[insiders] Agent window Local agent: MCP config not synced & BYOK custom model not supported

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#317,895 2 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Assessment

Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Newbie friendliness
48/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Active
Tech stack
typescript, vscode
Domain
ai, desktop, developer-experience

Research direction

Start by reproducing the two cases in VS Code Insiders 1.122.0 on Windows: configure an MCP API key and a BYOK model in the editor window, then inspect them from the Local agent in the Agent window. Done means the configured key is usable there and the same BYOK models appear in the Local agent model picker, or the behavior is documented as intentional.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

In VS Code Insiders 1.122.0, there are two configuration sync/support issues between the editor window and the Agent window:

  1. MCP configuration not synced
    Configured an MCP Server that requires an API Key via Manage MCP Servers in the editor window
    When switching to the Agent window and using the Local agent type, the MCP Server appears in the list, but the previously configured Key is missing/not synced, rendering the MCP Server unusable
    Expected: Both windows share the same MCP configuration, including API Keys
  2. Local agent does not support BYOK custom models
    Added BYOK custom models (e.g. OpenAI-compatible / Anthropic) via Manage Language Models in the editor window, which work fine in Ask/Edit/Agent modes
    In the Agent window, when selecting the Local agent type, the model picker does not show the BYOK custom models configured in the editor window
    Expected: The Local agent in the Agent window should allow selecting the same BYOK models available in the editor window
    Question
    Are the above two issues by design (intentional config isolation for the Agent window), or are they unexpected bugs? If bugs, is there a plan to fix them in a near-term release?

Environment
VS Code version: Insiders 1.122.0
OS: Windows
Agent type: Local

Dominant language
TypeScript
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