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VS Code

One click from the Marketplace — VS Code takes it from there.

VS Code logo

Install

  1. 1

    Install from VS Code Marketplace

    Click the button below to open the extension page directly in VS Code.

    Install in VS Code

    Also see on VS Code Marketplace

  2. 2

    Reload if Prompted

    VS Code may ask you to reload the window to activate the extension. Click "Reload Now" to finish.

Check it works

Click the Zest icon in the activity bar to open Zest Stats. Signed out, it offers Sign In: click it and finish in the browser. Signed in, Status shows your email next to “Signed in as” and “Sync: OK” with the time of the last sync. The extension syncs every 15 seconds for the first two minutes after VS Code starts, then every minute.

What it records

  • GitHub Copilot Chat sessions in the workspace you have open, agent sessions included: your prompts, Copilot's replies, the model, token counts where Copilot reports them, and the tools it called.
  • Not Claude Code or Codex running inside VS Code: each has its own Zest plugin. Zest Stats lists any it finds without one under “Missing from your standups”.

What it never sends

  • API keys, passwords and tokens. Redaction is on by default and runs on your machine before upload.
  • Anything at all until you are on a team in a Zest workspace. With no team, sync stays paused.
  • Your messages, the assistant's replies, or both, if a workspace admin turns that collection off.
  • Everything, if you turn off zest.remotePersistence in Settings.

Troubleshooting

Zest does not appear after installing

The extension needs VS Code 1.95 or later and the built-in Git extension. Update VS Code, or search @builtin git in the Extensions view and enable it, then reload the window.

Sync says “Paused — chat tracking unavailable”

Zest reads Copilot Chat and has found no sessions in this window yet. Open your project folder and start a Copilot Chat; the next sync picks it up.

Sync says “Paused — no team assignment”

You are not on a team in any Zest workspace, so there is nowhere to sync to. Ask a workspace admin to add you to a team; sync resumes by itself.

GitHub Copilot in Zest

GitHub Copilot metrics shows what Zest does with these sessions, per engineer and per team.