Microsoft/vscode

Git - changes tool should avoid context blowout

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#276413 opened on Nov 10, 2025

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 (5 comments) (0 reactions) (1 assignee)TypeScript (74,848 stars) (10,221 forks)batch import
feature-requestgithelp wanted

Description

Type: Bug

  1. Ask agent to "review #changes" in a large changeset
  2. 🐛 #changes tool calls adds 50k tokens to a conversation, causing quick summarization cycle

Expected: Make #changes smarter to NOT include ALL details when a changeset is massive, but allow the agent to progressively disclose context.

Without changes, the agent will usually list changed files first and then do smarter exploration of what changed.

VS Code version: Code - Insiders 1.106.0-insider (Universal) (48cdf17f0e856e1daca2ad2747814085a2453df0, 2025-11-07T21:38:27.361Z) OS version: Darwin arm64 24.6.0 Modes:

Item Value
CPUs Apple M4 Pro (14 x 2400)
GPU Status 2d_canvas: enableddirect_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_okgpu_compositing: enabledmultiple_raster_threads: enabled_onopengl: enabled_onrasterization: enabledraw_draw: disabled_off_okskia_graphite: enabled_ontrees_in_viz: disabled_offvideo_decode: enabledvideo_encode: enabledwebgl: enabledwebgl2: enabledwebgpu: enabledwebnn: disabled_off
Load (avg) 5, 5, 6
Memory (System) 24.00GB (0.10GB free)
Process Argv --log trace --enable-proposed-api digitarald.agent-memory --crash-reporter-id 9b206efe-c338-4f34-baff-2aab1c48a82e
Screen Reader no
VM 0%

Contributor guide

Tech stack
typescriptjavascript
Domain
developer experienceperformance
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
TypeScriptVS Code extension API
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
50
Research direction
Investigate the implementation of the #changes tool in the VS Code git extension (likely in extensions/git/src/). The current behavior fetches the full diff, causing large token counts. Consider adding a heuristic to limit the diff size or provide a summary of changed files first, as suggested in the issue. Look at how the tool retrieves and formats the diff, and explore options for progressive disclosure.