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VS Code 1.117.0, released in April 2026, ships with a default that most developers have not opted into: every commit that contains code VS Code has detected as AI-generated now automatically appends a Co-authored-by: GitHub Copilot <noreply@github.com> trailer to the commit message. The change was introduced in PR #310226, a two-line modification merged on April 16 by a Microsoft team member that switched the git.addAICoAuthor configuration default from "off" to "all".

The feature itself shipped in February via PR #296435, which added infrastructure to track AI-generated edits using VS Code’s edit telemetry pipeline. The initial release was explicitly opt-in. The April change made it opt-out.

What “all” Mode Actually Does

The git.addAICoAuthor setting has three values:

• "off" — no attribution added (was the default until April 16)
• "chatAndAgent" — appends the trailer when code comes from Copilot Chat or Agent mode
• "all" — appends the trailer whenever any AI-generated edit is detected, including inline tab completions

The "all" default means that accepting a single Copilot autocomplete suggestion in a file, then committing that file, adds the Co-authored-by trailer to the commit. VS Code tracks this at the edit level via the AiContributionFeature class introduced in February, which monitors the edit telemetry pipeline and clears the AI-contribution flag after each commit.

The trailer looks like this in the final commit message:

feat: refactor auth middleware

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

Why It Matters

The attribution change lands in several contexts where it creates legal and practical complications:

Open source contributions. Many OSS projects have policies or contributor agreements addressing AI-generated code. Some prohibit it. A commit that silently carries Copilot attribution may cause a PR to be rejected or reopened for review under a project’s AI policy, without the contributor realising the trailer was added.

Employment contracts. A growing number of enterprise and government employers have policies governing the use of AI in code that goes into production. A Co-authored-by trailer in a work commit becomes a disclosure of AI usage that the developer may not have consciously intended to make.

Open source license risk. The legal status of AI-generated code contributions remains contested in multiple jurisdictions. Automatic attribution creates an audit trail that could surface in copyright disputes even for projects that have no current AI policy.

Trust baseline shift. The change moves attribution from consent-based to detection-based. VS Code’s edit telemetry pipeline determines whether AI contributed, not the developer. Developers may be unaware the trailer is being added until they read the commit log.

How to Opt Out

Changing the default requires an explicit settings modification:

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

Or, for attribution only on deliberate Chat and Agent mode usage:

{
  "git.addAICoAuthor": "chatAndAgent"
}

The setting is also available via the VS Code Settings UI under Git. Enterprise deployments can push the configuration via policy.

The Broader Pattern

This follows GitHub’s announcement that Copilot billing will shift to usage-based AI Credits starting June 1 — a structural move to make AI contribution metering explicit at the billing layer. Making attribution automatic in git commits is consistent with that direction: the ecosystem is moving toward treating AI involvement as something that should be tracked and surfaced, rather than left to developer discretion.

The question the HN thread debating PR #310226 is raising is not whether attribution is good or bad in principle, but whether a default-on change affecting git history across every VS Code installation globally warrants a more deliberate rollout — with documentation, a release note callout, and time for the OSS community to assess the implications before it lands silently in 1.117.0.