github / github/copilot-cli

session.rpc.extensions.list() always returns empty array when called from extension hooks

Open
#3,187 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
area:plugins
Dominant language
Shell
Stars
11.2k
Forks
1.9k
Avg merge
14h 16m
Merged PRs (30d)
6

Description

### Summary
When an extension calls `session.rpc.extensions.list()` from inside an `onSessionStart` or `onPreToolUse` hook, the returned `extensions` array is always empty, even when extensions are loaded (including the calling extension itself).

The same RPC works correctly when invoked from the foreground CLI (e.g. via `/extensions` or the `extensions_manage` tool), so the data is clearly available to the host — just not to extensions through this API.

### Environment
- Copilot CLI version: 1.0.44-0
- OS: Windows 11
- SDK: `@github/copilot-sdk/extension`

### Repro
Minimal extension at `.github/extensions/repro/extension.mjs`:

```js
import { joinSession } from "@github/copilot-sdk/extension";

const session = await joinSession({
hooks: {
onSessionStart: async () => {
const { extensions } = await session.rpc.extensions.list();
await session.log(`onSessionStart: ${extensions.length} extension(s)`);
},
onPreToolUse: async () => {
const { extensions } = await session.rpc.extensions.list();
await session.log(`onPreToolUse: ${extensions.length} extension(s)`);
return { permissionDecision: "allow" };
},
},
tools: [],
});
```

Start a Copilot CLI session in the repo and trigger any tool call.

### Expected
The logged count is ≥ 1 (at least the calling extension itself, plus any user-source extensions installed in `~/.copilot/extensions/`).

### Actual
The logged count is always `0`, in both `onSessionStart` and `onPreToolUse`. No error is thrown; the call resolves successfully with an empty list.

### Impact
This API is the only documented way for an extension to discover its peers. Any extension that needs to coordinate with another extension is broken — for example, a project-level guard extension that should refuse to operate unless a specific user-level companion extension (e.g. an auth/policy plugin) is also installed and running cannot make that determination.

### Notes
- The sibling RPCs `extensions.enable` / `extensions.disable` / `extensions.reload` throw `"Extensions not available"` in failure modes. `extensions.list` returning a successful-looking empty array instead of erroring made this much harder to diagnose — at minimum, the failure mode should be consistent (a thrown error rather than a misleading empty result) so callers can tell "no peers" apart from "I can't see them".

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Assessment

This issue has not been assessed yet.

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.