Seed new chat-input sessions from the remembered session-config picks

[Ryan Ewen (RyanEwen)]

A new session's config is seeded from two different places depending on which surface starts it.

The Agents window replays the user's last picks from profile storage:

// baseAgentHostSessionsProvider.ts
const rememberedValues = this._storageService.getObject<...>(STORAGE_KEY_REMEMBERED_SESSION_CONFIG_VALUES, StorageScope.PROFILE, {});
for (const [property, value] of Object.entries(rememberedValues)) {
    if (typeof value === 'string' && isRememberedSessionConfigKey(property)) {
        config[property] = value;
    }
}

The chat input does not. AgentHostUntitledProvisionalSessionService._getInitialConfig reads only chat.defaultConfiguration, which writes the autoApprove and mode axes. Every other session-config property falls back to its schema default, no matter how many times the user changes it.

What a user sees

Claude's Approvals chip is the visible case. It reads permissionMode (default / acceptEdits / plan / auto), and chat.defaultConfiguration never writes that property. So the Agents window keeps whatever approvals level was last chosen, while every new chat in the panel opens on Default. Setting chat.defaultConfiguration.approvals does not help, because it lands on autoApprove instead.

It is not specific to Claude. Any agent-advertised config property outside those two axes has the same asymmetry; permissionMode is simply the one with a chip in front of it.

What this changes

REMEMBERED_SESSION_CONFIG_STORAGE_KEY and isRememberedSessionConfigKey move into sessionConfigKeys.ts, which both layers already import, so there is one definition instead of a copy in the sessions provider. The chat input then seeds its initial config from that same store.

Deliberately conservative in two ways. SessionConfigKey.Isolation is spread last so it stays host-owned rather than being restorable from a remembered pick. And the existing chat.defaultConfiguration handling is untouched, so autoApprove and mode keep the precedence they have in this path today; only properties the setting never wrote are affected. Bringing those two axes in line with the Agents window's policy > remembered > effective order would be a separate, more visible change.

AI disclosure: this comment and the related code were written with the assistance of AI.

[Copilot]

🟡 Changes recommended

The new storage dependency breaks the existing unit-test setup, and the new behavior lacks regression coverage.

Once you've addressed the issues Copilot identified, you can request another Copilot review.

Pull request overview

Seeds chat-input sessions from the Agents window’s remembered configuration.

Changes:

• Shares remembered-config storage helpers.
• Applies remembered values while preserving existing overrides.

File summaries

File	Description
agentHostUntitledProvisionalSessionService.ts	Seeds chat sessions from stored picks.
baseAgentHostSessionsProvider.ts	Uses shared storage helpers.
sessionConfigKeys.ts	Defines shared key and validation helper.

Review details

• Files reviewed: 3/3 changed files
• Comments generated: 2
• Review effort level: Balanced

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