A remembered layout cuts reorientation
Visual Studio Code 1.142 adds the experimental sessions.experimental.layoutScope setting for the Agents window. Before this release, sessions shared editor visibility, details, and panel visibility. Switching sessions could leave the next task wearing the previous task's layout.
The new setting has three scopes. session-shared is the default. A session and its nested sessions share editors and selected panel views. chat-shared gives each nested session its own editors and selected panels. chat also remembers the editor and details composition plus bottom-panel visibility.
A layout is a saved sightline. It is not a saved machine state.
The boundaries stop before the window frame
Microsoft says window geometry, pane sizes, and the sidebar remain shared across the window. The setting also requires a reload after it changes. Those limits matter because "per chat" does not mean every pixel belongs to one chat.
Choose the narrowest useful memory. Use the default when nested work should look alike. Use chat-shared when each task needs different editors or selected panels. Use chat when a test-heavy task should keep its bottom panel open while a reading task keeps it closed.
Layout memory does not own the work
VS Code defines the Agent Host as the process that owns supported sessions. The client displays and controls them. A local active turn can continue after a project window closes while the Agent Host and VS Code application remain running. Client-provided tools still need that client.
This is a separate contract from layout scope. A familiar editor arrangement does not prove that the host stayed alive. It does not prove that a terminal process survived or that a browser tool remains connected.
Moving a chat changes another boundary
VS Code 1.142 can move one eligible chat to another local folder or a new Git worktree while preserving its conversation history. A folder move uses files already at the destination. A new worktree starts from committed Git state. Uncommitted changes stay in the original folder unless configured include rules copy files.
That move changes where edits and commands run. The layout setting changes what the Agents window remembers. Keep the destination folder, base revision, host status, and layout scope as separate fields in the handoff.
Set the seat before the next lap
- Choose which view state should follow the session or chat.
- Record the workspace path and base revision separately.
- Record whether the Agent Host and required clients are still running.
- Reload the window after changing the experimental setting, then inspect each task boundary.