Flight Recorder monitors Copilot-related edit events from VS Code logs, commits them to a repository, exports Copilot chat logs, and provides functionality to anonymize and analyze the collected data.
UI Usage
A permanent status bar button is shown at the bottom of VS Code for recording control.
When idle, the button shows Start Flight Recorder.
While recording, the same button changes to Stop Flight Recorder.
A second permanent status bar button, Anonymize Repository, starts creation of an anonymized copy of the current repository.
Start and stop are also contributed to the editor title area and the command palette, but the status bar buttons are the most reliable entry point.
Commands
The following commands can be executed from the command palette:
Python 3.x available in your PATH to create the extension-managed git-filter-repo environment for repository anonymization
Opened folder is a Git repository
GitHub Copilot Chat extension installed
Debug-level GitHub Copilot Chat logging must be enabled by VS Code; the extension attempts to configure this automatically when recording starts
Trusted workspace for repository anonymization
Quick Start
Open a Git repository in VS Code.
Click Start Flight Recorder in the status bar, or run the start command from the command palette.
Work with Copilot (inline suggestions and/or agent edits).
Check progress in the Flight Recorder output channel.
Click Stop Flight Recorder in the status bar to finish the session.
Chat Export
Flight Recorder: Export All Chats exports the current workspace's chatSessions files into the opened repository under .chat-log/<workspaceStorageId>/chatSessions.
Exported files are copied as-is; absolute path replacement happens later during Flight Recorder: Anonymize Repository.
If flightRecorder.exportChatsOnStop is enabled, the same export is also performed automatically when recording stops and then committed in a dedicated git commit.
Repository Anonymization
Flight Recorder: Anonymize Repository creates a separate anonymized copy of the currently opened repository in a folder you choose.
The resulting repository is a normal working-tree repository named anonymous-repo-<timestamp>.
Author and committer identities from git history are rewritten to generated placeholders such as Anonymous Developer, Anonymous Developer 2, and so on.
Absolute path replacement during anonymization is configurable: disable it entirely, limit it to paths containing the repository root, or replace all detected absolute paths in file contents and commit/tag messages.
The command uses an extension-managed private Python virtual environment under VS Code global storage and installs a pinned git-filter-repo version there when needed.
Settings
All settings use the flightRecorder.* prefix:
debounceMs (default 0): wait for an idle period before committing.
addAll (default false): stage all changed files before commit.
allowEmpty (default false): allow empty commits.
dryRun (default false): print actions without creating commits.
forceAddGeneratedLogs (default true): force-stage generated .log and .chat-log artifacts so repository ignore rules do not block their dedicated commits.
exportChatsOnStop (default true): automatically export chat session files into .chat-log and commit them in a separate shutdown commit when recording stops.
absolutePathHandling (default repoOnly): controls how absolute paths are rewritten during repository anonymization. none leaves paths unchanged, repoOnly rewrites only absolute paths containing the repository root, and all rewrites all detected absolute paths and file URIs in file contents and commit/tag messages. absolutePathHandling applies when running Flight Recorder: Anonymize Repository, including generated .log and .chat-log artifacts in repository history.
