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Agent View ignores remote container context when workspace is opened in ssh dev container #4216

Description

@thorque

Describe the bug

Description

When a VS Code workspace is opened in a remote SSH dev container, the new Copilot Agent View incorrectly initializes on the host system instead of inside the container, ignoring the remote context that the main Chat interface correctly respects.

Expected Behavior

  • Workspace opened in dev container → Chat works correctly in container
  • New Agent View opened → should also run in the same container context
  • Both interfaces should respect the remote container environment

Actual Behavior

  • Workspace opened in dev container → Chat works correctly in container
  • New Agent View opened → starts on the host system instead of the container
  • Agent has file system access to the host (e.g., /Users/<name>/...) instead of container paths
  • This creates a context mismatch and prevents proper interaction with container-specific tools/dependencies

Environment

  • OS: macOS (Darwin)
  • Workspace: SSH remote dev container
  • VS Code: Remote - Containers extension enabled
  • Copilot CLI: Latest version

Impact

  • Agent cannot access container-specific dependencies/tools
  • Workspace context is fragmented between Chat (container) and Agent (host)
  • Potential security/privacy issue: agent operates on host file system when it shouldn't

Suggested Fix

Agent View should automatically detect and respect the VS Code remote context (dev container, SSH, WSL, etc.) on initialization, matching the behavior of the main Chat interface.

Affected version

latest

Steps to reproduce the behavior

  1. Open a project in a dev container (e.g., via Remote - Containers extension)
  2. Verify Chat interface works correctly in container
  3. Open Agent View (or new agent session)
  4. Check working directory/system info: echo $PWD or equivalent
  5. Observe: Agent is on host system, not in container

Expected behavior

  • Workspace opened in dev container → Chat works correctly in container
  • New Agent View opened → should also run in the same container context
  • Both interfaces should respect the remote container environment

Additional context

No response

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