VS Code Copilot

The VS Code Copilot agent is GitHub Copilot's agentic mode inside VS Code. It integrates context-mode through a workspace MCP server and JSON lifecycle hooks — PreToolUse, PostToolUse, PreCompact, and SessionStart — that route data-heavy tool output into the sandbox and keep about 98% of raw payload bytes out of your window. The model writes a program that processes the data and prints only the answer.

Install

The Copilot agent has no plugin marketplace, so install the package globally first, then register the server and hooks in your workspace.

node --version

npm install -g context-mode

{
  "servers": {
    "context-mode": {
      "command": "context-mode"
    }
  }
}

{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [
      { "type": "command", "command": "context-mode hook vscode-copilot pretooluse" }
    ],
    "PostToolUse": [
      { "type": "command", "command": "context-mode hook vscode-copilot posttooluse" }
    ],
    "PreCompact": [
      { "type": "command", "command": "context-mode hook vscode-copilot precompact" }
    ],
    "SessionStart": [
      { "type": "command", "command": "context-mode hook vscode-copilot sessionstart" }
    ]
  }
}

Tool names

In the VS Code Copilot agent, context-mode tools are exposed with an f1e_ prefix instead of the usual mcp__ prefix. Recognize the tool names by that prefix when you see them in the agent — for example f1e_ctx_execute and f1e_ctx_search are the same tools documented elsewhere as ctx_execute and ctx_search.

Verify

Confirm the install with the doctor. It checks language runtimes, the FTS5 knowledge base, and hook registration, then reports anything that needs attention.

context-mode doctor

A clean run means context-mode is ready to route your next data-heavy command.

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