VS Code Copilot Setup

Clawkeeper integrates with GitHub Copilot's agent mode in VS Code through the experimental agent hook system. Shell commands, file reads, and file writes are sent to Clawkeeper before or after execution.

Copilot agent hooks are currently in Preview and require VS Code 1.92+ with GitHub Copilot Chat 1.230+.

What gets monitored

Tool	Enforcement
Shell commands (`runTerminalCommand`)	Block or warn before execution
File reads (`readFile`)	Audit after execution
File writes (`writeFile`, `applyEdit`)	Audit after execution (no pre-execution block)
Prompts	Not available — `UserPromptSubmit` not supported in Copilot
MCP tool calls	Not available — Copilot does not expose MCP hook events
Session check-in	Auto (registered on first event)

Installation

Get your API key from Settings → API Keys in the dashboard, then run the installer:

bash install-hooks.sh --ide copilot --project /path/to/project

The installer writes .github/hooks/clawkeeper.json to the project root.

What gets generated

{
  "version": 1,
  "hooks": {
    "pre-tool": {
      "runTerminalCommand": {
        "url": "https://clawkeeper.dev/api/v1/evaluate?tool=copilot",
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
        }
      }
    },
    "post-tool": {
      "readFile": {
        "url": "https://clawkeeper.dev/api/v1/audit?tool=copilot",
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
        }
      },
      "writeFile": {
        "url": "https://clawkeeper.dev/api/v1/audit?tool=copilot",
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
        }
      },
      "applyEdit": {
        "url": "https://clawkeeper.dev/api/v1/audit?tool=copilot",
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Commit .github/hooks/clawkeeper.json to your repo. VS Code picks up the config automatically when the repo is opened.

Tool name mapping

Copilot uses different tool names from Claude Code and Cursor. Clawkeeper normalizes these on ingestion.

Copilot tool name	Clawkeeper canonical name
`runTerminalCommand`	`Bash`
`readFile`	`Read`
`writeFile`	`Write`
`applyEdit`	`Edit`
`searchFiles`	`Glob`
`searchCode`	`Grep`

Activity in the dashboard displays the canonical names regardless of which IDE generated the event.

Known limitations

Matchers are ignored. Copilot's hook system routes by tool name, not by matcher pattern. The matcher field used in Claude Code and Cursor settings has no effect — each tool must be listed individually.

No prompt hook. Copilot does not fire a pre-prompt hook. Prompt content is not captured or evaluated by Clawkeeper for Copilot sessions. Runtime Shield pattern detection runs only on tool call inputs.

No MCP hook events. GitHub Copilot does not expose hooks for MCP tool calls. MCP activity from Copilot is not visible in Clawkeeper.

Preview stability. The Copilot agent hook system is in Preview. Hook behavior, tool names, and config schema may change between VS Code releases. Check the GitHub Copilot changelog when upgrading VS Code.

Verifying coverage

Open a repo with .github/hooks/clawkeeper.json committed
Ask Copilot to run a terminal command (e.g., ls -la)
Check the Workstations page — the workstation should appear within a few seconds
The shell command should be visible in the Activity tab