Visual Studio Code 1.136.2 Ships with Agent Host Session Fix and Tab Regression Patch
Microsoft has released Visual Studio Code 1.136.2, a patch update addressing session state bugs in the new Agent Host infrastructure and a UI regression involving the tab close button. The update arrives just six days after the massive 1.136 feature drop, signaling Microsoft's intent to keep the editor stable even as it aggressively pivots toward agent orchestration.
The 1.136 release fundamentally changed how VS Code handles AI agents. It introduced a dedicated Agent Host process, the open Agent Host Protocol (AHP), and features like Agent Merge for auto-fixing pull requests. It was a big shift. Six days later, the patch fixes a quirk where Copilot sessions would get stuck in an "In Progress" state after subagents finished their work.
Session State and Tab Bugs Fixed
The headline fix targets a tracking issue in the Agent Host. Benjamin Simmonds merged the patch on September 6, resolving a problem where Copilot sessions showed as still running in the Agents window after a subagent follow-up had actually completed. The bug stemmed from how the Copilot SDK supplies subagent IDs in hook.start.data.input.agentId for subagentStop hooks but omits it from the hook.end envelope. The fix tracks the ID by hookInvocationId until the matching stop hook ends, covering overlapping hooks and duplicate completions.
If you've been working with multi-root workspaces, you might also appreciate the second fix. Simmonds, along with Rob Lourens, patched a regression where the tab close button would get stuck showing "Close Others" even after plain clicks. The issue occurred when Alt+hover swapped the tab's action, leaving both inputs stale across focus changes. The patch introduces a local isAltPressed field and clears the hovered tab index on focus loss, ensuring a plain click no longer silently closes every other editor in your group.
There are two smaller fixes in this patch, too. Heinz Doofenshmitz fixed a CSS issue with inline comment hover backgrounds in the markdown preview, and an auto-generated cherry-pick unblocks V3 onboarding personalization for GitHub. All 430 tests in copilotAgentSession.test.ts passed after the session fix.
Agent Orchestration Takes Center Stage
It's a rather expensive pivot for an editor, but the direction is clear. VS Code is transitioning from a "code editor with AI assistance" to an "agent orchestration platform." The 1.136 release made that official with features like Agent Merge, which iteratively addresses review feedback and fixes failed CI checks until a PR is ready to merge.
Keep in mind that the Agent Host architecture is still experimental. You can enable it via settings like chat.agentHost.copilotAgent.multiRootEnabled, but it's not the default yet. The architecture allows sessions to survive folder closure, sync across multiple windows, and even run remotely via SSH or dev tunnels. Client libraries are available in Rust, TypeScript, Kotlin, Go, and Swift.
For what it's worth, the patch cycle is impressive. 1.135 shipped August 26, 1.136 on September 2, and 1.136.2 on September 8. That's a roughly two-week major release cadence with patches landing within days. If you're running the latest build, the update should roll out automatically soon. Otherwise, head to the official VS Code downloads page to grab it manually.
Head here to the Visual Studio Code 1.136.2 release notes for the full changelog.
