ide-switching

A workflow for moving between VS Code, a code editor, and Copilot CLI, the terminal-based interface, during the same task. It transfers context so the assistant can continue across both environments.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use VS Code for visual review, inline edits, and breakpoint debugging, and use the CLI for automation, scripting, and larger multi-file changes.
Why use it?
It reduces the need to repeat your request when switching from visual editing and debugging to terminal automation or batch work.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/drvoss/everything-copilot-cli/ide-switching
Any agent
npx skills add drvoss/everything-copilot-cli --skill ide-switching
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/drvoss/everything-copilot-cli

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Per session 35 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 1,112 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00035 $0.01112
Opus 5 $0.00017 $0.00556
Sonnet 5 $0.00007 $0.00222
Haiku 4.5 $0.00003 $0.00111

Measured 2d ago against content hash 24a8809a876f, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

ide-switching scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

plugins/copilot-native-workflows/skills/ide-switching/SKILL.md · 126 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 126 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

IDE ↔ CLI Switching

Why This is Copilot-Exclusive

GitHub Copilot exists in both VS Code and the terminal under a single subscription and unified platform. You can start a conversation in VS Code's Copilot Chat, switch to the CLI for batch automation, and return to VS Code for visual debugging — all with the same model access, same MCP servers, and same GitHub integration. Claude Code is terminal-only with no IDE counterpart; switching contexts means losing your AI assistant entirely.

When to Use

  • Visual tasks (diffing, debugging UI, extension-based tooling) → VS Code
  • Batch operations, automation, scripting → CLI
  • Large refactors that benefit from both visual review and automated execution
  • When VS Code's Copilot Chat lacks a tool you need (SQL, fleet agents, MCP)
  • Pair programming where one person uses IDE, another uses CLI

Workflow

Know Your Strengths: When to Use Each

Task VS Code Copilot Copilot CLI
Visual code review ✅ Side-by-side diffing
Breakpoint debugging ✅ Debug panel
Single-file inline edits ✅ Inline suggestions ✅ Edit tool
Multi-file refactoring ⚠️ Limited ✅ Fleet mode
CI/CD debugging ✅ Actions MCP tools
PR review & management ⚠️ Basic ✅ Full GitHub MCP
Batch test execution ⚠️ Manual ✅ Background agents
SQL-based task tracking ✅ Session database
Multi-model selection ⚠️ Limited ✅ 20+ models available
Terminal automation ⚠️ Integrated terminal ✅ Native

Switching Patterns

Pattern 1: CLI-First, Visual Verify

Read the full file on GitHub · 126 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 126 lines · 35 tokens per session scan A 24a8809a876f

Subscribe to this mod's changes

ide-switching is a skill published in the GitHub repository drvoss/everything-copilot-cli (45 stars, last pushed 6d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 35 tokens to every session and 1,112 once invoked, about $0.0002 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.

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