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jdneo/chat-fork-map

v0.0.5MIT

Visualize local Copilot conversation lineage and fork completed turns into CLI sessions.

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Conversation Fork Map

Conversation Fork Map is an experimental GitHub Copilot Canvas Extension for exploring and branching local Copilot conversations.

It renders a conversation family as session lanes in a side-panel canvas. Shared history stays in the parent lane, child lanes begin at their fork checkpoint, and the current session is highlighted. From any completed turn, you can create a CLI-only child session and continue it with the generated copilot --resume=<session-id> command.

Conversation Fork Map preview

Features

  • View a complete conversation family without duplicating inherited turns.
  • Pan, zoom, fit, and navigate large conversation maps.
  • Inspect user prompts, Copilot responses, and expandable execution details.
  • Fork any completed turn from an available family session.
  • Track session names, summaries, availability, and live transcript updates.
  • Preserve missing sessions as tombstones instead of silently dropping lineage.

Requirements

  • GitHub Copilot App / Copilot CLI 1.0.80 or newer with Canvas support.
  • A local Copilot session. Cloud and remote sessions are not supported.
  • Read access to the local Copilot event logs under $COPILOT_HOME/session-state (or ~/.copilot/session-state when COPILOT_HOME is not set).
  • The Canvas, metadata, local session listing, occupancy, and session fork capabilities supplied by the compatible Copilot runtime.

The extension uses the Node.js runtime and Copilot SDK provided by Copilot. No npm install step is required. Installing from source with the included script also requires Git and PowerShell 7 (pwsh).

Installation

Install as an Agent Plugin

Before marketplace approval, install directly from the public GitHub repository:

copilot plugin install jdneo/copilot-chat-map

Reload Copilot extensions after installation.

Install from source

git clone https://github.com/jdneo/copilot-chat-map.git
Set-Location copilot-chat-map
pwsh -File .\scripts\install-user-extension.ps1

The installer copies the extension to $COPILOT_HOME/extensions/chat-fork-map, or ~/.copilot/extensions/chat-fork-map when COPILOT_HOME is not set. Running it again upgrades the implementation while preserving the current lineage index.

Package layout

  • plugin.json is the Agent Plugins v1 manifest.
  • com.github.copilot/extensions/chat-fork-map/ contains the packaged Canvas extension.
  • Root extension.mjs and copilot-extension.json keep direct extension installation compatible.
  • extensions/chat-fork-map/extension.mjs keeps compatibility with the current Awesome Copilot Canvas intake gate.

Usage

Open a local Copilot session, reload extensions, and run:

/fork-map

You can also ask Copilot to open the Conversation Fork Map. Select a completed turn, then choose the circular + on its right border (tooltip: Fork to CLI). After the child is created, run the displayed command in a terminal:

copilot --resume=<session-id>

Local data and privacy

The extension reads each family member's native events.jsonl file without modifying it. It creates structured lineage only after the first successful fork and stores it locally at:

$COPILOT_HOME/extensions/chat-fork-map/artifacts/lineage-v1.json

The lineage index records session relationships and fork checkpoints, not copies of message content. The installer never writes to or removes files from Copilot's native session-state directory.

Known limitations

  • Only local Copilot sessions are supported.
  • Forked children are CLI-only runtime sessions. They may not appear in the Copilot App session list, and the Canvas API cannot switch the App's Chat View to them. Continue a child with copilot --resume=<session-id>.
  • Only forks created through Conversation Fork Map are tracked. Existing branches created with /fork or other tools are not imported automatically.
  • Only completed turns can be used as fork checkpoints. Forking is disabled while the current session is processing or when another source session is in use.
  • The canvas is for visualization and branching; it does not provide chat, full-text search, session rename/delete, or lineage re-parenting.
  • Lineage is stored on the local machine and is not synchronized across devices.
  • Canvas/session RPCs and the local events.jsonl format are experimental compatibility surfaces and may require updates in future Copilot releases.

Development

Run the test suite with:

node --test

License

Licensed under the MIT License.