Remote view & control of local GitHub Copilot sessions (monitor and steer local Copilot chat in VS Code)

[p3nGu1nZz]

Product: GitHub Mobile Copilot — VS Code / Local / Copilot sessions

Summary
Allow users to opt-in to share local Copilot chat sessions from VS Code to a remote Copilot dashboard/collaborator view so teammates or owners can monitor, join, and steer agents working in a local repository easily with mobile ui screens

Problem / Motivation
Local Copilot chat sessions and agent state live only on the developer’s machine. This prevents:

• Remote teammates, reviewers, or managers from monitoring agent behavior or progress without screen sharing or Live Share.
• Easy collaboration where a remote reviewer can suggest prompts or corrections to an active session.
• Auditability and reproducibility of what the agent suggested and why (important for debugging, security review, and compliance).

Proposed solution
Add an opt-in “Share session” capability for local VS Code Copilot sessions that streams session metadata and an optionally shareable transcript to a secure Copilot dashboard or collaborator UI. Core capabilities:

• Opt-in per-session toggle in VS Code with a visible session ID and explicit consent prompt.
• Remote dashboard (web or GitHub-integrated UI) listing active shared sessions with metadata: repo, branch, open file(s), timestamp, session name, and participants.
• Read-only live view of the chat transcript and a live preview of files being edited (no automatic code upload unless explicitly enabled).
• Remote steering controls:
  • Send proposed messages that the local user approves before dispatch.
  • With explicit permission, allow direct sends or suggested snippets.
  • Request re-run of a generation with alternate parameters.
• “Join” mode with two levels: propose-and-approve or direct-control (both require local consent).
• Downloadable searchable transcripts and per-session audit logs for reproducibility.
• Enterprise/admin controls: org-wide enable/disable, retention settings, access policies, and audit logs.
• Strong privacy & security: explicit opt-in, clear indicators when a session is viewed or controlled, end-to-end encryption in transit, repository-scoped permission checks, and minimal metadata by default.

Examples / user stories

• A remote reviewer watches a Copilot session in real time and proposes a clarifying prompt; the developer accepts and the agent produces a better suggestion.
• A security engineer inspects a recent session transcript to check for leaked secrets or unsafe patterns.
• A mentor joins a junior dev’s session to coach prompt engineering and interactively guide the agent.
• An engineering manager observes aggregate usage to measure Copilot impact on team productivity (defaults to aggregated metrics, not individual traces, unless explicitly shared).

Benefits / impact

• Enables low-friction remote collaboration and pair-programming without full screen sharing.
• Faster code iteration and review cycles.
• Improved auditability and compliance for organizations.
• Educational benefits for mentorship and onboarding.

Alternatives considered

• Screen sharing / Live Share (heavier-weight and not focused on agent transcripts).
• Manual copy/paste of transcripts (tedious and error-prone).
• Cloud-only Copilot sessions (loses local context and dev machine resources).

Acceptance criteria / success metrics

• VS Code shows an opt-in “Share Copilot session” toggle and a session ID when sharing.
• Remote dashboard displays active sessions with repo/branch/file context and live transcript with typical latency <= 2s.
• Remote user can send a proposed message; local user can accept or decline before it goes to the agent.
• Downloadable session transcript and per-session audit log present.
• Enterprise policy controls exist (enable/disable sharing, retention, access controls).
• Security review confirms protections: explicit user consent, E2E or TLS+repo-scoped auth, and clear UI indicators when a session is viewed.

Priority
Medium — high impact for team workflows and enterprise adoption. Opt-in privacy model reduces risk.

Security & privacy notes

• Default to read-only sharing of minimal metadata and live transcript; no automatic code upload.
• Require explicit per-session consent for any remote steering.
• Provide org-level controls for admins to mandate or disable sharing and set retention policies.
• Display clear visual indicators in VS Code when a session is being viewed or controlled.

Attachments

• N/A (I can provide mockup images or a short gif if helpful)

Request / ask to the product team
Please consider an opt-in, secure remote session sharing feature for local Copilot sessions that supports monitoring, collaborative steering, and enterprise governance.