Visual Studio Code 1.100 brings compact editor view

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Microsoft has released version 1.100 – of its free source code editor Visual Studio Code, also known as April 2025 – after the development month. The release brings new features for GitHub Copilot Chat, editor view, remote development and more. The official Python connection has also received its monthly update.

New functions for floating editor windows

Floating windows are possible in Visual Studio Code: editors and selected views can be detached from the main window. In version 1.100, two new modes are now available for floating windows. The first is compact mode, which can be used to hide certain UI elements. The second is the always-on-top mode, which displays a window on top of all other windows until you exit this mode.

The VS Code team shows an example of the new compact mode, which hides some UI elements and thus creates space for additional visible lines of code:

Updates for the GitHub Copilot Chat

Developers can now use custom Markdown-based instructions for GitHub Copilot Chat. These instruction files can contain guidelines and context, such as style rules for code or information on which frameworks to use. They end with .instructions.md and can be located in the user data folder or in the workspace. The chat.instructionsFilesLocations setting shows a list of possible folders that can contain instruction files.

Prompt files are included as an experimental feature for AI-supported chat. These consist of complete chat requests including prompt text, chat mode and tools to be used. Prompt files should be suitable for creating reusable chat requests for frequent use cases. According to the VS Code team, possible uses include the development of a front-end component or the execution of a security review. The prompt files end with .prompt.md. Here too, a setting(chat.promptFilesLocations) can be used to find out where these files can be located.

There is also a new feature for remote development with VS Code using corresponding extensions. Dev container features and images now have instruction files that describe their tools and configuration. The chat can automatically access this context, which should improve the relevance and accuracy of suggestions during development.

All further information on Visual Studio Code 1.100 can be found in the announcement.

Python in Visual Studio Code: New features for Python environments

Microsoft has not only updated the source code editor itself, but also the Python extensions. In the May release (while Visual Studio Code is named after the previous month, the Python extension is named after the current month), the development team is focusing in particular on the Python Environments extension, which is available as a preview. It is intended to help manage Python environments and packages.

This extension now also supports Quick Create, which minimizes the input required to create new virtual environments: The extension automatically detects the latest Python version on the machine and can install workspace dependencies with just one click. Quick Create is available via the command palette:

Two chat tools are now available for the same extension to obtain Python environment information and install Python packages. They can either be referenced directly in the prompt(#pythonGetEnvironmentInfo and #pythonInstallPackagerespectively) or called automatically via agent mode.

Further information on the updates for Python in VS Code can be found in a post on Microsoft's developer blog.

(mai)