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Microsoft Reverses VS Code’s Auto-Copilot Credit in Git Commits

The move answers concerns that automatic AI credit misstates authorship, creating risk for developers.

Overview

  • VS Code will switch Copilot credit to opt-in in release 1.119, rolling back the default “Co-authored-by: Copilot” setting.
  • Developers reported the line appeared even when Copilot was not used or was disabled, and some saw it added after they reviewed and edited the commit message.
  • A commit trailer is a short metadata line in a Git commit that records authorship and becomes part of the permanent history.
  • Reviewer Dmitriy Vasyura apologized for approving the change, said there was no ill intent, and said the rollback followed a bug in the feature.
  • Other tools such as Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex add similar lines by default, which reporting notes can complicate IP claims and even insurance coverage for software projects.