Visual Studio Code May 2023 update adds read-only mode tagging for files and folders

Microsoft has released Visual Studio Code 1.79.0 (May 2023 release) with several new features including a read-only mode for specific files and folders in your workspace. If you’ve been using GitHub Copilot, there are also some improvements to that in the update.

The highlights from this release are as follows, be sure to click through each of the headers to get an in-depth review from Microsoft:

• Read-only mode - Mark specific files and folders in your workspace as read-only.
• 'Paste as' options - Choose how you'd like item links pasted into the editor.
• Automatic copy of external files - Drag or paste to Markdown adds new files to your workspace.
• Default Git repo branch name - Use "main" as the default or override via a user setting.
• Notebooks rich content search - Search based on Notebook output or filter on cell type.
• Linked editing for JSX tags - Simultaneously change opening and closing JSX tags.
• Preview: GitHub Copilot Chat improvements - Easily manage your chat session history. Inline chat "live preview."
• VS Code at Microsoft Build 2023 - Catch up on the sessions in the YouTube playlist.

The introduction of the GitHub Copilot means you can use the feature in the stable VS Code and not just in Insiders releases. To use it, you will need to install the GitHub Copilot Nightly extension and to access the chat view and inline chat, you’ll need to sign up for the GitHub Copilot chat waitlist.

If you've not looked into GitHub Copilot yet, it's worth mentioning here that it is a paid product and prices start at $10 per month. If you just want to try it, there's a 30-day free trial too.

To get started with the new update, open Visual Studio Code, press Help, and then Check for Updates. You can also download it from the Visual Studio Code website. If you have VS Code installed on Ubuntu, you'll need to apply the update from the update manager, check out our recent guide on applying updates quickly.

Visual Studio Code May 2023 update adds read-only mode tagging for files and folders