VS Code Reverts Automatic Copilot Git Attribution After Developer Complaints

In a recent update, Visual Studio Code (VS Code) was found to automatically append a ‘Co-authored-by: Copilot’ line to developers’ git commits, even when Copilot was not actively used. This issue arose from the git.addAICoAuthor setting, introduced in March 2026 with VS Code 1.110, which was meant to credit AI-assisted code contributions. Originally set to ‘off’ by default, the setting was changed to ‘all’ in April by a Microsoft product manager, causing the Copilot trailer to appear on all commits with any AI interaction. Developers reported that the line was added even when AI features were disabled, and it appeared only after commits were finalized, preventing users from removing it. Dmitriy Vasyura, the VS Code team member who approved the change, publicly apologized and clarified that there was no malicious intent; the feature was intended to support expected AI-related functionality. The issue has now been fixed with a GitHub pull request (#313931), which restores the default to ‘off’ and corrects the detection problem. This fix will be included in the upcoming VS Code 1.119 release, ensuring developers’ git histories reflect accurate authorship.