Authentication Service Usage Guide

Overview

IAuthenticationService manages GitHub and Copilot authentication. It provides GitHub sessions (OAuth tokens) and Copilot tokens (CAPI tokens).

Choosing a Session Kind

getGitHubSession requires a kind parameter. Choose thoughtfully:

• 'any' — Accepts whatever GitHub session is available, even one with minimal scopes (e.g., just user:email). Use this when you only need basic access and don't require repo or write permissions.
• 'permissive' — Requires a session with broader scopes (read:user, user:email, repo, workflow). Use when you need private repo access or write permissions.

The Three Overloads of getGitHubSession

1. Interactive — prompt user to sign in

Returns AuthenticationSession (never undefined). Throws if the user cancels.

Requires createIfNone with a StrictAuthenticationPresentationOptions containing a localized detail string explaining why auth is needed:

const session = await authService.getGitHubSession('any', {
  createIfNone: { detail: l10n.t('Sign in to GitHub to use feature X.') }
});

2. Interactive — force a new session

Same as above but forces re-authentication even if a session exists. Use when the current token has lost authorization:

const session = await authService.getGitHubSession('any', {
  forceNewSession: { detail: l10n.t('Sign in again to restore access.') }
});

3. Silent — no user prompt

Returns AuthenticationSession | undefined. Never shows UI. Use when auth is optional:

const session = await authService.getGitHubSession('any', { silent: true });
if (!session) {
  // No session available, handle gracefully
}

Important Constraints

• createIfNone and forceNewSession do NOT accept boolean. You must pass a StrictAuthenticationPresentationOptions with a required detail string. Passing true, false, or {} will not compile.
• The detail string must be localized using l10n.t('...').
• The silent overload's options type is Omit<AuthenticationGetSessionOptions, 'createIfNone' | 'forceNewSession'> — you cannot sneak a boolean createIfNone through it.

Synchronous Cache Properties

For non-blocking checks (no network, no UI), use the cached properties:

• authService.anyGitHubSession — cached 'any' session or undefined
• authService.permissiveGitHubSession — cached 'permissive' session or undefined
• authService.copilotToken — cached Copilot token (without the raw token string) or undefined

React to onDidAuthenticationChange to stay up to date.

Copilot Tokens

Most callers just need a valid CAPI token. getCopilotToken() handles refresh automatically:

const token = await authService.getCopilotToken();

Minimal Mode

When authService.isMinimalMode is true, the service will not fetch permissive tokens:

• Interactive 'permissive' calls throw MinimalModeError
• Silent 'permissive' calls return undefined

Auth State Flows

There are three states a user can be in:

1. Not signed in — No 'any' session exists. The user has no GitHub session at all. An interactive createIfNone call will show VS Code's built-in sign-in dialog.
2. Signed in from VS Code — The user explicitly signed in through VS Code (e.g., via Accounts menu or a createIfNone prompt). In this case, VS Code automatically acquires the permissive token since it requests the broader scopes upfront. Both 'any' and 'permissive' sessions are available.
3. Signed in passively (e.g., via Settings Sync) — The user is signed into GitHub through a passive mechanism that only grants minimal scopes. Copilot Chat works with the 'any' token, but no 'permissive' token is available. A 'permissive' call with createIfNone will prompt the user to grant additional permissions.