Allow sending chat requests with attachments only#317776
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federicobrancasi wants to merge 3 commits into
Open
Allow sending chat requests with attachments only#317776federicobrancasi wants to merge 3 commits into
federicobrancasi wants to merge 3 commits into
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I am also exploring better UI options for attachment-only chat messages, so we may not need to show literal text like For this PR, I am using that summary because otherwise the request appears as an empty chat bubble. This keeps the UI understandable and gives the model a non-empty request message alongside the attachment context. |
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dbaeumer
previously approved these changes
May 21, 2026
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Pull request overview
Enables sending chat requests that contain only explicit attachments (files/directories/images) even when the text input is empty, and ensures these requests don’t render as “blank” in UI and accessibility surfaces across the Workbench chat and the Sessions/Agents app.
Changes:
- Relax empty-message rejection in
ChatService.sendRequestwhen explicit file/directory/image attachments are present. - Add attachment-only fallback summaries for request rendering, accessibility labels, and image carousel titles.
- Update input gating/context keys so the primary “Send” actions/buttons can be enabled for attachment-only requests; add targeted unit tests.
Show a summary per file
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/test/common/chatService/chatService.test.ts | Adds coverage for accepting empty text when explicit file attachment exists, and rejecting empty text otherwise. |
| src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/test/common/chatImageExtraction.test.ts | Verifies image extraction UI uses attachment summary when the request text is empty. |
| src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/test/common/attachments/chatVariableEntries.test.ts | Adds unit tests for explicit-attachment detection and summary generation. |
| src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/common/chatService/chatServiceImpl.ts | Allows empty requests when explicit file/directory/image attachments are present. |
| src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/common/chatImageExtraction.ts | Uses attachment summary as fallback title when request message text is empty. |
| src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/common/attachments/chatVariableEntries.ts | Introduces helpers to detect explicit file/directory/image entries and create localized summaries. |
| src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/common/actions/chatContextKeys.ts | Adds chatInputHasSendableContent context key for “text or attachments” send gating. |
| src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/widget/input/chatInputPart.ts | Updates context key updates to reflect sendable attachments, not just text. |
| src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/widget/chatListRenderer.ts | Renders attachment summary when request markdown/text is empty. |
| src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/actions/chatExecuteActions.ts | Switches primary submit preconditions to use inputHasSendableContent. |
| src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/accessibility/chatAccessibilityProvider.ts | Provides non-empty aria labels for attachment-only requests via attachment summary. |
| src/vs/sessions/contrib/chat/browser/newChatInput.ts | Enables Sessions/Agents send button and send behavior for attachment-only input. |
Copilot's findings
- Files reviewed: 12/12 changed files
- Comments generated: 4
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| return fileOrImageEntries.length === 1 | ||
| ? localize('chat.attachmentSummary.file.one', "Attached 1 file") | ||
| : localize('chat.attachmentSummary.file.many', "Attached {0} files", fileOrImageEntries.length); |
| export const editApplied = new RawContextKey<boolean>('chatEditApplied', false, { type: 'boolean', description: localize('chatEditApplied', "True when the chat text edits have been applied.") }); | ||
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| export const inputHasText = new RawContextKey<boolean>('chatInputHasText', false, { type: 'boolean', description: localize('interactiveInputHasText', "True when the chat input has text.") }); | ||
| export const inputHasSendableContent = new RawContextKey<boolean>('chatInputHasSendableContent', false, { type: 'boolean', description: localize('interactiveInputHasSendableContent', "True when the chat input has text or file attachments that can be sent.") }); |
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| const menuCondition = ChatContextKeys.chatModeKind.isEqualTo(ChatModeKind.Ask); | ||
| const precondition = ContextKeyExpr.and( | ||
| ChatContextKeys.inputHasText, | ||
| ChatContextKeys.inputHasSendableContent, | ||
| ContextKeyExpr.or(whenNotInProgress, ChatContextKeys.editingRequestType.isEqualTo(ChatContextKeys.EditingRequestType.Sent)), | ||
| ChatContextKeys.chatSessionOptionsValid, | ||
| ); |
| const attachedContext = this._contextAttachments.attachments.length > 0 | ||
| ? [...this._contextAttachments.attachments] | ||
| : undefined; | ||
| const request = query; |
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Fixes #317775
This change allows chat requests to be sent with explicit attachments even when the text input is empty.
The work is split into two commits:
Allow sending chat requests with attachments onlyEnables attachment-only sends for explicit file, directory, and image attachments.
This updates the chat input send gating and service-side empty-message validation so attachment-only requests are accepted, while hidden or automatic context such as workspace/implicit context does not make an empty request sendable.
It also adds localized fallback request summaries for the UI and accessibility paths, so attachment-only requests do not appear blank. Examples:
Attached 1 imageAttached 2 imagesAttached 1 fileAttached 2 filesUse attachment summary for empty chat request text(I don't know if necessary)Uses the same attachment summary as the actual request text for attachment-only sends.
This means the user sees
Attached 1 image/Attached N files, and the model also receives that summary as the request message alongside the attached context.Videos: attachment-only send works and displays the attachment summary (Both VSCode and Agents app)
Files.Upload.Agents.mov
Files.Upload.Vscode.mov