Improve commit line break unwrapping for variable-length list markers by Copilot · Pull Request #8417 · microsoft/vscode-pull-request-github

Copilot · 2026-01-23T17:26:32Z

Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Improve commit line break unwrapping</issue_title>
<issue_description>> Opened #8335 to address this.

Thanks @alexr00 for improving this! Unfortunately I think the follow-up PR might have some problems too, and may need some more tests. See #8335 (comment)

Originally posted by @justingrant in #8255 (comment)
</issue_description>

<agent_instructions>Pay special attention to #8335 (comment)</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

Fixes Improve commit line break unwrapping #8345

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.

- Fix list continuation to use content indent (not marker indent) - Support variable-length numbered list markers (1., 10., 100., etc.) - Allow flexible continuation spacing (1+ spaces, but not 4+ which is code) - Preserve multi-paragraph list formatting (blank lines within list items) - Track list context across blank lines for proper paragraph unwrapping - Add comprehensive test cases for all scenarios Co-authored-by: alexr00 <38270282+alexr00@users.noreply.github.com>

Use appendWithSpace with trimmed text to avoid double spaces when joining lines with leading whitespace. Co-authored-by: alexr00 <38270282+alexr00@users.noreply.github.com>

alexr00 · 2026-01-28T11:00:59Z

src/github/folderRepositoryManager.ts

-	// Pattern to detect list item markers at the start of a line
-	const LIST_ITEM_PATTERN = /^[ \t]*([*+\-]|\d+\.)\s/;
+	// Pattern to detect list item markers at the start of a line and capture the marker
+	const LIST_ITEM_PATTERN = /^([ \t]*)([*+\-]|\d+\.)([ \t]+)/;


@copilot Use named captures

Updated in f64389c. The regex now uses named capture groups: leadingWhitespace, marker, and markerTrailingWhitespace.

Renamed capture groups for clarity: - leadingWhitespace: spaces/tabs before marker - marker: the list item marker (*, +, -, or digits.) - markerTrailingWhitespace: spaces after marker Co-authored-by: alexr00 <38270282+alexr00@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR fixes the commit message body unwrapping logic to correctly handle variable-length list markers, particularly for numbered lists with multi-digit numbers (e.g., 10., 11.). The previous implementation assumed a fixed continuation indent, which broke with multi-digit numbered lists.

Changes:

Modified LIST_ITEM_PATTERN regex to use named capture groups for extracting marker components
Replaced simple indent tracking with a stack storing both markerIndent and contentIndent for each list level
Updated blank line handling to preserve list context for multi-paragraph lists
Added comprehensive test coverage for multi-digit lists, multi-paragraph lists, code blocks within lists, and various continuation indent scenarios
Included routine updates to VS Code proposed API type definitions

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 6 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
`src/github/folderRepositoryManager.ts`	Core implementation fix: uses named regex captures to calculate proper content indent for variable-length list markers, enabling correct handling of multi-digit numbered lists and multi-paragraph list items
`src/test/github/folderRepositoryManager.test.ts`	Adds 13 new test cases covering multi-digit numbered lists, multi-paragraph lists, code blocks within lists, variable space continuations, and nested variations
`src/@types/vscode.proposed.chatSessionsProvider.d.ts`	Updates proposed API type definitions to add `CancellationToken` parameter to refresh handlers and simplifies `changes` property types
`src/@types/vscode.proposed.chatParticipantPrivate.d.ts`	Bumps API version from 11 to 12
`src/@types/vscode.proposed.chatParticipantAdditions.d.ts`	Adds new `ChatQuestion` and `ChatResponseQuestionCarouselPart` types for question carousel UI feature
`src/@types/vscode.proposed.chatContextProvider.d.ts`	Refactors context provider APIs into separate workspace, explicit, and resource provider interfaces with clearer separation of concerns

justingrant · 2026-01-30T08:45:50Z

src/@types/vscode.proposed.chatContextProvider.d.ts

-		 * - For a resource. Make sure to pass a selector that matches the resource you want to provide context for.
-		 *   Providers registered without a selector will not be called for resource-based context.
-		 * - Explicitly. These context items are shown as options when the user explicitly attaches context.
+		 * Register a chat workspace context provider. Workspace context is automatically included in all chat requests.


@alexr00 @copilot Why does this commit make changes to @types for various chat-related things?

I'd expect the only changes to be in src/github/folderRepositoryManager.ts‎.

They get updated as part of npm install, which Copilot runs.

alexr00

@copilot, a bunch of these tests, including the old tests, are incorrect. There are lists that should be unwrapped and aren't.

The previous implementation incorrectly prevented joining list continuations when the next line was a list item at the same level. This caused wrapped list content to not be unwrapped properly. Changes: - Remove incorrect check that prevented joining based on next line - Remove unused getNextNonBlankLineInfo function - Update test names and expectations to reflect correct behavior: - List continuations should be unwrapped (joined), not preserved - Renamed 'preserves list item continuations' to 'unwraps list item continuations' - Renamed 'unwraps regular text but preserves list item continuations' to 'unwraps regular text and list item continuations' - Fixed expected output for nested list content tests Co-authored-by: alexr00 <38270282+alexr00@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-04T11:34:21Z

@copilot, a bunch of these tests, including the old tests, are incorrect. There are lists that should be unwrapped and aren't.

Fixed in 9ff7c15. The issue was that the shouldJoinListContinuation function incorrectly prevented joining when the next line was a list item at the same level. Removed that check and updated the tests to expect correct unwrapping behavior (list continuations should be joined, not preserved).

alexr00

@copilot I added another tests. It fails. Please fix the product code so that the test passes.

When a list item is followed by a wrapped line that has no indentation (but is not itself a list item), the line should be joined to the previous list item. This is common in commit messages wrapped at 72 chars. The fix moves the handling of non-indented continuations BEFORE calling getActiveListContentIndent, which was clearing the list stack and preventing the join from happening. Co-authored-by: alexr00 <38270282+alexr00@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-04T11:50:10Z

@copilot I added another tests. It fails. Please fix the product code so that the test passes.

Fixed in a10759d. The issue was that getActiveListContentIndent was clearing the list stack before my code could check if we were in a list context. Moved the non-indented continuation handling earlier in the flow.

alexr00

@copilot This works! Refactor this unwrapping logic into a function in gitUtils.ts.

Move the unwrapCommitMessageBody function from folderRepositoryManager.ts to gitUtils.ts as a reusable utility function. Co-authored-by: alexr00 <38270282+alexr00@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-04T15:20:47Z

@copilot This works! Refactor this unwrapping logic into a function in gitUtils.ts.

Refactored in 2b0f858. Moved unwrapCommitMessageBody to src/common/gitUtils.ts and updated folderRepositoryManager.ts to import it from there.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

Initial plan

12a0086

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and alexr00 Jan 23, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of alexr00 January 23, 2026 17:26 View session

Copilot AI and others added 2 commits January 23, 2026 17:36

Fix plain text joining to trim whitespace

f6b1a77

Use appendWithSpace with trimmed text to avoid double spaces when joining lines with leading whitespace. Co-authored-by: alexr00 <38270282+alexr00@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Improve commit line break unwrapping~~ Improve commit line break unwrapping for variable-length list markers Jan 23, 2026

Copilot AI requested a review from alexr00 January 23, 2026 17:40

Copilot finished work on behalf of alexr00 January 23, 2026 17:40

alexr00 reviewed Jan 28, 2026

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alexr00 marked this pull request as ready for review January 29, 2026 07:33

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings January 29, 2026 07:33

alexr00 marked this pull request as draft January 29, 2026 07:33

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justingrant reviewed Jan 30, 2026

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alexr00 added 2 commits February 4, 2026 11:39

Undo proposal changes

a6d16e0

Merge branch 'main' into copilot/improve-commit-line-breaks

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Add test

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Copilot started work on behalf of alexr00 February 4, 2026 15:15 View session

Refactor unwrapCommitMessageBody to gitUtils.ts

2b0f858

Move the unwrapCommitMessageBody function from folderRepositoryManager.ts to gitUtils.ts as a reusable utility function. Co-authored-by: alexr00 <38270282+alexr00@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of alexr00 February 4, 2026 15:21

Copilot AI requested a review from alexr00 February 4, 2026 15:21

Revert proposal changes

6c9b128

alexr00 marked this pull request as ready for review February 5, 2026 09:39

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vs-code-engineering bot added this to the February 2026 milestone Feb 5, 2026

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aiday-mar approved these changes Feb 5, 2026

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alexr00 merged commit b2d0c58 into main Feb 5, 2026
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alexr00 deleted the copilot/improve-commit-line-breaks branch February 5, 2026 09:58

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Improve commit line break unwrapping for variable-length list markers#8417

Improve commit line break unwrapping for variable-length list markers#8417
alexr00 merged 11 commits intomainfrom
copilot/improve-commit-line-breaks

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Copilot AI commented Jan 23, 2026 •

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