New terminal is opened without restoring path from the previous terminal in VS code

[NickolaiA]

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It is quote annoying that Github Copilot opens new terminal to run different commands like "dotnet run" without restoring path from the previous tab. as the result, it retries to run command properly and waste a lot of time to do it again and again. Can it be somehow improved? Github instructions are also not helping to help copilot to go to the proper folder every time when it must compile or run .Net code

[kavindus0]

This is a common VS Code Copilot workflow issue - here are several solutions:

Hi @NickolaiA! You're right, this is frustrating when working with .NET projects. Copilot should be smarter about working directory context.

Immediate workarounds:

1. Configure VS Code terminal behavior:

// In settings.json
{
  "terminal.integrated.cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
  "terminal.integrated.inheritEnv": true,
  "dotnet.defaultSolution": "auto"
}

2. Use workspace-relative commands with Copilot:
Instead of asking: "run the dotnet application"
Ask: "run dotnet run from the project root directory"
Or: "navigate to the .csproj folder and run dotnet run"

3. Be specific about project structure:

"Run dotnet run from the folder containing Program.cs"
"Execute dotnet run in the MyProject.Api directory"

Better Copilot prompting techniques:

Context-aware commands:

"Open terminal, navigate to the project folder with the .csproj file, then run dotnet run"

"Before running any dotnet commands, make sure we're in the correct project directory"

Project structure hints:

"This is a .NET solution with multiple projects. Always specify the correct project path when running dotnet commands"

VS Code settings to help Copilot:

1. Set default build tasks:

// In tasks.json
{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "build",
      "command": "dotnet",
      "args": ["build"],
      "options": {
        "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}"
      }
    }
  ]
}

2. Configure integrated terminal:

{
  "terminal.integrated.defaultProfile.windows": "PowerShell",
  "terminal.integrated.profiles.windows": {
    "PowerShell": {
      "source": "PowerShell",
      "args": ["-NoExit", "-Command", "cd '${workspaceFolder}'"]
    }
  }
}

Submit feedback to improve Copilot:

VS Code Copilot Issue:

• Press Ctrl+Shift+P → "Help: Report Issue"
• Tag: copilot and terminal-integration
• Request: "Copilot should respect current working directory in terminal commands"

GitHub Copilot Feedback:

• https://github.com/github/feedback/discussions/categories/copilot-feedback

TIP:

Create a .vscode/tasks.json with your common commands - Copilot can then suggest using these predefined tasks instead of raw terminal commands.

This issue affects many .NET developers, so your feedback will help improve the experience!

[NickolaiA]

Hi @kavindus0 , thank you very much for your prompt response.
It seems that the first option you suggested has significantly improved Copilot’s behaviour with a .NET project. The other options would be harder to implement because my solution (and I believe other developers’ solutions as well) keeps the UI and backend in the same working folder — at least during the early stages of development — to ensure these two critical layers stay aligned. This setup also helps because Copilot often updates them together, saving a lot of time.If we had to update them separately in different projects, it would be slower and would consume more credits.
I’ll keep an eye on the first option you provided (note: you didn’t mention that the file path is %APPDATA%\Code\User\settings.json) and will get back to you later to confirm whether it continues to work as expected.