Agent skill · software engineering · microsoft
launch
Launch and automate VS Code Insiders with the Copilot Chat extension using @playwright/cli via Chrome DevTools Protocol. Use when you need to interact with the VS Code UI, automate the chat panel, test the extension UI, or take screenshots. Triggers include 'automate VS Code', 'interact with chat', 'test the UI', 'take a screenshot', 'launch with debugging'.
Why this skill is useful
Adds automation scripts for launching and interacting with VS Code Insiders using Playwright, which are not commonly known or available in public documentation.
What it needs
Requires @playwright/cli installed locally. About 8k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 188,455 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
VS Code Extension Automation Automate VS Code Insiders with the Copilot Chat extension using @playwright/cli. VS Code is built on Electron/Chromium and exposes a Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) port that @playwright/cli can attach to, enabling the same snapshot-interact workflow used for web pages. Prerequisites @playwright/cli is available via devDependencies. Run pnpm install at the repo root, then use npx @playwright/cli to invoke commands. Alternatively, install globally with npm install -g @playwright/cli. code-insiders is required. This extension uses 58 proposed VS Code APIs and targets vscode ^1.110.0-20260223. VS Code Stable will not activate it — you must use VS Code Insiders. The extension must be compiled first. Use pnpm run compile for a one-shot build, or pnpm run watch for iterative development. CSS selectors are internal implementation details. Selectors like .interactive-input-part, .monaco-editor, and .view-line are VS Code internals that may change across versions. If automation breaks after a VS Code update, re-snapshot and check for selector changes. Core Workflow 1. Build the extension 2. Launch VS Code Insiders with the extension and remote debugging enabled 3. Attach npx @playwright/cli to the CDP port 4. Snapshot to discover interactive elements 5. Interact using element refs 6. Re-snapshot after navigation or state changes 📸 Take screenshots for a paper trail. Use npx @playwright/cli screenshot --filename=<path> at key moments — after launch, before/after interactions, and when something goes wrong. Screenshots provide visual proof of what the UI looked like and are invaluable for debugging failures or documenting what was accomplished. Save screenshots inside .vscode-ext-debug/screenshots/ (gitignored) using a timestamped subfolder so each run is isolated and nothing gets overwritten: Attaching After attach, all subsequent commands target the connected app without needing to reattach. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills microsoft/launch--d6ce96