Tell HN: VS Code v1.117.0 automatically adds GitHub Copilot as your co author

aadithyassekhar 2 days ago 31 comments

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I don’t even use copilot. Yet, if you are like me and sometimes use the Source Control tab to stage files or manually write commit messages, it automatically appends Copilot as the co author for that commit.

How does anyone at Microsoft/Github thinks this is ok? I don’t even use your AI, this is code I have written myself. This just looks desperate.

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Discussion (31 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

adithyassekhar•2 days ago

UPDATE: It was the inline suggestions. If you use it to fill at least a character or word it will decide that it owns your code now.

I accepted a typo fix in a changelog while correcting it. Appears as tab to autocomplete for those unaware. Still seems like a reach.

TurboTimon•2 days ago

What a stupid annoying default setting! Here is how to turn it of in v1.117

```json // .vscode/settings.json { "git.addAICoAuthor": "off" } ```

mizhibuilder•2 days ago

The problem isn’t “AI in the workflow.” It’s AI claiming authorship by default.

If I didn’t explicitly use Copilot for that commit, adding it as co-author is not assistance, it’s misattribution.

adithyassekhar•2 days ago

The thing is it doesn’t even say anywhere this is being done, I only realised it after a PR was raised.

mytydev•2 days ago

It's in yesterday's release notes

bcye•2 days ago

This only happens on commits where autocomplete (via Copilot) was used, which I think is on by default.

Still that doesn't seem very reasonable, LLM autocomplete seems like a basic editor feature nowadays.

adithyassekhar•2 days ago

Maybe you are right. I could have sworn this happened without me using autocomplete.

bcye•2 days ago

i tested it right now, if autocomplete is turned off or not used the line doesn't get added. generating a commit msg also doesn't trigger it for some reason.

adithyassekhar•2 days ago

Found the culprit it was the inline suggestions. If you use it to add a single comma to the code it will decide it has part ownership of your commit now.

dgellow•2 days ago

Thanks for sharing. Time to go back to my emacs config from late 2010s…

crazybonkersai•2 days ago

PSA: You can disable it in the settings with the Git: add ai to Co author option

jb_briant•2 days ago

I have a rule for Claude to stop watermarking the commits. I feel exposed when it's doing it and I rewrote the entire Claude assisted commit history after switching from Copilot to Claude.

k4rli•2 days ago

That's a great feature though. Vibecoded projects should be easily distinguishable, not only by common patterns preferred by "AI".

deaux•2 days ago

Better start including YoE on commits as well, projects by freshers should be easily distinguishable.

bahadiraydin•2 days ago

Good times for being a Vim guy...

sourcegrift•2 days ago

Hey. What's the least plusing workflow for neovim + rust-analyzer + rust

altbdoor•2 days ago

Friendly reminder that all (I sure hope it does all...) the Copilot kerfuffle can be disabled in `chat.disableAIFeatures` flag in the settings.

Grollicus•2 days ago

How does this look like?

bcye•2 days ago

Adds this line to the commit:

Co-authored-by: Copilot <copilot@github.com>

adithyassekhar•2 days ago

In your git commits as “Committed by USERNAME and Copilot”.

dickeeT•2 days ago

it's annoying, but i think most people wouldn't care about this, and microsoft will think this is a good idea because majority of user will not turning it off

ferguess_k•2 days ago

It has some value when you want to do sketchy things -- oh my AI ate my commit. /s

BTW I'm glad MSFT is aggressively pushing AI into VSCode. Maybe they will destroy VSCode in the process, just like Windows -- or at least give other smaller guys some breathing spaces.

Please do, MSFT.

classified•2 days ago

As you can see with GitHub and Windows, lots of people are still using destroyed products that hardly have any competition.

ferguess_k•2 days ago

Yeah but people are starting to migrate away from them.