Free Copilot is a VS Code extension that turns your coding agent into a free AI-powered assistant. It drives your own browser session (system Chrome) against DeepSeek — the only provider wired up in this release (more are planned) — so you can chat with a frontier model without a paid API key.
⚠️ Not affiliated with DeepSeek. This extension automates a third-party website programmatically to give you a free coding assistant through your own logged-in browser session.
Features
Bring your own browser — uses your system-installed Chrome (visible, not headless), so it reuses your existing cookies/logins and passes the sites' anti-bot checks.
DeepSeek for now — built-in support for DeepSeek (the only provider enabled in this release), plus a custom provider system you can point at other sites.
Real AI chat in a sidebar — chat in a webview panel; the extension opens and drives the AI site's own tab and streams responses back to you.
Account manager — save multiple browser sessions (storage state) per provider and switch between accounts without re-logging in.
Thinking / chain-of-thought — surfaces reasoning traces (e.g. DeepSeek-R1) when the model provides them.
Agent tool use — let the AI delegate tasks to subagent tabs and persist conversations.
Customizable — provide your own provider configs (URLs, versions, and DOM selectors) via settings.
How it works
You install the extension and (optionally) create a free DeepSeek account in your normal browser.
The extension launches your system Chrome and opens the provider's site in a controlled tab.
Any existing cookies/session are restored, so your login is preserved between VS Code sessions.
When you send a message in the sidebar, the extension types it into the on-page chat box, reads the response, and streams it back as a chat message.
Requirements
VS Code1.125.0 or above.
A system-installed Google Chrome.
A free DeepSeek account (or a custom provider config you've defined).
Getting started
Sign up / log in to DeepSeek at chat.deepseek.com in your normal Chrome browser.
In VS Code, open the Free Copilot icon in the Activity Bar.
In the sidebar, select DeepSeek (or a custom provider you've configured) and click the Launch button. The extension opens the site in a browser tab.
Make sure you're logged in, then start chatting — responses stream into the sidebar.
Cookie persistence: after you log in for the first time, the extension stores the browser session so it can restore it later. If a site ever shows a "device environment" error or re-asks for login, click the clear session action and re-login once.
Settings
Setting
Description
free-copilot.showThinking
Show the model's thinking / chain-of-thought traces (DeepSeek-R1, etc.).
free-copilot.customProviders
Custom AI provider configs (name, URL, versions, DOM selectors).
free-copilot.terminalApproval
How run_command terminal execution asks for approval.
free-copilot.subagentCreationMode
Who can create subagent tabs (user or ai).
free-copilot.maxToolCallsPerTurn
Max sequential tool calls per user turn.
See the full list in Settings → Free Copilot from the Command Palette.
Custom providers
Note: Custom providers are experimental and unsupported. DeepSeek is the only provider officially bundled and tested in this release. Setting one up requires inspecting a site's DOM to write selectors, which can break whenever the site changes.
The extension was designed so you can point it at any free web AI client. In settings.json, add entries under free-copilot.customProviders with:
name — a human-readable name.
baseUrl — the page to open for this provider.
urlPatterns — regexes that match URLs belonging to this provider.
versions — selectors for the input box, send button, and response elements, per UI version.
Privacy
This extension does not send your messages or credentials to any server of its own.
All automation happens through your local Chrome browser. Your conversations go directly to the provider you choose.
Sessions (cookies/localStorage) are stored locally as Playwright storageState files.
Limitations & disclaimers
Unofficial. This is not an official client. The sites it drives can change their DOM or terms of service at any time and may break the selectors.
Site terms. Automating these sites may violate their terms of service. Use it responsibly and at your own risk — review the provider's terms and keep your account in good standing.
Fragile. Because it relies on DOM selectors, an update to a provider's page can break extraction until selectors are updated.
