VS Code 1.138: Dev Container Agent Sessions

VS Code 1.138 lets AI coding agents run inside a project's local Dev Container, keeping agent work aligned to the project's own toolchain and dependencies.

Visual Studio Code · Developer tools and coding agents · tool

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Overview

Visual Studio Code 1.138, released mid-September 2026, adds the ability to run agent sessions inside a local Dev Container, so an agent uses the environment and dependencies configured for the project rather than everything installed on the local machine (Docker is required). The release also expands the Codex harness so sessions can continue across apps and users can switch between Copilot and ChatGPT subscriptions from the model picker without losing the conversation, and adds a preview session-cleanup feature that marks merged sessions done and can delete them after a grace period.

This is a sourced directory entry. Features and capabilities are reported in the linked sources; this entry does not document independent Aymorphic testing.

Key features

  • Agent sessions run inside a project's local Dev Container (requires Docker)
  • Gated behind the chat.agentHost.devContainer setting, which adds a "Use Dev Container" folder action
  • Expanded Codex harness: sessions continue across apps
  • Switch between GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT subscriptions from the model picker mid-conversation
  • Preview session cleanup: auto-marks merged sessions done, optional deletion after a grace period

Use cases

  • Keeping AI agent coding work isolated to a project's configured toolchain and dependencies
  • Continuing an agent coding session across different apps/devices
  • Managing and cleaning up completed agent sessions in the Agents window

Pricing

Included with VS Code (free); underlying Codex/Copilot/ChatGPT usage billed per the user's existing subscription.

Pricing reflects the source record and may change. Confirm current terms with the provider.

Dates and sources

Released
1 Sept 2026
Record updated
23 Sept 2026
Record last checked
23 Sept 2026

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