microsoft / microsoft/vscode

Setting `permissions.ask` breaks all auto-allow settings in all GitHub Copilot Harnesses

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#335,929 2 comments 0 reactions 1 assignee Claimed by @TylerLeonhardt View on GitHub
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Description

In attempting to utilize [this feature ](https://github.blog/changelog/2026-09-09-enterprise-managed-permissions-for-github-copilot-agent-operations/)to try enforcing a tenant wide standard "always ask" list, we discovered that setting this value to anything caused all of our GitHub copilot users to be inundated with approval prompts for file writes in the work space, mundane file reads, and standard git operations that are defined in the default approval settings. This also removes the ability for users to leverage the "allow for session" or similar responses for approvals - the only option they are presented with is "Allow once"

Removing the `permissions.ask` configuration alleviates the issue, but as is the feature appears entirely unusuable unless an `allow` list is defined.

Additionally, it should be noted that this breaks auto approvals in _all_ GitHub Copilot clients and harnesses (except VSCode Copilot Cloud), this includes:
* GitHub Copilot CLI
* GitHub Copilot App
* Github Copilot in VSCode
** Local
** Copilot

Copilot Chat Extension Version:
VS Code Version: v1.135.0+
OS Version: MacOS, Windows, Ubuntu
Feature (e.g. agent/edit/ask mode): Agent mode
Selected model (e.g. GPT 4.1, Claude 3.7 Sonnet): Any
Logs:

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Set `{ "permissions": { "ask": [] } }` in `managed-settings.json`
2. Attempt to run a prompt in agent mode with default permissions

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