Manage chat sessions

Use chat in Visual Studio Code to have conversation-based AI interactions. A chat session consists of the sequence of prompts and responses between you and the AI, along with any relevant context from your code or files. This article describes how to create and manage chat sessions, export chat sessions, and how to view the chat session history.

What is a chat session?

A chat session is a single conversation with the AI, including all prompts, responses, and context. Each session is independent, so context from one session does not carry over to another.

Key things to know about chat sessions:

Context window: as you chat, the session accumulates context. Creating a new session clears the history and starts a fresh context window. You can monitor context window usage in the chat input box.
Checkpoints: at any time, you can roll back to a previous state or edit a previous prompt to change direction. Learn more about checkpoints.
Session types: sessions can run locally, in the background, or in the cloud. Learn more about agents.
Multiple sessions: regardless of the session type, you can run multiple sessions in parallel, each focused on a different task. With the agent sessions view, you can monitor and switch between sessions. Learn more about managing agent sessions.

Tip

Start a new chat session when you want to change topics to help the AI provide more relevant responses.

Start a new chat session

You can open chat sessions in different views, depending on how you prefer to work. At any time, you can run multiple sessions in parallel, each focused on a different task.

To start a new chat session, use the New Chat (+) button in the Chat view, or use the keyboard shortcut ⌘N (Windows, Linux Ctrl+N).

Choose where to open the session:

Side bar (default): select New Chat (+) > New Chat, or run the Chat: New Chat command. Best for keeping chat visible alongside your code.
Editor tab: select New Chat (+) > New Chat Editor, or run the Chat: New Chat Editor command. Best for giving chat more space or comparing sessions side by side.
Separate window: select New Chat (+) > New Chat Window, or run the Chat: New Chat Window command. Best for multi-monitor setups.

VS Code also supports different session types (local, background, cloud, and third-party) that determine where the AI runs. Learn more about agent types and session management.

Move a chat session to a different view

You can move an existing chat session between views at any time. The full conversation history and context are preserved.

Select the ... menu in the Chat view, editor tab, or chat window and choose one of the Move Chat into... options.

Alternatively, choose any of the following commands from the Command Palette:

Chat: Move Chat into Editor Area
Chat: Move Chat into New Window
Chat: Move Chat into Side Bar

Fork a chat session

Forking a chat session creates a new, independent session that inherits the conversation history from the original session. The forked session is fully separate from the original, so changes in one session do not affect the other. The new session title is prefixed with "Forked:" to help you identify it.

Forking is useful when you want to explore an alternative approach, ask a side question, or branch a long conversation in a different direction without losing the original context.

There are two ways to fork a chat session:

Fork the entire session: type /fork in the chat input box and press Enter. A new session opens with the full conversation history copied from the current session.
Fork from a checkpoint: hover over a chat request in the conversation and select the Fork Conversation button. A new session opens that includes only the requests up to and including that checkpoint.

Session history

The Chat view shows your recent and active chat sessions, regardless of where they run. When you select a session from the list, you can see the full conversation history and context for that session. Send new prompts in that session to continue the conversation.

You can have multiple sessions active at once and switch between them to compare different conversations or work on multiple tasks in parallel.

Screenshot of an agent session in VS Code showing code changes and chat interaction.

The session list is scoped to your current workspace. If you don't have a workspace open, the list shows all sessions across your workspaces.

Learn more about viewing and managing sessions.

VS Code welcome page

The VS Code welcome page can act as your startup experience for working with chat sessions. It provides quick access to your recent chat sessions, an embedded chat widget for starting new tasks, and quick actions for common tasks.

Screenshot of the VS Code welcome page showing recent chat sessions and embedded chat.

To configure the VS Code welcome page as your startup experience, set workbench.startupEditor Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders to agentSessionsWelcomePage.

Send messages while a request is running

You don't have to wait for a response to finish before sending your next message. While a request is in progress, the Send button changes to a dropdown that gives you three options for how to handle the new message.

Screenshot of the Send button dropdown menu showing options to queue, steer, or stop and send a new message.

Add to Queue: your message waits and sends automatically after the current response completes. The current response finishes uninterrupted.
Steer with Message: signals the current request to yield after finishing the current tool execution. The current response stops and your new message processes immediately. Use this to redirect the agent when it's heading in the wrong direction.
Stop and Send: cancels the current request entirely and sends your new message right away.

The default action for the Send button is configurable. Use chat.requestQueuing.defaultAction Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders to set it to steer (default) or queue.

Reorder pending messages

When you have multiple pending messages (queued or steering), you can drag and drop them to change the order in which they are processed. A drag handle appears on hover when more than one message of the same type is pending.

Screenshot of pending messages in the chat input box with drag handles to reorder them.

Get notified about chat responses

When you're working in another window or application, VS Code can send you OS notifications to let you know about important chat events, so you don't have to keep checking back.

Use chat.notifyWindowOnResponseReceived Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders to configure when you receive an OS notification when a chat response is received. The notification includes a preview of the response, and selecting it brings focus to the chat session.

Use chat.notifyWindowOnConfirmation Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders to configure when you receive an OS notification when the agent needs your input or confirmation to continue.

Both settings have three possible values:

off: never show notifications
windowNotFocused (default): show notifications only when the VS Code window is not focused
always: show notifications even when the VS Code window is in focus

Tip

Set the value to always if you want to stay aware of chat activity while working in other parts of VS Code, such as when running long agent tasks in the background.

Navigate between prompts in a chat session

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to navigate between prompts in a chat session:

⌥⌘↑ (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Alt+Up): Go to the previous prompt in the chat session.
⌥⌘↓ (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Alt+Down): Go to the next prompt in the chat session.
⌥⌘PageUp (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Alt+PageUp): Go to the previous code block in the chat session.
⌥⌘PageDown (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Alt+PageDown): Go to the next code block in the chat session.

Save and export chat sessions

You can save chat sessions to preserve important conversations or reuse them later for similar tasks.

Export a chat session as a JSON file

You can export a chat session to save it for later reference or share it with others. Exporting a chat session creates a JSON file that contains all prompts and responses from the session.

To export a chat session:

Open the chat session you want to export in the Chat view.
Run the Chat: Export Chat... command from the Command Palette (⇧⌘P (Windows, Linux Ctrl+Shift+P)).
Choose a location to save the JSON file.

Alternatively, you can copy individual prompts or responses to the clipboard by right-clicking the message and selecting Copy. To copy the entire chat session in Markdown format, right-click the Chat view and select Copy All.

Save a chat session as a reusable prompt

You can save a chat session as a reusable prompt to reuse for similar tasks.

To save a chat session as a reusable prompt:

Open the chat session you want to save in the Chat view.
Type /savePrompt in the chat input box and press Enter.

The command creates a .prompt.md file, which is a reusable prompt file that generalizes your current chat conversation into a template with placeholders. You can use prompt files to run the same type of task across different projects or codebases.
Review and edit the generated prompt file as needed, then save it to your workspace.

Tips for managing chat sessions

Consider the following tips to help you work effectively with chat sessions:

Start a new session for different topics: start a new chat session to avoid carrying over context from unrelated conversations. This helps you get more relevant responses.
Use editor tabs for side-by-side comparisons: open multiple chat sessions as editor tabs to compare different approaches or solutions side-by-side.
Use separate windows for multi-monitor setups: open chat in a separate window on a secondary monitor to keep it visible while you work on code in the main window.
Background tasks with remote agents: use remote coding agents to perform AI tasks in the background while you continue working in VS Code.
Interactive agent sessions: use local agent sessions for interactive tasks that require real-time input and feedback.

Related resources

3/4/2026