The latest VS Code update introduces Agent Merge, a preview feature that advances AI agents into more comprehensive development workflows by managing pull requests and bridging multiple folders, signalling a shift towards integrated, persistent development sessions.
Microsoft’s latest Visual Studio Code release pushes its coding agents further into the delivery process, with a preview feature aimed at helping finish pull requests after the initial implementation work is done. VS Code 1.136, released on 2 September, centres on a broader shift: agent sessions are being treated less like short-lived chats and more like persistent units of development work.
The most notable addition is Agent Merge, which Microsoft says can follow a pull request through to completion by dealing with review feedback, failed checks, branches that need updating and merge conflicts. According to the release notes and the Agents window documentation, the feature can keep asking an agent to resolve blockers until the pull request is ready to merge, and it can then merge the change or place it in a merge queue. The feature is still in preview, and enabling it switches the session to Autopilot with Assisted permissions.
That approach builds on the Agent Host architecture, which Microsoft describes as a dedicated process for running agents such as Copilot and Claude outside the individual editor window. The separation is intended to support shared, persistent sessions across windows and local or remote hosts through the Agent Host Protocol. Version 1.136 also reinforces that session-first model with a redesigned new-session input, a clearer hierarchy for child chats, and notifications that tell developers when a session needs attention or receives a response.
The release also widens the scope of agent work in another way. Microsoft has added experimental multi-root workspace support for Copilot and Claude sessions, allowing agents to operate across multiple folders in a single workspace, although the support is currently limited to the editor window and agent hooks remain tied to one workspace folder. Taken together, the changes show VS Code moving beyond code generation towards a more structured workflow in which agents can review, revise and shepherd work across files, sessions and pull requests.
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