VS Code 1.98 Supercharges GitHub Copilot with Smarter Edits and Enhanced Context Awareness
The release of Visual Studio Code 1.98 marks a significant upgrade for developers relying on GitHub Copilot, Microsoft’s AI-powered coding assistant. This latest version, officially launched in early March 2025, introduces refined features like Copilot Next Edit Suggestions (NES), expanded support for notebook files, and a more intuitive agent mode—all designed to make coding smarter, faster, and more interactive. Available across Linux, Windows, and macOS, VS Code 1.98 continues to strengthen Microsoft’s commitment to developer productivity and seamless AI integration.
One of the headline features is expanded support for Copilot Edits in notebook files. Previously limited to traditional code files, Copilot’s edit suggestions can now be used in notebooks, providing the same fluid experience developers have come to expect. This feature is currently available in the VS Code Insiders build alongside the pre-release version of GitHub Copilot Chat. Microsoft has fine-tuned the user interface as well—preventing unwanted viewport jumps during edits and renaming the review options to “Keep” and “Undo” to better reflect their actions, resulting in a more intuitive workflow.
Another notable upgrade comes in the form of Copilot’s Next Edit Suggestions. With the addition of a collapsed mode, developers can now manage Copilot’s inline suggestions more efficiently. The underlying logic has also become more context-aware, especially with improvements to the #codebase command in Copilot Chat. This enhancement allows Copilot to search deeper into the project’s workspace using advanced tools like file and text search, pulling in more relevant snippets during queries. A preview of the new Copilot Vision feature also opens up new interaction possibilities—developers can now include images in chat prompts, such as screenshots of debugging errors, and get visual context-aware assistance from Copilot.
Copilot’s experimental agent mode, initially rolled out in the VS Code Insiders build, has also received important updates in this release. This mode lets Copilot take on a more proactive role—searching through project files, proposing edits, identifying errors, and even running terminal commands on behalf of the developer. In version 1.98, Microsoft has made this experience more transparent and editable: terminal commands are now displayed inline, and developers can review and modify these suggestions before executing them. Together, these enhancements push VS Code 1.98 closer to being a true collaborative workspace where human and AI seamlessly code side by side.