Orchestrating Multiple Agents in VS Code with Ben & Peng

In this episode James sits down with Ben and Peng from the VS Code team to unpack a year of AI evolution inside the editor — from Copilot Free to the new agent sessions UI. They explain the three agent flavors (interactive local, background, cloud), why agent orchestration matters, and how VS Code is reshaping UX so you can run parallel sessions, delegate work, and treat agent outputs like inbox items to triage. Key takeaways: build context in local chats then delegate to background/cloud, harden projects with linting/tests to improve agent reliability, and expect session results to include artifacts beyond code (tests, screenshots, videos). If you want practical tips for embedding agents into your workflow and a peek at where VS Code is headed, this conversation is a must-listen.

Links:
v1.108 Release Notes: https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_108
Agents Overview: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/agents/agents-tutorial
Background Agents: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/agents/background-agents
Cloud Agents: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/agents/cloud-agents

Chapters:
00:00:00 Intro & Team Introductions
00:05:00 Agents History & Evolution
00:10:00 Agent Types: Local, Background, Cloud
00:16:00 UX & Session Management
00:22:30 Testing, Artifacts, and Code Review
00:28:00 Using Sessions Today 
00:37:00  Wrap‑up

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- and more: https://www.vscodepodcast.com/subscribe

Follow VS Code:
* X: https://x.com/code
* Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vscode.dev
* LinkedIn: https://aka.ms/VSCode/LinkedIn
* GitHub: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode

#vscode #ai #githubcopilot #agents