Microsoft Reverses Automatic Copilot Co-Author Credit in VS Code After Developer Backlash

Summary

Microsoft has reversed a controversial change to VS Code's Git extension that automatically added "Co-authored-by: Copilot" to commits starting in version 1.110 (March 2026). The feature generated significant developer backlash because it added the AI attribution even when Copilot wasn't used or was disabled, raising concerns about false credit claims and misrepresenting authorship in professional development workflows.

The core issue was that the attribution trailer appeared in the final commit message even after developers had manually reviewed and edited their commit messages. Developers complained that Copilot-generated suggestions would be removed from the code, yet the co-author line would still be added automatically, violating professional workflow standards and potentially misrepresenting code provenance without explicit consent.

The fix, scheduled for VS Code 1.119 release (May 3, 2026), changes the Copilot co-author trailer from opt-out (enabled by default) to opt-in (disabled by default). This decision aligns with similar concerns raised by developers using other AI coding assistants like Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex, highlighting industry-wide questions about how to properly attribute AI contributions in code without overstating the AI's role or complicating copyright and commercial licensing.

• The controversy reflects broader questions about proper attribution standards, intellectual property, and copyright implications of AI-assisted code in commercial projects
• Industry standards vary widely—Linux requires AI assistance to be documented, while Zig forbids AI-assisted code submissions entirely