Sync and query session history

Sync and query session history

VS Code maintains a searchable history of your Copilot harness sessions. Session sync (Experimental) can upload local session history to your GitHub account for cross-device access and sharing. With sync enabled, you can query work from VS Code, Copilot CLI, cloud agent, code review, and the GitHub Copilot app.

Synced sessions are private unless you explicitly share them.

Enable or disable session sync (Experimental)

Check the session sync status to see whether sync is enabled. Use chat.sessionSync.enabled Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders to set your preference:

  • To sync session history, set chat.sessionSync.enabled Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders to true. Local session tracking must also be enabled with github.copilot.chat.localIndex.enabled Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders .
  • To turn off session-history sync, set chat.sessionSync.enabled Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders to false. You can keep local session tracking enabled. Turning off sync does not delete data already synced to GitHub.com; see Delete synced sessions.

Review what gets tracked and the privacy controls before turning on sync. If your organization disables sync by policy, you cannot override that restriction.

Note

Session-history sync is separate from the prompts and context sent to a model during an agent session. Turning off sync does not stop those model requests.

Exclude repositories from sync

Use chat.sessionSync.excludeRepositories Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders to prevent sessions in specific repositories from syncing to the cloud. The setting accepts exact owner/repo names or glob patterns:

"chat.sessionSync.excludeRepositories": [
    "my-org/private-repo",
    "my-org/secret-*"
]

Sessions from matching repositories are not uploaded by session sync.

Enterprise policy

For Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise users, two policies control session sync:

  • GitHub.com enterprise policy ("Store local sessions in the Cloud"): enterprise and organization owners configure this on GitHub.com to enable or disable cloud sync for their users.
  • VS Code group policy (CopilotSessionSync): when disabled, the chat.sessionSync.enabled Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders setting is forced to false and sessions stay local only.
Important

Enabling the policy does not give administrators access to your session data. Synced sessions are tied to your personal account and are accessible only to you by default.

When disabled by policy, the session sync status shows Disabled by policy and users cannot override the setting.

Share a session

Sessions are not shared by default. On GitHub.com, you can share a synced session for view-only access to anyone who has access to the repository:

  1. Open the Agents tab on GitHub.com.
  2. Select a session and open Sharing settings from the ... menu.
  3. Enable sharing to give repository collaborators view-only access.

Recipients can view the session's prompts, responses, and file changes, but cannot steer or modify the session. Shared sessions are not indexed for other users' session queries.

Session sync status

The session sync status appears in the Copilot status bar in the Chat view. It shows the current state of cloud sync:

Privacy and data control

  • Sessions are private to you by default. Synced sessions are tied to your personal GitHub account and are accessible only to you unless you explicitly share them.
  • Before syncing, VS Code filters detected secrets by matching known patterns and secret values. This can redact tokens, API keys, and credentials, but it might not detect every secret.
  • You can turn off sync at any time by setting chat.sessionSync.enabled Open in VS Code Open in VS Code Insiders to false. Existing synced sessions remain on GitHub.com until you delete them.
Important

Avoid including secrets in prompts and tool output, and review session contents before sharing. Do not rely on secret filtering to remove every sensitive value.

Delete synced sessions

To delete synced session data, run the Delete Session Sync Data command (github.copilot.sessionSync.deleteSessions) from the Command Palette. The command shows a picker where you select which sessions to remove. After selecting sessions, you choose the deletion scope:

  • Delete from local and cloud: removes session data from your machine and from GitHub.com. This action cannot be undone.
  • Delete from cloud only: removes session data from GitHub.com but keeps local data intact.

You can also hide or delete individual synced sessions from the Agents tab on GitHub.com. Hiding a session removes it from your session index so it no longer appears in query results.

Note

The Delete Session Sync Data command requires session sync to be enabled. If sync is off or disabled by policy, manage previously synced sessions from the Agents tab on GitHub.com instead.

Query session history with Chronicle

Use Chronicle commands or natural-language questions to search past sessions, generate standup reports, and get personalized usage tips.

Chronicle commands

Enter these commands in the chat input:

Command Description
/chronicle:standup Summarize recent coding sessions into a standup report, grouped by branch and repository. Covers the last 24 hours by default.
/chronicle:tips Analyze recent session history and suggest ways to use Copilot more effectively.
/chronicle:cost-tips Identify opportunities to reduce token usage and Copilot cost.
/chronicle:search <query> Search sessions by keyword, file path, or pull request or issue reference.
/chronicle:reindex Rebuild the local session index and sync session data when session sync is enabled.

Ask questions about session history

Ask free-form questions such as "What files did I edit yesterday?" or "Have I worked on anything related to the payments API?" Copilot uses semantic understanding to find relevant sessions. Use /chronicle:search when you want a direct content search.

What gets tracked

The local session store records:

  • Session metadata: repository, branch, working directory, timestamps, and the agent or participant.
  • Conversation turns: user messages and assistant responses.
  • Files touched: file paths from tool calls.
  • External references: pull request numbers, issue numbers, and commit SHAs.

Data is stored in a local SQLite database. Before syncing, VS Code filters detected secrets as described in Privacy and data control.

Reindex the session store

If sessions are missing or the database becomes corrupted, rebuild the index:

/chronicle:reindex

You can also run Reindex Sessions (github.copilot.chronicle.reindex) from the Command Palette.

Reindex after restoring session files from a backup, an unexpected crash, manually deleting session directories, or turning session sync back on.

Settings reference

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10/21/2026