Microsoft reverts VS Code Copilot commit attribution

The Register reports that Microsoft has reversed a change to VS Code that automatically appended a Co-authored-by: Copilot trailer to Git commits by default. The modification, introduced in early March, reportedly added the authorship line even after developers manually edited commit messages or had AI features disabled, according to a GitHub community discussion cited by The Register. Dmitriy Vasyura, the VS Code reviewer who approved the change, apologized in the discussion: "There was no ill intent by [an] evil corporation, but rather a desire to support functionality that some customers expect of VS Code [with regard to] AI-generated code," The Register reports. The Register says the fix will appear in the upcoming 1.119 release, restoring the authorship trailer to opt-in.

The Register describes the change as an edit to VS Code's Git extension to append the Co-authored-by: Copilot trailer for AI-assisted edits. The article contrasts this with Anthropic's Claude Code, which also adds a co-author line by default, and notes ongoing community requests to make that behavior optional.

Editorial analysis: For practitioners, automatic metadata changes to Git history raise workflow and auditability concerns. Industry patterns show that developer trust erodes when tools modify commit history or metadata without explicit, visible consent. Projects that rely on reproducible histories, code review auditing, or legal provenance are particularly sensitive to post-commit metadata injection.

Observers should watch VS Code 1.119 release notes for the exact opt-in setting and any UI changes that surface AI authorship choices. Also monitor community responses to see whether other IDEs or AI coding tools update default behavior or add clearer consent flows.