Understand what the preview can do
VS Code 1.136 introduced Agent Merge in preview for the Agents window. Depending on enabled settings, it can monitor the associated PR, address review feedback, failed checks and conflicts, and potentially reach a merge step. Inspect current settings and permissions before enabling any of those stages.
Automation can reduce waiting time while increasing the cost of a wrong interpretation. A resolved comment may reflect a change the reviewer did not mean; a green CI run covers only tests that exist.
Use a low-risk PR for the first trial
- Choose a test repository or a non-critical documentation PR.
- Record the initial branch, commit, review comments and failing checks.
- Enable the feature with merge disabled and restrict the agent’s write scope.
- Give it one known, reversible blocker; inspect the new diff and tool log.
- Run the relevant checks independently and ask a human to judge the result.
- Only then consider more autonomy for similarly low-risk work, while preserving branch rules.
Keep high-impact work behind an accountable gate
Record what triggered each agent action and what it changed. The agent’s summary helps navigation, while the actual diff, checks and reviewer decision provide the evidence.
- Authentication, payments, personal data and infrastructure changes.
- Contradictory review feedback or unstable CI.
- Conflicts whose resolution changes product behaviour.
- Any PR whose diff or dependencies the reviewer cannot explain.