News

VS Code Copilot Gets Closer to Tab, Tab, Tab Coding

• By David Ramel
• 02/10/2025

Microsoft is previewing new AI tech that predicts your next edit, allowing devs to just Tab to accept it and keep on going.

It's the latest advancement to basically just saying: "Create a data-driven cloud app that ..." and just tabbing to go through the steps -- the ultimate in supercharged low-code/no-code constructs.

Called Copilot Next Edit Suggestions (Copilot NES), it's previewed in the new Visual Studio Code v1.97, the January 2025 update.

"Based on the edits you're making, Copilot NES both predicts the location of the next edit you'll want to make and what that edit should be," Microsoft said. "NES suggests future changes relevant to your current work, and you can simply Tab to quickly navigate and accept suggestions."

Microsoft described it as a natural evolution of autocomplete as most coding just edits existing code.

The following animated GIF shows how changing a variable triggers an edit suggestion further down the file so devs can just use the Tab key to navigate and accept the suggestion. The gutter indicator will guide next edit suggestions.

Speaking of edits, the company also moved Copilot Edits into general availability as it graduated from preview with the ability to apply natural language-driven code edits across multiple files, allowing developers to refactor, update, and modify code at scale with AI-assisted precision. Key features include:

• Multi-File Editing: Developers can specify a set of files and instruct Copilot to implement changes across them, enhancing efficiency in large projects.
• Natural Language Prompts: By providing instructions in everyday language, developers can guide Copilot to make specific code alterations, reducing the need for manual coding.
• Inline Code Review: Copilot Edits offers an inline review experience, allowing users to preview proposed changes, accept or reject individual edits, and maintain control over code modifications.

"Edits can now be accepted and discarded individually, giving you more control," the dev team said. "Also new is that the editor controls for edits remain visible when switching to the side-by-side view. This is useful for understanding larger changes."

Other highlights of v1.97 include:

• Reposition Command Palette: Users can now drag the Command Palette and Quick Input dialogs to a preferred position on the screen for enhanced accessibility.
• Auto-Accept Edits: A new setting allows automatic acceptance of Copilot's suggestions after a configurable timeout, reducing manual confirmations.
• Extension Publisher Trust: Enhancements have been made to maintain a secure environment by establishing trust with extension publishers.
• Compound Logs: Developers can combine multiple logs into a single, aggregated view, simplifying debugging and monitoring.
• Filter Output Logs: The Output panel now supports content filtering, enabling users to focus on relevant log information.
• Git Blame Information: Rich Git blame details are now available, with direct links to view code on GitHub.
• Search in Debug Variables: A new feature allows filtering and searching within debug variables to quickly locate specific values.
• Notebook Inline Values: In notebooks, inline values for code cell variables are displayed, aiding in code comprehension and debugging.
• Python No-Config Debugging: Developers can now quickly debug Python scripts or modules without prior configuration, expediting the development process.