Atul Srivastava

Posted on May 11

I Built a VS Code Extension That Lets You Control GitHub Copilot From Your Phone — And People Are Loving It

#extensions #githubcopilot #agents #automation

The "Aha" Moment That Started Everything

Three months ago, I gave GitHub Copilot agent mode a massive refactoring task — rewrite an entire auth module across 12 files.

I hit Enter. Walked to the kitchen. Made chai. Came back 40 minutes later.

The agent had stopped after 2 minutes and 38 seconds.

It was waiting for me to type "Yes, proceed."

38 minutes. Gone. Just like that.

I stared at my screen and thought: "This is the most powerful coding tool ever built... and it's useless the moment I stand up."

That's when I started building Copilot Remote Control.

What Is It?

Copilot Remote Control is a VS Code extension that streams your entire Copilot agent session to your phone in real time.

When the agent pauses and asks "Should I proceed?" — your phone buzzes. You glance at it, tap "yes," pocket it, and keep walking.

The agent never stops. You never have to be at your desk.

That's it. That's the whole product.

You → Give Copilot a big task → Walk away
Agent works → Hits a question → Your phone buzzes
You tap "yes" from your phone → Agent continues
You come back → Everything is done

How It Works (The Technical Bit)

For the devs who care about architecture (I know you do):

1. Extension hooks into Copilot's JSONL output

The extension monitors Copilot agent mode's conversation in real-time using a lightweight 20ms JSONL polling mechanism. No modification to Copilot itself — it reads the existing output stream.

2. WebSocket server on localhost

A local WebSocket server spins up on your machine. Your code never touches any external server.

3. Cloudflare Tunnel for secure access

A Cloudflare tunnel creates a secure wss:// connection from your phone to your local machine. Peer-to-peer. No relay server storing your data.

4. React PWA on your phone

Scan a QR code from the VS Code sidebar → your phone opens a Progressive Web App that looks and feels like VS Code's dark theme. Full chat history, code snippets, even file sending.

5. Firebase Push Notifications

When the agent pauses, your phone gets a push notification via Google FCM. Even if the PWA tab is closed.

┌─────────────────┐         ┌──────────────┐         ┌─────────────────┐
│   VS Code +     │  wss:// │  Cloudflare  │  wss:// │   Your Phone    │
│   Copilot Agent ├────────►│   Tunnel     ├────────►│   React PWA     │
│   Extension     │         │  (no relay)  │         │   Push Notifs   │
└─────────────────┘         └──────────────┘         └─────────────────┘
     Your machine              Encrypted               Your pocket
     Your code stays here      Pass-through             Full control

Your code never leaves your machine. Period.

The Response Has Been Incredible

I launched quietly a few weeks ago. No Product Hunt. No Twitter thread. Just published on the VS Code Marketplace and shared with a few developer communities.

Here's what happened:

📊 The Numbers

Metric	Value
Marketplace installs	Growing daily
Average session length	3+ hours
Most common response time	Under 15 seconds
Refund requests	Zero

💬 What Developers Are Saying

"This is one of those tools where you wonder why it didn't exist before. I gave Copilot a 200-file migration task, went for a walk, and responded to 4 prompts from my phone. Came back to a finished PR."

"I used to sit at my desk babysitting Copilot for hours. Now I just glance at my phone when it buzzes. It's changed how I think about AI coding."

"The fact that it's $5 one-time and not another $20/month subscription is insane. Respect."

"Set it up in 2 minutes. QR code scan, done. My phone is now my Copilot remote. This is the future."

What surprised me most:

People aren't just using it for quick "yes/no" responses.

They're writing full multi-line instructions from their phone while commuting. They're reviewing code diffs on the train. They're sending reference files from their phone to their VS Code workspace.

One developer told me they now start a big Copilot task before their morning commute and guide it from the bus. By the time they sit down at their desk, the work is done.

That's not how I designed it. But that's how people are using it. And I love it.

Why $5?

I know what you're thinking. "What's the catch?"

No catch.

$5 one-time. Not $5/month. Not $5/year. One payment. Done forever.
No cloud account. No sign-up. No tracking.
Offline license verification. RSA-2048 signed JWT. Works on air-gapped machines.
Unlimited devices. One license, every machine you own.

Why so cheap? Because I built this to solve my own problem. The fact that other developers find it useful is the bonus. I'd rather 10,000 developers use it at $5 than 100 developers use it at $20/month.

Also — Copilot already costs $10-19/month. Adding another subscription on top feels wrong. You're already paying for the AI. This just makes it actually usable when you're not at your desk.

The Setup (< 2 Minutes)

# Step 1: Install from VS Code Marketplace
ext install atulhritik.copilot-remote

# Step 2: Activate your license
Cmd+Shift+P → "Copilot Remote: Activate License"
# Paste your key → Done

# Step 3: Scan QR code
# Open the Copilot Remote sidebar → Scan the QR with your phone

# Step 4: Walk away
# Your phone is now connected. Every agent message streams live.

That's it. No Docker. No config files. No environment variables. No "please install these 7 prerequisites."

Scan. Connect. Walk away.

What I Built It With

For the indie hackers and builders curious about the stack:

VS Code Extension: TypeScript, VS Code Extension API, JSONL file watcher
WebSocket Server: Node.js, runs locally on your machine
Tunnel: Cloudflare Argo Tunnel (free tier)
Phone PWA: React, WebSocket client with auto-reconnect, 200-message history buffer
Push Notifications: Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM)
License System: RSA-2048 JWT, offline verification, no phone-home
Payment: Simple one-time checkout via Razorpay
Hosting: Vercel (PWA + license portal)