automations: feat: move automations to the agent host via AHP by ulugbekna · Pull Request #330463 · microsoft/vscode

Ulugbek Abdullaev (ulugbekna) · 2026-08-12T14:52:20Z

Summary

Move Agents-window Automations from renderer-owned scheduling to the Agent
Host, using the shared Automation channels added in
microsoft/agent-host-protocol#393.

The Agent Host now owns definitions, triggers, scheduling, run claims,
execution, and run history. The Agents window is a projection and command
surface over host state. Existing local automations migrate automatically, and
the legacy renderer/provider automation implementations are removed.

Why

Previously each Agents window scheduled from renderer state. Multi-window
correctness depended on leader election, schedules only ran while a window was
open, and no other AHP client could share the catalogue or run history.

Host ownership gives every client connected to one authority a synchronized
catalogue, one scheduler, and one execution claim.

What changed

Agent Host

Added durable ahp-automation: and ahp-automation-run: state, commands,
reducers, subscriptions, catalogue notifications, and local persistence.
Added portable five-field cron evaluation with IANA time zones, named
months/weekdays, ranges, lists, steps, Sunday 0/7, and Unix
day-of-month/day-of-week semantics.
Manual requestId values are durable idempotency keys.
Due schedule cursors advance with the durable run record before session side
effects, so a host restart cannot dispatch the same occurrence twice.
Interrupted non-terminal runs recover as failed with HostRestarted.
Provider/model-route-specific authentication is checked before claiming a
due run. Due work remains pending while signed out and retries immediately
after authentication; manual runs return structured AuthRequired.
Cancellation is rechecked after asynchronous boundaries, and sessions
created after cancellation are disposed.

Agents window

The global AutomationService discovers capable Agent Host authorities,
projects their catalogues, subscribes to definitions/runs, and routes
mutations by authority-qualified resource.
The simple hourly/daily/weekly editor round-trips through canonical cron.
Arbitrary cron, foreign-time-zone, and unsupported trigger definitions remain
visible but read-only.
Renderer scheduling, leader election, provider automation stores, and local
fallback execution are removed.

Crash-safe migration

Migration is journaled per legacy source:

previewed → imported → localDisabled → localRemoved → hostEnabled → completed
(or aborted).

Migrates both chat.automations.ledger and
chat.automations.provider.local-agent-host.ledger.
Writes the final portable-cron AHP shape directly; there is no unpublished
intermediate AHP-store migration.
Pins the normalized disabled definition and the legacy scheduler's next
unevaluated occurrence in the journal.
Imports the host definition disabled, verifies it, disables/removes the exact
unchanged source with compare-and-swap, then enables the host copy.
Enablement persists before an immediate scheduler tick. An overdue occurrence
therefore runs only after cutover and remains recoverable across restart.
Concurrent legacy cursor/run changes block destructive migration rather than
enabling stale work.
Legacy execution history stays in the inert backup because AHP 0.8 has no
history-import command.

Automation-run sessions

Current main hides sessions marked with ISession.isAutomation from the
Sessions list. This branch preserves that behavior without the retired provider
ledger:

AHP SessionSummary.origin travels through local/remote listings,
notifications, and the persisted renderer cache.
AgentHostSessionAdapter.isAutomation derives from
SessionOriginKind.Automation.
The immutable automation/run provenance remains available for navigation and
audit.

Promotion into the normal Sessions list remains a separate protocol design
decision; this PR does not clear provenance or infer promotion from run-history
deletion.

Compatibility with current main

Merged VS Code main through 590ea12d448.
Vendored protocol metadata points at conflict-resolved AHP head b4620983.
Preserves current instruction resolution, authentication revocation, scoped
customization, custom-view, and Sessions-list contracts.

Validation

npm run typecheck-client
npm run valid-layers-check
npm run hygiene
458 focused automation, protocol, provider, Automations-view, and
Sessions-list tests
2 focused Copilot/Claude model-route authentication tests
pre-commit hygiene and git diff --check

Notes for reviewers

Suggested reading order: AgentAutomationService → Agent Host state/transport
wiring → renderer AutomationService → migration → UI.
This draft depends on the AHP PR above.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Moves Automations from renderer-owned scheduling to durable Agent Host Protocol state and execution.

Changes:

Adds AHP automation/run channels, persistence, scheduling, cancellation, and provenance.
Projects host automation state into the Agents window with legacy-ledger migration.
Removes renderer scheduling, leader election, and provider-local stores.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
`src/vs/workbench/services/agentHost/browser/editorRemoteAgentHostServiceClient.ts`	Proxies automation commands.
`src/vs/workbench/contrib/terminal/test/browser/agentHostPty.test.ts`	Updates connection mock.
`src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/common/automations/automationTelemetry.ts`	Updates duration semantics.
`src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/common/automations/automationService.ts`	Defines host-backed service API.
`src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/common/automations/automationsEnabled.ts`	Removes renderer timeout setting.
`src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/common/automations/automationRunner.ts`	Simplifies host-run interface.
`src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/common/automations/automation.ts`	Adds host and run metadata.
`src/vs/sessions/sessions.desktop.main.ts`	Registers migration storage.
`src/vs/sessions/services/sessions/common/sessionsProvider.ts`	Removes provider automation stores.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/sessions/test/browser/sessionsList.test.ts`	Updates run fixtures.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/sessions/test/browser/automationsView.test.ts`	Tests host-backed UI behavior.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/sessions/test/browser/automationsView.fixture.ts`	Updates run fixture.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/sessions/browser/views/automationsAccessibility.ts`	Exposes host statuses accessibly.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/providers/agentHost/browser/localAgentHostSessionsProvider.ts`	Removes local automation store.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/chat/test/browser/sessionTypePicker.test.ts`	Tests provider filtering.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/chat/browser/sessionTypePicker.ts`	Adds provider filtering.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/test/browser/automationTestUtils.ts`	Removes legacy test utilities.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/test/browser/automationLeaderElection.test.ts`	Removes leader-election tests.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/test/browser/automationDialog.test.ts`	Updates host/model tests.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/electron-browser/legacyAutomationMigrationStorage.ts`	Implements native migration storage.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/common/legacyAutomationMigrationStorage.ts`	Defines migration storage contract.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/common/automationStorageService.ts`	Removes writable ledger contract.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/browser/providerAutomationService.ts`	Removes provider-store orchestration.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/browser/legacyAutomationMigrationStorage.ts`	Implements browser migration storage.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/browser/legacyAutomationMigration.ts`	Adds guarded legacy migration.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/browser/automationTools.ts`	Routes manual runs to hosts.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/browser/automationScheduler.ts`	Removes renderer scheduler.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/browser/automations.contribution.ts`	Registers host-backed services.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/browser/automationRunner.ts`	Tracks host-owned runs.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/browser/automationLeaderElection.ts`	Removes renderer leader election.
`src/vs/sessions/contrib/automations/browser/automationDialog.ts`	Restricts providers and normalizes models.
`src/vs/sessions/AI_CUSTOMIZATIONS.md`	Documents host-owned automation behavior.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/test/node/sessionServerTools.test.ts`	Tests referenced tool-input omission.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/test/node/sessionPermissions.test.ts`	Tests referenced-input confirmation.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/test/node/protocolServerHandler.test.ts`	Tests automation capability handshake.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/test/node/e2e/suites/automationSuite.ts`	Adds automation conformance coverage.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/test/node/e2e/suites/agentHostE2ESuites.ts`	Registers automation E2E tests.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/test/node/buildSessionEvents.test.ts`	Tests referenced tool inputs.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/test/node/agentAutomationService.test.ts`	Tests persistence, execution, and cron.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/test/electron-browser/remoteAgentHostProtocolClient.test.ts`	Tests remote URI translation.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/sessionPermissions.ts`	Handles referenced tool inputs safely.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/protocolServerHandler.ts`	Routes automation protocol operations.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/agentService.ts`	Integrates host automation execution.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/agentHostStateManager.ts`	Stores automation channel state.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/electron-browser/localAgentHostService.ts`	Proxies local automation commands.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/toolInput.ts`	Adds tool-input helpers.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/sessionState.ts`	Exposes automation state types.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/sessionReducers.ts`	Exports automation reducers.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/sessionActions.ts`	Exposes automation actions.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/version/registry.ts`	Versions automation messages.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/state.ts`	Exports automation state modules.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/reducers.ts`	Exports automation reducers.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/common/state.ts`	Extends snapshot state union.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/common/messages.ts`	Registers automation messages.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/common/commands.ts`	Adds automation capabilities.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/common/actions.ts`	Adds automation action types.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/commands.ts`	Exports automation commands.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/channels-session/state.ts`	Adds automation session provenance.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/channels-root/notifications.ts`	Adds automation catalog notifications.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/channels-automation/state.ts`	Defines automation channel state.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/channels-automation/reducer.ts`	Reduces automation actions.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/channels-automation/commands.ts`	Defines automation commands.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/channels-automation/actions.ts`	Defines automation actions.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/channels-automation-run/state.ts`	Defines run state.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/channels-automation-run/reducer.ts`	Reduces run actions.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/channels-automation-run/actions.ts`	Defines run actions.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/actions.ts`	Exports automation actions.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/action-origin.generated.ts`	Adds action-origin unions.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/protocol/.ahp-version`	Updates vendored AHP revision.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/state/agentSubscription.ts`	Adds automation subscriptions.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/agentService.ts`	Extends host service contracts.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/agent.ts`	Adds session-origin configuration.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/browser/remoteAgentHostProtocolClient.ts`	Adds remote automation transport.
`src/vs/platform/agentHost/browser/nullAgentHostService.ts`	Implements null automation methods.

Review details

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Suppressed comments (2)

src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/agentAutomationService.ts:208

Disposal removes run state but leaves _requestRuns and _initialTurnIds persisted. Recreating the same automation URI and reusing a request ID then returns the deleted run URI instead of starting a run, and repeated create/dispose cycles leak durable metadata.
src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/agentAutomationService.ts:685
Schedule validation/preview can synchronously scan up to 527,040 minutes, and getZonedParts constructs a new Intl.DateTimeFormat for every candidate. An impossible cron such as February 31 therefore performs hundreds of thousands of formatter constructions on the Agent Host event loop per request. Reuse one formatter per time zone and use a bounded cron/calendar next-occurrence algorithm rather than minute-by-minute probing.

Files reviewed: 83/83 changed files
Comments generated: 6
Review effort level: Balanced

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 935e37c8-2b68-40b1-9273-f195cb3af9a0

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

- reject server-only automation-run actions from clients instead of applying them as authoritative host state - enforce the advertised run-history retention limit and release the bookkeeping of pruned or disposed runs - claim the single active-run slot per dispatch so several triggers due in the same tick cannot start duplicate runs - reject event triggers this authority neither advertises nor fires - project host-permitted operations and gate edit, run, and delete - resolve run cancellation only once the host reports a terminal run Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>\nCopilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

Ben Villalobos (benvillalobos) · 2026-08-12T17:41:56Z

 		@IWorkspaceTrustManagementService workspaceTrustManagementService: IWorkspaceTrustManagementService,
 	) {
 		super(chatSessionsService, chatService, chatWidgetService, languageModelsService, _configurationService, logService, gitHubService, instantiationService, sessionsService, activeClientService, storageService, dialogService, workspaceTrustManagementService);
-		this.automations = this._register(instantiationService.createInstance(AutomationStore, providerAutomationStorageKey(this.id)));


It looks like this change will bring us one layer closer to a central automation service that then talks to AHP.

Based on conversations with Sandeep Somavarapu (@sandy081), I think the general direction here would be to keep client-side providers as the thing that talks to the provider itself (so localAgentHostSessionsProvider talks to the agent host directly rather than a service within vs code).

Ben Villalobos (benvillalobos) · 2026-08-12T18:08:22Z

 		try {
-			await this.sessionsManagementService.cancelCurrentRequest(session);
-			status(localize('automationRunSessionStoppedStatus', "Stopped the session for {0}", automationName));
+			await this.automationService.cancelRun(run.id);


Sandeep Somavarapu (@sandy081) has given me feedback that generally the only thing that should talk to the providers is the session management service, I wonder if this could stay as cancelCurrentRequest or if we could add some new API to session management service to act as the main communicator between the client and providers

Ben Villalobos (benvillalobos) · 2026-08-12T18:19:01Z

-				const current: IAutomation = {
-					automation: existing,
-					runs: ledger.runs.filter(run => run.automationId === automation.id),
+	private async _syncSources(connections: readonly { readonly info: IAgentHostConnectionInfo; readonly support: 'unknown' | 'capable' | 'unsupported' }[]): Promise<void> {


Same general comment about central automation service vs. provider-owned object that talks to their respective connections

Sync AHP a8643069, implement the specified cron grammar in the local host, and safely project the simple schedule subset in the Agents window. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

Migrate legacy schedules directly into the final AHP cron shape, retain overdue occurrences through the disabled import cutover, and durably claim due runs before execution. Gate scheduled execution on provider-specific authentication and retry immediately when credentials arrive. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7 # Conflicts: # .github/skills/sessions/SKILL.md # src/vs/platform/agentHost/common/agent.ts # src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/agentHostAuthenticationService.ts # src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/agentService.ts # src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/claude/claudeAgent.ts # src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/codex/codexAgent.ts # src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/copilot/copilotAgent.ts # src/vs/sessions/SESSIONS.md # src/vs/sessions/contrib/sessions/test/browser/automationsView.test.ts

Point the vendored protocol metadata at the conflict-resolved AHP branch head used by this implementation. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

Copilot AI balanced review requested due to automatic review settings August 12, 2026 14:52

Ulugbek Abdullaev (ulugbekna) mentioned this pull request Aug 12, 2026

automations: feat: add shared automations protocol microsoft/agent-host-protocol#393

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Copilot started reviewing on behalf of Ulugbek Abdullaev (ulugbekna) August 12, 2026 14:53 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Aug 12, 2026

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vs-code-engineering Bot assigned Ulugbek Abdullaev (ulugbekna) Aug 12, 2026

Ulugbek Abdullaev (ulugbekna) force-pushed the ulugbekna/agents/vscode-github-copilot-automation-comparison branch from 032f567 to fa48f6d Compare August 12, 2026 16:24

Ulugbek Abdullaev (ulugbekna) added 11 commits August 12, 2026 19:08

automations: feat: share automations through AHP

cfb1248

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 935e37c8-2b68-40b1-9273-f195cb3af9a0

automations: refactor: migrate local automations to AHP

ea81afd

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

automations: fix: persist host-native model IDs

75f987c

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

automations: refactor: reconcile latest provider architecture

d687f05

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

automations: refactor: align with current main contracts

a6c586e

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

automations: chore: refresh pull request merge ref

1063e02

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>\nCopilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

automations: fix: remove legacy provider automation coupling

6240273

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>\nCopilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

automations: test: provide file storage for host persistence

b10f40a

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>\nCopilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

automations: fix: disable persistence without a file provider

8ed9ae5

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>\nCopilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

automations: fix: avoid scheduler loop without storage

b8de382

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>\nCopilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

Ulugbek Abdullaev (ulugbekna) force-pushed the ulugbekna/agents/vscode-github-copilot-automation-comparison branch from 75b6f6d to b8de382 Compare August 12, 2026 17:09

agentHost: test: align peer sandbox expectation

5778ec7

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>\nCopilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

Ben Villalobos (benvillalobos) reviewed Aug 12, 2026

View reviewed changes

Ulugbek Abdullaev (ulugbekna) added 4 commits August 12, 2026 22:07

automations: chore: sync AHP merge revision

6ec9c41

Point the vendored protocol metadata at the conflict-resolved AHP branch head used by this implementation. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> Copilot-Session: 1131c2f6-bcd0-4012-9265-fdb2685179e7

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automations: feat: move automations to the agent host via AHP - #330463

automations: feat: move automations to the agent host via AHP#330463
Ulugbek Abdullaev (ulugbekna) wants to merge 16 commits into
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Summary

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What changed

Agent Host

Agents window

Crash-safe migration

Automation-run sessions

Compatibility with current main

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