feat: Enhance chat permissions and approval modes

- Introduced native chat permissions mapping in cockpitWebviewSettingsHandler.
- Updated settings handling to sync native approval modes with VS Code configuration.
- Added experimental notice for GitHub integration in cockpitWebviewStrings and cockpitWebviewWorkspaceTabsMarkup.
- Expanded ApprovalBootstrapMode to include "default", "auto-approve", and "autopilot".
- Refactored syncApprovalMode function to streamline approval mode synchronization.
- Updated tests to reflect changes in approval mode defaults.

Author: goodguy1963

README.md

@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ These are the default path and the main product surface.
 
 `Todo Cockpit` is the planning and triage layer. A `Todo` stays a planning artifact: capture work, add comments, apply labels and workflow flags, and decide what should happen next.
 
-Optional GitHub inbox triage also lives here. The `Settings` tab can save repo-local GitHub repository settings plus a reusable automation prompt, then expose a cached GitHub inbox at the top of the board with `Issues`, `Pull Requests`, and `Security Alerts`. Refresh uses your existing VS Code GitHub sign-in, inbox rows can create a plain Todo or `Create Todo + Review`, and repeat imports reuse the existing GitHub-sourced card instead of creating duplicates. For setup, storage, and current limits, see [docs/github-integration.md](https://github.com/goodguy1963/Copilot-Cockpit/blob/main/docs/github-integration.md).
+Optional, **experimental** GitHub inbox triage also lives here. The `Settings` tab can save repo-local GitHub repository settings plus a reusable automation prompt, then expose a cached GitHub inbox at the top of the board with `Issues`, `Pull Requests`, and `Security Alerts`. Refresh uses your existing VS Code GitHub sign-in, inbox rows can create a plain Todo or `Create Todo + Review`, and repeat imports reuse the existing GitHub-sourced card instead of creating duplicates. For setup, storage, current limits, and the road to stable, see [docs/github-integration.md](https://github.com/goodguy1963/Copilot-Cockpit/blob/main/docs/github-integration.md).
 
 ### Tasks
 
@@ -133,6 +133,10 @@ Research is especially useful when work should pull in fresher outside knowledge
 
 These capabilities stay discoverable, but they are not required for the default path.
 
+- **GitHub Integration** (experimental): repo-local inbox triage for issues, pull requests, and security alerts. Read-only, manual refresh, no mutation support yet. See [docs/github-integration.md](https://github.com/goodguy1963/Copilot-Cockpit/blob/main/docs/github-integration.md).
+- **Telegram Notifications** (experimental): repo-local Stop hook that sends the last assistant reply to a Telegram bot.
+- **Codex integration** (experimental): repo-local MCP, skills, todo coordination, and task-draft coordination for ChatGPT Codex in VS Code.
+
 ### Model And Agent Choice
 
 Copilot Cockpit is designed for mixed-model work. Sometimes one model is better for planning, another for implementation, and another for research or code review. The goal is not to crown one universal expert, but to let specialized agents and model choices work together under one controlled workflow.

docs/github-integration.md

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # GitHub Integration
 
-Copilot Cockpit includes an optional repo-local GitHub integration for Todo Cockpit. It lets you save repository settings in the `Settings` tab, manually refresh a cached GitHub inbox, and turn GitHub items into Todo cards or review-oriented handoffs without exposing a runtime access token back to the webview.
+> ⚠️ **Experimental** — This feature is experimental and may change or be removed in future versions.
+
+Copilot Cockpit includes an optional, **experimental** repo-local GitHub integration for Todo Cockpit. It lets you save repository settings in the `Settings` tab, manually refresh a cached GitHub inbox, and turn GitHub items into Todo cards or review-oriented handoffs without exposing a runtime access token back to the webview.
 
 This feature is intentionally narrow today:
 
@@ -147,12 +149,41 @@ That keeps the downstream task draft aligned with the earlier GitHub-aware revie
 
 ## Current Limits
 
-- This is not a deep integration with the GitHub Pull Requests and Issues extension.
+This integration is **experimental and read-only**. The following capabilities are not yet implemented:
+
+### Not Yet Implemented
+
+- **Bidirectional sync**: You cannot create, update, or close GitHub issues, pull requests, or alerts from Copilot Cockpit. The integration is strictly read-only.
+- **Live push sync**: There is no webhook, event-driven, or polling-based automatic refresh. All inbox updates are manual.
+- **Deep GitHub extension integration**: This does not integrate with the GitHub Pull Requests and Issues extension. It operates independently through direct REST API calls.
+- **Issue/PR mutation**: You cannot comment on, assign, label, milestone, close, reopen, or merge GitHub items from within Cockpit.
+- **Discussions**: GitHub Discussions are not fetched or displayed.
+- **Workflow/actions visibility**: GitHub Actions workflow runs are not surfaced.
+- **Review integration**: Pull request reviews, review comments, and review status are not fetched.
+- **Notifications**: The GitHub notification inbox is not queried; only repository-scoped issues, PRs, and security alerts are fetched.
+
+### Current Constraints
+
 - Inbox sync is GitHub REST plus repo-local cached state.
-- The sync path is read-only.
-- Refresh is manual.
+- Each lane is capped at 50 items and 2 pages per refresh.
+- GitHub Enterprise refresh depends on VS Code's `github-enterprise` provider and a derivable server URI from `apiBaseUrl`.
 - There is no webhook or live push sync.
-- GitHub Enterprise refresh depends on VS Code's `github-enterprise` provider and a server URI that can be derived from the configured `apiBaseUrl` or is already configured in VS Code.
+- Rate limiting can cause partial or failed refreshes.
+- Only open issues and open pull requests are shown.
+- Security alerts cover code scanning alerts and Dependabot alerts only; secret scanning alerts are not included.
+
+## Road To Stable
+
+For this feature to graduate from experimental to stable, the following would be needed:
+
+1. **Bidirectional mutation support** — Create, update, and close issues/PRs from Todo Cockpit, with audit trail.
+2. **Auto-refresh or webhook sync** — Optional polling interval or webhook receiver for live inbox updates.
+3. **GitHub Pull Requests and Issues extension integration** — Optional deep linking or co-operation with the official extension.
+4. **Expanded item coverage** — Discussions, workflow runs, secret scanning alerts, and notification inbox.
+5. **Robust rate-limit handling** — Backoff, retry, and graceful degradation across all lanes.
+6. **GitHub Enterprise hardening** — Explicit server URI configuration fallback, better error messaging for misconfigured Enterprise endpoints.
+7. **PR review context** — Fetch review status, comments, and requested reviewers for richer triage.
+8. **Stable API contract** — Lock down the stored schema, webview messages, and automation prompt contract so they don't change under users.
 
 ## Recommended Operator Workflow
 

docs/integrations.md

@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@
 
 ## GitHub Inbox Integration
 
-- GitHub integration is an optional repo-local `Settings` tab feature for one repository in the current workspace.
+> ⚠️ **Experimental** — This integration is experimental and may change or be removed in future versions.
+
+- GitHub integration is an optional, **experimental** repo-local `Settings` tab feature for one repository in the current workspace.
 - Inbox sync uses direct GitHub REST API reads plus repo-local cached state. It does not depend on the GitHub Pull Requests and Issues extension.
 - GitHub.com refresh uses VS Code's built-in `github` authentication provider.
 - A non-default GitHub API base URL routes refresh through VS Code's built-in `github-enterprise` authentication provider.

media/generated/cockpitWebview.js

@@ -19,6 +19,24 @@ const cockpitExtensionId = "local-dev.copilot-cockpit";
 const cockpitExtensionSettingsQuery = `@ext:${cockpitExtensionId}`;
 const copilotExtensionId = "github.copilot";
 const copilotExtensionSettingsQuery = `@ext:${copilotExtensionId}`;
+const chatPermissionsSettingKey = "chat.permissions.default";
+
+type NativeChatPermissionsValue = "default" | "autoApprove" | "autopilot";
+
+function toNativeChatPermissionsValue(
+  approvalMode: ApprovalMode,
+): NativeChatPermissionsValue {
+  switch (approvalMode) {
+    case "auto-approve":
+    case "yolo":
+      return "autoApprove";
+    case "autopilot":
+      return "autopilot";
+    case "default":
+    default:
+      return "default";
+  }
+}
 
 /** Handles settings/help messages that are routed out of the main webview controller. */
 
@@ -80,11 +98,17 @@ export async function handleSettingsWebviewMessage(
       const safeMode = validModes.includes(approvalMode as ApprovalMode)
         ? approvalMode as ApprovalMode
         : "default";
+      const nativeApprovalMode = toNativeChatPermissionsValue(safeMode);
       await updateCompatibleConfigurationValue(
         "approvalMode",
         safeMode,
         vscode.ConfigurationTarget.Global,
       );
+      await vscode.workspace.getConfiguration().update(
+        chatPermissionsSettingKey,
+        nativeApprovalMode,
+        vscode.ConfigurationTarget.Global,
+      );
       return true;
     }
     case "setStorageSettings": {

src/cockpitWebviewSettingsHandler.ts

@@ -379,6 +379,11 @@ export function buildSchedulerWebviewStrings(
       "保存済み token を Webview に戻さずに、リポジトリローカルの GitHub リポジトリ設定、キャッシュされた Inbox 同期、再利用可能な自動化 prompt を構成します。",
       "Konfigurieren Sie repository-lokale GitHub-Repository-Einstellungen, gecachte Inbox-Synchronisierung und einen wiederverwendbaren Automatisierungs-prompt, ohne das gespeicherte token an das Webview zurückzugeben.",
     ),
+    githubIntegrationExperimentalNotice: localize(
+      "This feature is experimental and may change or be removed in future versions.",
+      "この機能は実験的であり、将来のバージョンで変更または削除される可能性があります。",
+      "Diese Funktion ist experimentell und kann sich in zukünftigen Versionen ändern oder entfernt werden.",
+    ),
     githubIntegrationEnable: localize("Enable GitHub integration", "GitHub 連携を有効化", "GitHub-Integration aktivieren"),
     githubIntegrationOwner: localize("Owner", "Owner", "Owner"),
     githubIntegrationOwnerPlaceholder: localize("octocat", "octocat", "octocat"),

src/cockpitWebviewStrings.ts

@@ -705,6 +705,7 @@ export function buildSchedulerWorkspaceTabsMarkup(options: {
         <div class="settings-card-header">
           <div class="section-title">GitHub ${escapeHtml(strings.githubIntegrationTitle)}</div>
           <p class="note">${escapeHtml(strings.githubIntegrationDescription)}</p>
+          <p class="note" style="margin-top:4px;font-style:italic;opacity:0.8;">⚠️ ${escapeHtml(strings.githubIntegrationExperimentalNotice)}</p>
         </div>
         <div id="github-integration-feedback" class="telegram-feedback"></div>
 

src/cockpitWebviewWorkspaceTabsMarkup.ts

@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ type PreparedExecution = {
   mustStartFresh: boolean;
 };
 
-type ApprovalBootstrapMode = "off" | "yolo";
+type ApprovalBootstrapMode = "default" | "auto-approve" | "autopilot" | "yolo";
 
 type HourlySessionBucket = {
   hourStartIso: string;
@@ -74,6 +74,21 @@ class HourlyChatSessionCapError extends Error {
   }
 }
 
+function getApprovalBootstrapCommand(
+  mode: ApprovalBootstrapMode,
+): string | undefined {
+  switch (mode) {
+    case "auto-approve":
+      return "/auto-approve";
+    case "autopilot":
+      return "/autopilot";
+    case "yolo":
+      return "/yolo";
+    default:
+      return undefined;
+  }
+}
+
 const HOURLY_CHAT_SESSION_BUCKET_KEY = "copilotExecutor.hourlyNewChatSessionBucket";
 const PROMPT_EXECUTION_START_WINDOW_KEY = "copilotExecutor.promptExecutionStarts";
 const PROMPT_EXECUTION_LIMIT = 5;
@@ -354,7 +369,7 @@ async function offerPromptCopy(query: string): Promise<void> {
 export class CopilotExecutor {
   private static extensionContext: vscode.ExtensionContext | undefined;
   private static recentPromptExecutionStarts: number[] = [];
-  private static approvalBootstrapMode: ApprovalBootstrapMode = "off";
+  private static approvalBootstrapMode: ApprovalBootstrapMode = "default";
 
   static configure(context?: vscode.ExtensionContext): void {
     CopilotExecutor.extensionContext = context;
@@ -364,6 +379,11 @@ export class CopilotExecutor {
     CopilotExecutor.approvalBootstrapMode = mode;
   }
 
+  static async syncNativeApprovalMode(mode: ApprovalBootstrapMode): Promise<void> {
+    const executor = new CopilotExecutor();
+    await executor.bootstrapFreshChatApprovalMode(mode, true);
+  }
+
   private prepareExecution(prompt: string, options?: ExecuteOptions): PreparedExecution {
     const expandedPrompt = this.expandPromptDirectives(prompt);
     const { mode, query } = getExecutionMode(expandedPrompt, options);
@@ -439,8 +459,20 @@ export class CopilotExecutor {
     }
   }
 
-  private async bootstrapFreshChatApprovalMode(): Promise<void> {
-    if (CopilotExecutor.approvalBootstrapMode !== "yolo") {
+  private async bootstrapFreshChatApprovalMode(
+    mode: ApprovalBootstrapMode = CopilotExecutor.approvalBootstrapMode,
+    createFreshChat = false,
+  ): Promise<void> {
+    const approvalCommand = getApprovalBootstrapCommand(mode);
+
+    if (createFreshChat) {
+      const created = await this.tryCreateNewChatSession();
+      if (!created) {
+        throw new Error("Unable to create a fresh Copilot Chat session for approval sync");
+      }
+    }
+
+    if (!approvalCommand) {
       return;
     }
 
@@ -450,7 +482,7 @@ export class CopilotExecutor {
     }
 
     await this.delay(DELAY_AFTER_FOCUS_MS);
-    await vscode.commands.executeCommand(TYPE_COMMAND, { text: "/yolo" });
+    await vscode.commands.executeCommand(TYPE_COMMAND, { text: approvalCommand });
     await this.delay(DELAY_AFTER_TYPE_MS);
 
     const submitted = await this.executeFirstAvailableCommand(CHAT_SUBMIT_COMMANDS);

src/copilotExecutor.ts

@@ -549,6 +549,34 @@ function normalizeApprovalMode(value: string): ApprovalMode {
   }
 }
 
+type ApprovalBootstrapModeValue = NonNullable<ApprovalMode>;
+
+type ApprovalModeSyncOptions = {
+  applyToCurrentSession?: boolean;
+};
+
+type ApprovalModeSyncDeps = {
+  setApprovalBootstrapMode: (mode: ApprovalBootstrapModeValue) => void;
+  syncNativeApprovalMode: (mode: ApprovalBootstrapModeValue) => Promise<void>;
+};
+
+async function syncApprovalModeForMode(
+  value: string,
+  options: ApprovalModeSyncOptions = {},
+  deps: ApprovalModeSyncDeps = CopilotExecutor,
+): Promise<void> {
+  const mode = normalizeApprovalMode(value);
+  deps.setApprovalBootstrapMode(mode);
+  if (options.applyToCurrentSession && mode !== "auto-approve") {
+    await deps.syncNativeApprovalMode(mode);
+  }
+}
+
+type ApprovalModeSettingReader = (
+  key: string,
+  defaultValue: string,
+) => string;
+
 function runPromptMaintenanceCycle(
   context: vscode.ExtensionContext,
   force: boolean,
@@ -2489,51 +2517,16 @@ async function runStartupSequence(
 /**
  * Sync the VS Code chat approval settings to match the configured approval mode.
  */
-async function syncApprovalMode(): Promise<void> {
-  const mode = normalizeApprovalMode(getSchedulerSetting<string>("approvalMode", "default"));
-  const chatToolsConfig = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration("chat.tools");
-  const chatConfig = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration("chat");
-
-  const updateNativeApprovalSettings = async (
-    autoApprove: boolean,
-    autopilotEnabled: boolean,
-  ): Promise<void> => {
-    await chatToolsConfig.update("autoApprove", autoApprove, vscode.ConfigurationTarget.Global);
-    await chatConfig.update("autopilot.enabled", autopilotEnabled, vscode.ConfigurationTarget.Global);
-  };
-
-  switch (mode) {
-    case "auto-approve":
-      CopilotExecutor.setApprovalBootstrapMode("off");
-      try {
-        await updateNativeApprovalSettings(true, false);
-      } catch (error) {
-        logExtensionErrorWithSanitizedDetails("[CopilotCockpit] Failed to sync approval mode:", error);
-        CopilotExecutor.setApprovalBootstrapMode("yolo");
-      }
-      return;
-    case "autopilot":
-      CopilotExecutor.setApprovalBootstrapMode("off");
-      try {
-        await updateNativeApprovalSettings(true, true);
-      } catch (error) {
-        logExtensionErrorWithSanitizedDetails("[CopilotCockpit] Failed to sync approval mode:", error);
-        CopilotExecutor.setApprovalBootstrapMode("yolo");
-      }
-      return;
-    case "yolo":
-      CopilotExecutor.setApprovalBootstrapMode("yolo");
-      break;
-    default:
-      CopilotExecutor.setApprovalBootstrapMode("off");
-      break;
-  }
+async function syncApprovalMode(
+  settingReader: ApprovalModeSettingReader = getSchedulerSetting,
+  deps: ApprovalModeSyncDeps = CopilotExecutor,
+): Promise<void> {
+  const mode = settingReader("approvalMode", "default");
 
-  try {
-    await updateNativeApprovalSettings(false, false);
-  } catch (error) {
-    logExtensionErrorWithSanitizedDetails("[CopilotCockpit] Failed to sync approval mode:", error);
-  }
+  // Only manage internal CopilotExecutor bootstrap state here; native chat
+  // permission settings remain owned by VS Code unless an explicit current-
+  // session sync path requests them.
+  await syncApprovalModeForMode(mode, {}, deps);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -3235,6 +3228,8 @@ export const __testOnly = {
   ensureSchedulerSkillOnStartup,
   getCurrentStorageSettings,
   shouldSuppressSqliteWorkForExtensionContext,
+  syncApprovalMode,
+  syncApprovalModeForMode,
   waitForSqliteStartupHydration,
 };
 

src/extension.ts

@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ suite("CopilotExecutor Test Suite", () => {
       mutableCommands.executeCommand = originalExecuteCommand;
       mutableWindow.showWarningMessage = originalShowWarningMessage;
       (CopilotExecutor as any).recentPromptExecutionStarts = [];
-      CopilotExecutor.setApprovalBootstrapMode("off");
+      CopilotExecutor.setApprovalBootstrapMode("default");
     }
   });