Hello GitHub Copilot Chat team and community,

Thank you for your amazing work on this open-source project! I’m excited to explore customization options and have a specific use case to propose.

Background

I’d like to create a custom sidebar view in VS Code to replace the default Copilot Chat sidebar with my own chat plugin. The goal is to integrate a custom AI service and provide a similar user experience (e.g., chat interface, code context support) while disabling or overriding the default Copilot Chat view.

What I’ve Tried

• I’ve explored the VS Code Extension API and experimented with registerWebviewViewProvider to create a custom sidebar view.
• I can manually disable the Copilot Chat extension, but I’m unsure how to fully override its sidebar position or integrate my custom view seamlessly.
• I’ve reviewed the vscode-copilot-chat repository and noticed the Webview-based implementation, but I need guidance on extending or replacing it.
• I searched existing Issues (0 open, 2 closed) and found no similar requests as of 07:24 AM HKT, July 26, 2025.

Questions

1. Is it possible to programmatically replace the default Copilot Chat sidebar with a custom view using the VS Code API?
2. Are there recommended approaches or examples for overriding the sidebar layout or integrating a custom chat plugin?
3. Would contributing a new feature (e.g., a configuration to switch chat providers) be a viable way to achieve this, and how should I start?

Additional Info

• VS Code version: 1.97.2
• I’m willing to share my progress, provide code samples, or test suggested solutions.

Looking forward to your insights! Thank you!

Best,
John