Auto Chat Blocker
Stop the AI chat panel from auto-opening every time you launch your editor.
Works across VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and other VS Code-based IDEs — it
detects which close command your IDE actually exposes and uses it, so a single
extension covers all of them.
Why this exists
VS Code-based AI editors force the chat / composer panel open on launch (and
again when you switch folders). There's no built-in toggle, the popular
settings.json workaround (terminal.integrated.commandsToSkipShell) breaks
after updates, and existing extensions fire a single command once at startup —
which misses the panel because it usually opens after the extension activates.
This extension fixes that with three things:
- A universal close command —
workbench.action.closeAuxiliaryBar exists in
every fork; the AI chat lives in the auxiliary (secondary side) bar.
- Retry with backoff — closes on a schedule (
0, 400, 900, 1800, 3000 ms)
to beat the race condition where the chat opens a moment after launch.
- A short burst, not constant fighting — it only acts during the first
~1.2 s after launch (the IDE auto-opens chat near-instantly), then stops. So
a chat you open yourself afterward stays open. Opening a new folder reloads
the extension host, which re-runs the startup burst.
It only ever fires commands that exist in your IDE (checked via the command
registry), so there are no errors and no accidental re-opening from toggle
commands.
How it works (and what it can't do)
This extension calls the editor's close-chat command directly through the
API. It does not touch your keybindings — VS Code extensions cannot read,
remove, or override a user's keybindings, and they don't need to: a custom
keybinding only changes which key opens the chat, not the command that opens
it. The chat opens, this extension closes it, regardless of your key setup.
Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
autoChatBlocker.enable |
true |
Master on/off switch. |
autoChatBlocker.retryDelaysMs |
[0, 350, 800, 1200] |
Retry schedule (ms from startup) for closing the chat. Kept short so it catches the IDE's near-instant auto-open but finishes before you could open chat yourself. |
autoChatBlocker.abortOnUserActivity |
true |
Cancel remaining startup closes once you start working (typing in a file / opening a terminal), so a chat you opened during the load gap is left alone. |
autoChatBlocker.closeOnWindowFocus |
false |
Also close every time the window regains focus. Off by default — it would close a chat you opened manually then switched away from. Folder/workspace switches already re-trigger the startup close. |
autoChatBlocker.extraCloseCommands |
[] |
Extra command IDs to try first, if your IDE/version uses a different close command. |
Commands
- Auto Chat Blocker: Toggle — enable/disable the blocker.
- Auto Chat Blocker: Close Chat Now — manually run the close logic (handy for
finding the right command on a new IDE).
Finding the right close command on a new IDE
If the chat isn't closing on your editor:
- Open the Output panel → Auto Chat Blocker channel to see which commands
were tried.
- Open the Command Palette and search for "close" / "chat" / "composer" to find
your IDE's close command.
- Add it to
autoChatBlocker.extraCloseCommands — the first one that exists is
used. Please also open an issue so it can be added to the built-in list.
Caveats
workbench.action.closeAuxiliaryBar closes whatever is in the auxiliary bar.
On a fresh launch that's the chat, but if you've docked something else there,
it will close that too.- Toggle-style commands (e.g. Copilot's) are only used as a last resort, since
calling a toggle when the panel is already closed would re-open it.
Develop
npm install
npm run watch # background TypeScript compile
# press F5 in VS Code to launch an Extension Development Host
Package & publish
npm install -g @vscode/vsce
vsce package # produces auto-chat-blocker-x.y.z.vsix
# install the .vsix in any IDE to test, or:
vsce publish # needs a publisher + Azure DevOps PAT
Set publisher in package.json to your Marketplace publisher ID before
publishing. Create one at https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/manage.
License
MIT
