Copilot Inline Agent Mode in JetBrains¶

Public-preview surface that runs Copilot agent capabilities inside the JetBrains inline chat popover instead of the dedicated chat panel.

What It Is¶

Inline agent mode brings agent capabilities into the JetBrains inline chat experience, so you can invoke them from the editor without switching to the chat panel (GitHub Changelog 2026-04-24). It rides on the inline chat popover anchored to the active selection and file, and exposes the same agent toolkit — workspace search, multi-file edits, terminal commands, and editor lint/compile error reads — used by chat-panel agent mode (GitHub Changelog 2025-05-19).

It shipped in public preview on April 24, 2026. Chat-panel agent mode has been GA in JetBrains since July 16, 2025 — inline agent mode is an additional surface, not a replacement.

Invocation¶

Open Inline Chat using Shift+Ctrl+I (Windows) or Shift+Cmd+I (Mac), via right-click → Open Inline Chat, or via the gutter icon, then switch to agent mode in the inline chat panel (GitHub Changelog 2026-04-24).

Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise tenants need an admin to enable the Editor preview features policy before the surface appears for users (GitHub Changelog 2026-04-24).

Inline Surface vs. Chat Panel¶

Both surfaces share the same four-phase loop — semantic understanding, plan proposal, plan execution, task completion (GitHub Changelog 2025-05-19). They differ in where the conversation, plan, and diffs render.

Dimension	Inline agent mode	Chat-panel agent mode
Invocation	`Shift+Ctrl/Cmd+I` from the editor	Tool window
Anchoring	Active selection / cursor / file	Workspace, last-active file
Plan and diff render area	Inline popover	Full chat tool window
Best fit	Edits scoped to a single file or selection	Multi-file changes, long plans, terminal output review

The trade-off is invocation cost vs. legibility. Inline mode shortens the path from "looking at this code" to "an agent acting on this code"; the chat panel keeps multi-step plans, file lists, and terminal output readable as a run grows.

Same-Release Controls That Affect This Surface¶

The April 24, 2026 release also shipped two settings under Settings > GitHub Copilot > Chat > Auto Approve that govern any agent run, including inline (GitHub Changelog 2026-04-24):

Global Auto Approve — auto-approves all tool calls across all workspaces and overrides per-category auto-approve settings, including for destructive actions such as file edits, terminal commands, and external tool calls.
Auto-approve commands not covered by rules and Auto-approve file edits not covered by rules — narrower variants for tool calls that have no explicit rule.

GitHub's own guidance is to enable these only if you understand and accept the security risks (GitHub Changelog 2026-04-24). The combination of inline invocation (low friction) and global auto-approve (no confirmation) collapses the confirmation gate for agent-initiated changes — keep them off unless the workspace is sandboxed.

The same release also adds inline edit previews for Next Edit Suggestions and a gutter direction indicator for far-away edits, so reviewing proposed changes can stay inside the editor as well (GitHub Changelog 2026-04-24).

When to Use Inline Over Chat Panel¶

Selection-scoped refactors where the prompt and the target are the same code under the cursor.
Quick fixes against editor lint or compile errors the agent can read directly (GitHub Changelog 2025-05-19).
Tight feedback loops where invocation cost dominates — staying on the same shortcut and surface as inline chat eliminates a context switch.

Prefer the chat panel when the task spans many files, requires reading a long plan before approving, or needs the larger terminal-output area. The chat panel also keeps the broader plan-first loop more legible when the plan agent is involved (GitHub Changelog 2026-03-11).

When This Backfires¶

Long agent runs from a popover. Plans, terminal output, and diff stacks all crowd the inline panel. Switch to the chat panel once the run outgrows what the popover can show.
Global auto-approve on a non-sandboxed checkout. Cheap inline invocation plus global auto-approve removes the per-step confirmation that would catch destructive tool calls. Keep blast radius contained.
Habits carried over from edit mode. Edit mode was deprecated from the chat mode dropdown in March 2026 (GitHub Changelog 2026-03-11); inline agent mode runs the full agent loop, not a single edit.
Business/Enterprise tenants without the policy enabled. The surface stays invisible until the Editor preview features policy is on (GitHub Changelog 2026-04-24).

Example¶

You are in IntelliJ IDEA looking at a failing test method. Select the test body, press Shift+Cmd+I (Mac) to open inline chat, switch the inline chat panel to agent mode, and submit:

Fix this test. Read the failing assertion, the function under test, and any related fixtures. Re-run the test until it passes.

The agent runs the four-phase loop in place: it gathers context from the selection plus the workspace, proposes a plan, edits the test and any supporting files, and runs the test through the terminal until it converges (GitHub Changelog 2025-05-19). When the diff or terminal output outgrows the popover, fall back to the chat panel.

Key Takeaways¶

Inline agent mode is the same Copilot agent capability hosted in the JetBrains inline chat popover, available in public preview from April 24, 2026
Invocation is Shift+Ctrl/Cmd+I then switch the inline panel to agent mode; Business/Enterprise tenants need the Editor preview features policy enabled
Prefer the inline surface for selection-scoped tasks and the chat panel for runs whose plan, diff, or terminal output need more space
Same-release global auto-approve combined with inline invocation removes confirmation gates — only enable in sandboxed workspaces