The MCP Server Restart Nightmare Is Finally Over (Thank Fucking God)Anyone building AI applications with MCP servers in VS Code knows this soul-crushing pain.
You update a server config, VS Code shows that smug blue "refresh" icon, you click it, and half the time your tools just vanish into the digital void. I've spent entire afternoons clicking that stupid refresh button, watching my AI toolchain fall apart like a house of cards.VS Code 1.103 finally fixed this nightmare with auto-start behavior for MCP servers. No more manual refreshes, no more guessing if your AI tools actually work, no more losing your flow because Microsoft couldn't figure out how to restart a fucking server.But the MCP improvements don't stop there. Microsoft added experimental tool-calling mode for when you hit the 128-tool limit (yes, that's apparently a real problem now), and they bumped support to MCP specification 2025-06-18 with resource_links and structured output.### GPT-5 Lands in GitHub Copilot (About Damn Time)The bigger news buried in this release: GPT-5 is finally rolling out to all paid Git
Hub Copilot plans. OpenAI's newest model is escaping the ChatGPT Plus paywall prison and landing where developers actually fucking work.Even better, GPT-5 mini is coming to all Copilot plans
- including the free ones. That's a huge middle finger to all the subscription services trying to nickel-and-dime developers for basic AI assistance.Microsoft finally revamped the chat provider API too, so you can pick which models show up in your picker instead of being force-fed whatever garbage they decide to push. It only took them two years to realize developers might want choice in their tools.### Git Worktrees Stop Being Completely UselessVS Code 1.103 finally makes Git worktrees
- that feature you forgot existed because it was broken for years
- actually work like a normal human would expect. When you open a folder with worktrees, VS Code now detects them instead of pretending they don't exist.You can create, delete, and open worktrees without dropping to the terminal like some caveman or installing sketchy third-party extensions that break every update. For teams juggling multiple feature branches or anyone doing emergency hotfixes while working on main, this eliminates the context-switching hell that's been driving developers insane.### Copilot Chat Gets Checkpoints (Because AI "Help" Goes Sideways)New checkpoint system lets you revert Copilot chat conversations back to specific points. If Copilot decides to "help" by refactoring six files and turning your working code into a steaming pile of TypeScript errors, you can roll back to before it got creative with your codebase.This is massive for developers who made the mistake of trusting Copilot with large refactoring jobs. I learned this the hard way when Copilot "improved" my React components by replacing all useState hooks with useReducer and breaking half my event handlers. Instead of manually ctrl+z-ing through 47 changes, you just restore to a checkpoint and tell the AI to try again without being so fucking clever.### The Math Rendering Preview (For the Academic Crowd)VS Code can now render mathematical equations in chat responses, though it's still in preview behind the
chat.math.enabledsetting. Not exactly a daily driver feature for most developers, but useful if you're working on ML models or algorithm explanations.### What This Actually Means for Daily DevelopmentThese aren't flashy features, but they're the kind of quality-of-life improvements that save 20 minutes a day. No more MCP server debugging sessions. No more command-line Git worktree juggling. No more reverting Copilot changes by hand.VS Code 1.103 is available now for Windows, Linux, and Mac. For teams already using MCP servers or Git worktrees, this is worth the update just to stop dealing with the current broken workflows.