Visual Studio Code 1.129 ships an experimental modern UI for the workbench, plus a new agent host architecture for Copilot, Claude, and Codex sessions.
Microsoft gives Visual Studio Code a modern UI preview with Visual Studio Code 1.129. Instead of another color theme alone, Microsoft is updating the entire VS Code workbench so panels, editor groups, tabs, menus, and toolbars read as clearer surfaces. The experimental modern UI refreshes the look and feel of the popular cross-platform code editor without forcing every stable user onto the new design immediately.
In the modern UI, the Explorer sidebar, editor panes, Activity Bar, and related chrome appear as distinct card-like layers with rounded corners, clearer borders, and deliberate spacing. Menus float as independent panels, and editor groups are framed more sharply inside the window. Tabs and toolbar controls match the new style, while the dark theme uses softer borders and slightly lower contrast than current stable chrome, improving visual separation for long coding sessions.
The interface remains experimental and is not enabled automatically in the regular stable build. Search Settings for workbench.experimental.modernUI to turn it on. VS Code Insiders enables the redesigned interface by default so Microsoft can gather feedback before a wider rollout.
Visual Studio Code 1.129 also introduces a new agent host architecture. Coding-agent sessions run in a dedicated process and can be reached from multiple VS Code windows. The agent host supports GitHub Copilot, Claude, and Codex through the Agent Host Protocol. The Agents window gains an experimental editor panel where agent-generated files and diffs open beside the conversation with a shared tab bar. Users can switch inline and side-by-side diffs, expand or collapse changed files, keep editors open across sessions, and start a pull request via sessions.layout.singlePaneDetailPanel.
Other highlights include terminal commands from agent-host chats with a leading exclamation mark, Bring Your Own Key models with the Copilot agent harness, GitHub Enterprise authentication for Copilot via the agent host, and an experimental converter from older .prompt.md files into reusable agent skills. Messaging another agent session still requires user confirmation.
Read more: Linuxiac and the Visual Studio Code 1.129 release notes.
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