VS Code now has agents: what changed

Keeping up with AI coding tools is exhausting First we had simple chat assistants. Then multiple modes like ask, edit, plan, agent. Then different models. And now… VS Code added something new: agent execution environments like: Local, Background, Cloud, Claude If you feel lost, good. Me too. So let’s simplify what is actually happening. From chat assistants to real agents At the beginning, which was like two years ago😅, AI in coding was basically: "Here’s some code. Fix it." That was the Ask era Then tools started editing files directly, that became the Edit era. After that, AI began planning multi-step changes. Welcome to Plan. And now we are here where AI can run tasks, monitor progress, and execute workflows. That is the Agent era This is the real shift 💩 and is part of the thausand options we have with AI, also with all companies chasing attention in AI initiatives Why VS Code suddenly has more options on the side panel Before, th