microsoft / microsoft/copilot-for-eclipse

[Bug] Unable to configure Custom Agents in Eclipse – "This setting is disabled by your organization"

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#284 8 comments 2 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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bug
Dominant language
Java
Stars
126
Forks
60
Avg merge
2d 6h
Merged PRs (30d)
5

Description

Environment

  • OS: Windows 11
  • Eclipse Version: Spring Tools for Eclipse (STS) 5.2.0.RELEASE
  • Plugin Version: 0.18.0

Describe the bug
The Custom Agents preference page is disabled in Eclipse/STS and displays the message:

"This setting is disabled by your organization."

I am unable to create or manage custom agents from Eclipse, even though I am signed in with a valid GitHub Copilot Business account.

The same GitHub account is able to access Copilot features in other supported IDEs.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:
Open Eclipse / Spring Tools for Eclipse.
Navigate to Window → Preferences → GitHub Copilot → Custom Agents.
Observe the Custom Agents page.

Expected behavior
The Custom Agents page should allow users to configure and manage custom agents (stored as .agent.md files in .github/agents) when the feature is available for the signed-in GitHub account.

Actual behavior
The page displays the message:
"This setting is disabled by your organization."
No options are available to create, manage, or configure custom agents.

Screenshots

Image

Additional context
Signed in using a GitHub Copilot Business account.
The issue occurs consistently after restarting Eclipse and re-authenticating.
GitHub Copilot Chat and other Copilot features appear to function normally.
It is unclear whether this is an Eclipse plugin issue, a missing feature entitlement check, or an organization policy being interpreted differently than in other IDEs.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Reproduce the issue in Spring Tools for Eclipse 5.2.0.RELEASE with plugin 0.18.0 by opening Window → Preferences → GitHub Copilot → Custom Agents. Compare the organization-policy message with the signed-in Copilot Business account's access in another IDE, then trace the Eclipse plugin's entitlement and preference-page handling. Done means eligible users can manage .agent.md custom agents while genuinely restricted accounts remain correctly disabled.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java
Domain
devtools
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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