Extending Agents Course#9823
Open
cinnamon-msft wants to merge 4 commits into
Open
Conversation
Contributor
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Pull request overview
Adds a new Agents learning course to the /learn curriculum, covering tool usage, MCP servers, agent plugins, and third-party agents to help readers extend agent workflows in VS Code.
Changes:
- Extend
learn/toc.jsonwith a new Agents section and four course topics. - Add four new course markdown pages under
learn/agents/for tools, MCP servers, plugins, and third-party agents. - Add supporting screenshots (Git LFS pointers) referenced by the new course content.
Show a summary per file
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| learn/toc.json | Adds the new “Agents” course section and topic links. |
| learn/agents/1-using-tools-with-agents.md | New course page introducing tools, tool sets, approvals, and sandboxing. |
| learn/agents/2-extending-agents-with-mcp-servers.md | New course page explaining MCP concepts, install/config, and safety guidance. |
| learn/agents/3-agent-plugins.md | New course page covering plugin install/usage and workspace recommendations. |
| learn/agents/4-using-third-party-agents-in-vs-code.md | New course page for Claude/Codex sessions, commands, permissions, and cloud enablement. |
| docs/copilot/images/third-party-agents/claude-agent-new-chat-1.121.png | New screenshot asset for the third-party agents course page. |
| docs/copilot/images/customization/chat-customizations-editor-plugins.png | New screenshot asset referenced by the plugins course page. |
| docs/copilot/chat/images/copilot-chat/chat-approval-options.png | New screenshot asset referenced by the tools/approvals course page. |
Copilot's findings
- Files reviewed: 8/8 changed files
- Comments generated: 2
Co-authored-by: Copilot Autofix powered by AI <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Contributor
|
@ntrogh please, can you review this PR? |
ntrogh
reviewed
May 29, 2026
|
|
||
| ## Prerequisites | ||
|
|
||
| Before you start: you'll need VS Code Insiders installed and the GitHub Copilot and GitHub Copilot Chat extensions set up and signed in. You also need access to the tools you want to use, such as MCP servers or extensions that contribute tools. |
Collaborator
There was a problem hiding this comment.
We no longer have those separate extensions. Just enable AI features in VS Code.
ntrogh
reviewed
May 29, 2026
Collaborator
ntrogh
left a comment
ntrogh
left a comment
There was a problem hiding this comment.
@cinnamon-msft @cyz This course doesn't read like a course, but more as a shortened version of the docs. Is this the intent of the Learn content? I would be expecting hands-on guided content, as indicated on the Learn home page.
|
|
||
| Select only the tools you need. A smaller tool set gives the model less to sort through and usually leads to better results. Every enabled tool also consumes part of the model's context window. | ||
|
|
||
| A chat request can have a maximum of 128 tools enabled at a time, so keeping the active set focused also helps avoid tool count issues. |
Collaborator
There was a problem hiding this comment.
This problem has mostly been resolved through virtual tools.
|
|
||
| ## Limit tools for a custom agent | ||
|
|
||
| When you build a [custom agent](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/customization/custom-agents), you can list the tools and tool sets it has access to in the `tools` field of the agent's markdown frontmatter: |
Collaborator
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Suggested change
| When you build a [custom agent](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/customization/custom-agents), you can list the tools and tool sets it has access to in the `tools` field of the agent's markdown frontmatter: | |
| When you build a [custom agent](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/customization/custom-agents), you can list the tools and tool sets it has access to in the `tools` field of the agent's Markdown frontmatter: |
|
|
||
| ## Limit tools for a custom agent | ||
|
|
||
| When you build a [custom agent](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/customization/custom-agents), you can list the tools and tool sets it has access to in the `tools` field of the agent's markdown frontmatter: |
Collaborator
There was a problem hiding this comment.
It might be useful to include why this is useful and which problem it solves.
|
|
||
| ## Group related tools with tool sets | ||
|
|
||
| Tool sets let you save related tools as a single reusable group. You can use them in chat prompts, prompt files, and custom agents. |
Collaborator
There was a problem hiding this comment.
It might be useful to include why this is useful and which problem it solves.
Collaborator
There was a problem hiding this comment.
General feedback: this doesn't really feel like a course but more as a recap of the documentation pages.
|
|
||
| ## Manage approvals | ||
|
|
||
| The permissions picker controls how much autonomy the agent has during a session. |
Collaborator
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Why use one over the other?
|
|
||
| Enable it with `setting(chat.agent.sandbox.enabled)`. On macOS and Linux, you can choose full isolation or file system isolation with network access. | ||
|
|
||
| Sandboxing is a good fit for tasks that need terminal access but should not reach beyond the workspace or approved domains. |
Collaborator
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Can you give concrete examples of when you'd use this or when not to?
This file contains hidden or bidirectional Unicode text that may be interpreted or compiled differently than what appears below. To review, open the file in an editor that reveals hidden Unicode characters.
Learn more about bidirectional Unicode characters
Sign up for free
to join this conversation on GitHub.
Already have an account?
Sign in to comment
Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.This suggestion is invalid because no changes were made to the code.Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is closed.Suggestions cannot be applied while viewing a subset of changes.Only one suggestion per line can be applied in a batch.Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.Applying suggestions on deleted lines is not supported.You must change the existing code in this line in order to create a valid suggestion.Outdated suggestions cannot be applied.This suggestion has been applied or marked resolved.Suggestions cannot be applied from pending reviews.Suggestions cannot be applied on multi-line comments.Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is queued to merge.Suggestion cannot be applied right now. Please check back later.
No description provided.