there isn't actually any halfway-decent logic to determine "empty" from "still searching". Just a dumb timer. That ultimately results in a significant waste of resources, netio, and unnecessary inference - all of which the users end up paying for, evidenced by the introduction to allowance request billing changes. Note that the primary reason I set this to run on empty in the first place was specifically to prevent unnecessary token consumption/generation except for when I actually intend to use it.
-
Search results start piling in, and just as I click on "Open in Editor", semantic search rugpulls that option and replaces it with it's suggestions. This of course clobbered my search results, and began the process again, with a search term I didn't even want. So, am I searching or playing wack-a-mole?
This happened without warning, and due to the inference delay, resulted in wasting my time and added frustration. I've never seen a public release of any program literally swallow core options and swap them out with an optional "might be helpful" option like this. This is literally breaking every UI/UX rule in existence. This is bad. Like real bad.
-
After pulling a kansas city shuffle on me forcing me to go back to my intended search for a second try, and after waiting carefully to be sure results were populated and it was safe to click the "Open in Editor" option, it then became obvious that "Open in editor" is simply no longer even an option. Copilot literally evicted a core option.
So as a user, I'm now in a situation where I have to race the AI and hope I can click the "Open in Editor" option without unintentionally triggering a suggested semantic search, and if I'm not fast enough I have to refresh the search and try again just to get my option back for a brief instant.
The problem isn't that semantic search has been introduced, it's actually a useful feature - when I need it. AI does not, and never will be capable of telepathy, which is necessary if it's ever expected to just "know" what the user's intentions are, so let's not pretend otherwise. Semantic search suggestions should be accessible and convenient for when the user needs them, but not at the expense of wiping out core functionality that's been in place for years, and has become something users depend on.
Relevant settings:
{
//"github.copilot.chat.search.keywordSuggestions": true, // deprecated
//"github.copilot.chat.search.semanticTextResults": true, // deprecated
"search.searchView.keywordSuggestions": true,
"search.searchView.semanticSearchBehavior": "runOnEmpty",
}Sidenote, it's frightening how rapidly the half-assed and often broken implementations of AI-assisted features are being migrated from "extension" status to "core" functionality. It was difficult before, going through settings, finding which ones were specific to Copilot, due to the disparate and frankly eye-watering setting keys (chat vs copilot etc), but now there's clearly no intention of maintaining even a thin layer of separation between core settings and Copilot settings.
Apparently, this "feature" that has turned the trusty search panel into a minefield of unpleasant surprises, is now considered "core" functionality.