feat: open EditLess sessions as editor tabs instead of terminal panel (without affecting other terminals)

[cirvine-MSFT]

User Feedback

Reporter: Michael Cummings (via Teams conversation with Casey)

"Having the conversation take place in a terminal window instead of a document window. It feels less immersive."
"Yes, but I don't want to have to change all my terminal windows, just the CoPilot ones?"

Problem

EditLess Copilot sessions run in the VS Code terminal panel (bottom of screen). Users want them to feel like editor tabs in the main document area — more immersive, more like a first-class experience. However, VS Code's global terminal.integrated.defaultLocation: editor setting affects ALL terminals, not just EditLess ones.

What The User Wants

• Copilot/EditLess terminals open as editor tabs (in the document area)
• Regular terminals stay in the bottom panel
• This should be EditLess-specific, not a global VS Code setting change

Approaches to Investigate

1. Per-terminal location — vscode.window.createTerminal({ location: { viewColumn: vscode.ViewColumn.Active } }) to place only EditLess terminals in editor area
2. Webview alternative — render conversation in a webview panel (editor tab) instead of terminal
3. Hybrid — keep terminal but open a companion webview tab that mirrors/controls it

Related

• Consolidates closed issues feat: move conversation UI from terminal pane to editor area #482, feat: EditLess-specific 'conversation as editor tab' mode (without affecting all terminals) #484
• See also feat: sticky maximize — keep terminal panel maximized when navigating files #489 (sticky maximize as workaround)