Improved copilot cli terminal experience (#1506)

* Improved copilot cli terminal experience

* Updates

* Fixes

* Update src/extension/chatSessions/vscode-node/copilotCLIShim.ts

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

* Remove unused import

---------

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: DonJayamanne

src/extension/chatSessions/vscode-node/copilotCLIShim.ps1

@@ -211,4 +211,11 @@ function Test-AndLaunchCopilot {
 }
 
 # Start the check and launch process
-Test-AndLaunchCopilot $args
+$finalArgs = $args
+# Handle --clear argument
+if ($args.Length -gt 0 -and $args[0] -eq '--clear') {
+    Clear-Host
+    $finalArgs = $args[1..($args.Length - 1)]
+}
+
+Test-AndLaunchCopilot $finalArgs

src/extension/chatSessions/vscode-node/copilotCLIShim.ts

@@ -133,6 +133,15 @@ async function validateVersion(version: string) {
 		warn(`Try manually reinstalling with: npm install -g ${PACKAGE_NAME} (https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/how-tos/set-up/install-copilot-cli)`);
 		process.exit(1);
 	}
-	const { status } = spawnSync('copilot', process.argv.slice(2), { stdio: 'inherit', env });
+	const args = process.argv.slice(2);
+
+	// In vscode we use `--clear` to indicate that the terminal should be cleared before running the command
+	// Used when launching terminal in editor view (for best possible UX, so it doesn't look like a terminal)
+	if (args[0] === '--clear') {
+		console.clear();
+		args.shift();
+	}
+
+	const { status } = spawnSync('copilot', args, { stdio: 'inherit', env });
 	process.exit(status);
 })();

src/extension/chatSessions/vscode-node/copilotCLITerminalIntegration.ts

@@ -107,6 +107,10 @@ ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 "${process.execPath}" "${path.join(storageLocation, COPIL
 	}
 
 	public async openTerminal(name: string, cliArgs: string[] = []) {
+		// Generate another set of shell args, but with --clear to clear the terminal before running the command.
+		// We'd like to hide all of the custom shell commands we send to the terminal from the user.
+		cliArgs.unshift('--clear');
+
 		const [shellPathAndArgs] = await Promise.all([
 			this.getShellInfo(cliArgs),
 			this.updateGHTokenInTerminalEnvVars(),
@@ -123,15 +127,16 @@ ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 "${process.execPath}" "${path.join(storageLocation, COPIL
 			if (terminal) {
 				this._register(terminal);
 				const command = this.buildCommandForPythonTerminal(shellPathAndArgs?.copilotCommand, cliArgs, shellPathAndArgs);
-				await this.sendCommandToTerminal(terminal, command);
+				await this.sendCommandToTerminal(terminal, command, true);
 				return;
 			}
 		}
 
 		if (!shellPathAndArgs) {
 			const terminal = this._register(this.terminalService.createTerminal(options));
+			cliArgs.shift(); // Remove --clear as we can't run it without a shell integration
 			const command = this.buildCommandForTerminal(terminal, COPILOT_CLI_COMMAND, cliArgs);
-			await this.sendCommandToTerminal(terminal, command);
+			await this.sendCommandToTerminal(terminal, command, false);
 			return;
 		}
 
@@ -153,7 +158,7 @@ ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 "${process.execPath}" "${path.join(storageLocation, COPIL
 		return `${quoteArgsForShell(copilotCommand, [])} ${cliArgs.join(' ')}`;
 	}
 
-	private async sendCommandToTerminal(terminal: Terminal, command: string) {
+	private async sendCommandToTerminal(terminal: Terminal, command: string, waitForPythonActivation: boolean) {
 		// Wait for shell integration to be available
 		const shellIntegrationTimeout = 3000;
 		let shellIntegrationAvailable = false;
@@ -173,14 +178,20 @@ ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 "${process.execPath}" "${path.join(storageLocation, COPIL
 		});
 
 		await integrationPromise;
-		terminal.show();
 
-		if (shellIntegrationAvailable && terminal.shellIntegration) {
+		if (waitForPythonActivation) {
+			// Wait for python extension to send its initialization commands.
+			// Else if we send too early, the copilot command might not get executed properly.
 			await new Promise<void>(resolve => this._register(disposableTimeout(resolve, 500))); // Wait a bit to ensure the terminal is ready
+		}
+
+		if (shellIntegrationAvailable && terminal.shellIntegration) {
 			terminal.shellIntegration.executeCommand(command);
 		} else {
 			terminal.sendText(command);
 		}
+
+		terminal.show();
 	}
 
 	private async getShellInfo(cliArgs: string[]): Promise<IShellInfo | undefined> {
@@ -212,7 +223,7 @@ ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 "${process.execPath}" "${path.join(storageLocation, COPIL
 				shellArgs: [`-ci${shellArgs.includes('-l') ? 'l' : ''}`, quoteArgsForShell(this.shellScriptPath, cliArgs)],
 				iconPath,
 				copilotCommand: this.shellScriptPath,
-				exitCommand: `&& exit`
+				exitCommand: `; exit`
 			};
 		} else if (defaultProfile === 'bash' && this.shellScriptPath) {
 			return {
@@ -221,7 +232,7 @@ ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 "${process.execPath}" "${path.join(storageLocation, COPIL
 				shellArgs: [`-${shellArgs.includes('-l') ? 'l' : ''}ic`, quoteArgsForShell(this.shellScriptPath, cliArgs)],
 				iconPath,
 				copilotCommand: this.shellScriptPath,
-				exitCommand: `&& exit`
+				exitCommand: `; exit`
 			};
 		} else if (defaultProfile === 'pwsh' && this.powershellScriptPath && configPlatform !== 'windows') {
 			return {
@@ -248,7 +259,7 @@ ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 "${process.execPath}" "${path.join(storageLocation, COPIL
 				shellArgs: ['/c', this.shellScriptPath, ...cliArgs],
 				iconPath,
 				copilotCommand: this.shellScriptPath,
-				exitCommand: undefined
+				exitCommand: '; exit'
 			};
 		}
 	}
@@ -289,7 +300,8 @@ function getCommonTerminalOptions(name: string): TerminalOptions {
 	return {
 		name,
 		iconPath: new ThemeIcon('terminal'),
-		location: { viewColumn: ViewColumn.Active }
+		location: { viewColumn: ViewColumn.Active },
+		hideFromUser: true
 	};
 }