Steering vs Queueing in GitHub Copilot Chat
GitHub Copilot Chat has two ways to send a message while the AI is working: steering and queueing. The one you pick changes whether the AI stops to listen or finishes first.
Steering
Steering happens when you send a message while the AI is busy. The AI is in the middle of thinking and writing code, and you press Enter with a new message. The AI drops what it’s doing and reads your new message right away.
Queueing
Queueing happens when you send a message while the AI is busy, but you press Alt+Enter instead of Enter. Your message gets queued. The AI finishes its current task first, then picks up the next one. No interruption.
Summary
| Key | Behavior | AI Handling |
|---|---|---|
| Enter | Steering | Interrupted, reads new message now |
| Alt+Enter | Queueing | Finishes current task, then reads next message |
Steering is the default behavior in VS Code. To switch to Queueing, press Ctrl+Shift+P, select Preferences: Open User Settings, and search for chat.requestQueuing.defaultAction. Once you enable Queueing, Enter queues messages and Alt+Enter sends them immediately. I use Queueing because I don’t watch the AI work in real time. I just want to send it tasks and check back later. With Queueing enabled, I can send multiple messages at once and let the AI work through them one by one.