VS Code
VS Code releases July 2026
VS Code releases July 2026
VS Code release
July 2026
Author: Laurel James
Welcome to the monthly recap of updates and releases to VS Code and InterSystems-related extensions that are relevant to IRIS developers.
Don’t forget, if you’re migrating from InterSystems Studio to VS Code, or want to deepen your knowledge, check out the VS Code training courses from George James Software: georgejames.com/vscode-training.
A significant fix from John Murray, our Senior Product Engineer
* Disable InterSystems Server Manager per workspace (v1.127) – VS Code lets you disable most extensions for an individual workspace, apart from extensions that provide a sign-in capability which includes InterSystems Server Manager. As a result, the InterSystems icon stays on your Activity Bar in every workspace, even ones unrelated to InterSystems. John raised the issue back in October, and his fix was merged this month into VS Code v1.127.
If you work across a mix of InterSystems and non-InterSystems projects, use
Disable (Workspace)from the gearwheel of the Server Manager entry in the Extensions view to keep things tidy.
AI and agents
July’s releases had a lot of new agent features introduced. If you work with agents, here are a few features that you’re likely to benefit from:
* Browser tools for agents (v1.127) – After several months in preview, agents can now open pages in the integrated browser, read content and console errors, take screenshots, and click through to validate their own work, without needing an external MCP server.
If you built web front-ends on top of IRIS, an agent can now run a build-test-fix loop against them inside VS Code. Administrators can disable or domain-restrict this through enterprise policy.
* Fewer approval interruptions (v1.127, v1.130) – Agent-invoked terminal commands on macOS and Linux now run in a sandbox with network access blocked and filesystem access restricted, so you’re only asked to approve when a command needs to step outside it. From v1.130, the opt-in assisted permissions setting goes further, letting the model assess the risk of each tool call and only check with you when something needs a closer look.
With these two features, long agent runs on your IRIS projects should stop less often. But you can switch both off if you’d rather approve everything yourself.
* Copilot Vision (v1.128) – You can attach images and PDFs to chat by pasting or dragging them in.
Use to drop in a screenshot of an error, or a spec document, rather than describing it.
Editor experience
* OS-level keyboard shortcuts (v1.128) – Mark a keybinding as systemWide in keybindings.json and it will trigger its VS Code command even when VS Code isn’t focused.
Useful for jumping straight back to your editor, or a specific view, from anywhere on your machine.
* Choose where the browser tab opens (v1.128) – The workbench.browser.newTabPlacement setting lets integrated browser tabs open in the active group, a dedicated side group, or a separate window.
If you keep the Management Portal open while coding, docking browser tabs to their own side group keeps them from crowding your editors.
* Modern UI preview (v1.129, experimental) – A refreshed look for the VS Code workbench is available behind the workbench.experimental.modernUI setting.
Take a look to see where the editor is heading, but be mindful there might be some rough edges while it’s experimental.
* Built-in dictation (v1.131, experimental) – VS Code now includes an offline transcription service that works in chat, editors and the terminal with no separate Speech extension required. The model downloads on first use and audio stays on your device.
Give it a go when you next need to write documentation or comments. It isn’t supported on Intel Macs or VS Code for the Web yet.
* Hybrid Markdown editor (v1.131, experimental) – A new Markdown editor lets you view files rendered, edit them in place and add comments an agent can act on, switchable through Reopen Editor With.
A nice option for maintaining project docs without flipping between source and preview.
Integrated browser
* Per-site permission (v1.127) – The integrated browser now prompts per site for permissions such as geolocation, camera and microphone, clipboard and devices including Bluetooth, USB and serial, as a standalone browser would.
This unlocks pages that previously couldn’t run inside VS Code. You can manage what you’ve granted through the Site Permissions browser menu.
For VS Code extension builders
* Custom editors and diffs get finer control (v1.129) – Custom editors now opt out of diff and merge views be default, and the proposed customEditorPriority API lets an extension declare separate priorities for files, diffs and merges, now including a never option.
Beneficial when building VS Code extensions, which is something we specialize in at George James Software. If you’ve ever wanted a custom editor tailored view, or any other kind of extension, built for your own workflow, get in touch: https://georgejames.com/vs-code-extension-authoring/
This release also includes contributions from our very own John Murray through pull requests that address open issues.
View the full release notes:
Version 1.127 – https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_127
Version 1.128 – https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_128
Version 1.129 – https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_129
Version 1.130 – https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_130
Version 1.131 – https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_131
George James Software VS Code extensions
* SQLTools (v0.28.6) – SQLTools is the popular database management extension for VS Code, which George James Software maintains. The new release adds a sqltools.results.showConsoleOnError setting, declares the extension’s authentication contribution, and brings several improvements and a major bug fix to the MSSQL driver.
If you use the InterSystems IRIS driver we covered last month, this is the core extension it plugs into, so it’s worth keeping up to date.
* InterSystems ServerDiff (v0.0.7) – A maintenance release that revises the dialog to avoid clipping when custom dialogs are in use, fixes the GitHub link, and updates dependencies.
InterSystems VS Code extensions
* iris-agentic-dev (new release) – A new extension from the InterSystems Developer Community that connects a suite of IRIS-aware MCP tools into Copilot’s agent mode, picking up your objectscript.conn or Server Manager connection automatically. Once installed, you can ask Copilot to compile a class, run SQL against a namespace, search your codebase, run unit tests, inspect a production and its message traces, or look up InterSystems documentation, all from the chat panel. You’ll need the ObjectScript extension with an active connection and GitHub Copilot in agent mode.
If you’ve been curious about agent-assisted IRIS development, this is the most direct way to try it.
And finally, a bit of fun… v1.131 ships an experimental VS Code pet. Type /vscode-pet in chat to meet your new companion.