Agent Mode + GitHub Server does unnecessary workspace checks on a loop before making tool calls

[D1M1TR10S]

Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes

• VS Code Version: 1.101.1 (latest)
• OS Version: macOS Sequoia 15.5

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Steps to Reproduce:

1. In Copilot Agent Mode, when requesting a direct GitHub MCP server action (e.g., "Create a new GitHub repository").
2. Observe that the agent first checks the current workspace and files before calling the GitHub server tool, even when the request does not require any workspace or file context.

Description

In Agent Mode with the GitHub MCP server (remote in my case), simple requests that only require a remote server action (like creating a new repo) trigger unnecessary operations. The agent inspects the local workspace and files before calling the relevant GitHub tool, which is not needed for simple, direct server requests. This adds unnecessary response length and wait time. The agent should call the server tool directly when the user request does not depend on local context.

[vs-code-engineering]

Thanks for creating this issue! It looks like you may be using an old version of VS Code, the latest stable release is 1.101.1. Please try upgrading to the latest version and checking whether this issue remains.

Happy Coding!

[D1M1TR10S]

Agent Mode really wants to find relevant code in the workspace. 😄
It ultimately fulfills the request, but the repeat workspace checks slow down the flow, add friction to the UX, and probably burn through copilot calls.

[D1M1TR10S]

Just confirmed that this happens for other users too. From @SamMorrowDrums:

It almost always searches for some code. I expect it’s to do with system prompt making the agent find code relevant to the task as the first step or something.