Remove obsolete sponsor-only AI features and add setting to control Copilot AI

[Copilot]

PR Details

Description

The frontMatter.sponsors.ai.enabled setting was ignored because two parallel AI systems existed: obsolete sponsor-only AI (using external API with GitHub tokens) and GitHub Copilot integration. Copilot AI activated automatically regardless of sponsor setting.

Removed:

• frontMatter.sponsors.ai.enabled setting
• SponsorAI service integration (all GitHub auth token API calls)
• Old AI command handlers: aiSuggestDescription, aiSuggestTaxonomy
• Old AI buttons in TagPicker and TextField components

Added:

• frontMatter.ai.enabled setting (default: true) controls Copilot AI features

Updated:

• Questions.ts: Only uses Copilot, checks both ai.enabled setting and Copilot installation
• UI components: Single Copilot button appears when aiEnabled && copilotEnabled
• PanelSettings.ts: Uses new SETTING_AI_ENABLED constant

Behavior:
AI features activate when frontMatter.ai.enabled !== false AND GitHub Copilot is installed.

Setting frontMatter.ai.enabled: false disables all AI features.

Related Issue

Fixes issue where frontMatter.sponsors.ai.enabled was ignored and AI features couldn't be disabled.

Motivation and Context

Over time, AI became free via GitHub Copilot, making the sponsor-only AI system obsolete. The codebase maintained both systems, causing the sponsor setting to be bypassed. This change removes technical debt and provides proper control over AI features.

How Has This Been Tested

• Build completes successfully (extension, dashboard, panel)
• Code review passed
• Security scan passed (CodeQL)
• All TypeScript compilation successful
• Verified AI button logic: appears only when both conditions true

Types of changes

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• Docs change / refactoring / dependency upgrade

Original prompt

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This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Issue: frontMatter.sponsors.ai.enabled seems to be ignored</issue_title>
<issue_description>According to the docs, if frontMatter.sponsors.ai.enabled is set to false, then all AI features should be disabled. I would also expect, not being a sponsor currently, to not receive these features by default. But when I create a new post via Dashboard > Create Content it loads a while and then offers me 5 titles via AI (Copilot) based on my typed title. Setting enabled to false does not result in my typed title being used immediately, it still loads the AI results, even after a VSCode restart. I have no issue ignoring the AI results, but sometimes it takes a recognizable couple of seconds until the results are returned and that blocks me from keeping what I want to write in my scattered brain :)

Long story short:

• option A: the docs are out of date and the features are not sponsor-only anymore.
• option B: disabling the AI features does not work somehow
• option C: some weird Copilot feature adds itself to Front Matter?
• option D: a combination of these
  </issue_description>

<agent_instructions>Please remove the frontmatter AI sponsor features as they became obsolete</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

@estruyf Over time, this became obsolete with the integration of GitHub Copilot in VS Code.

For GitHub Copilot, it needs to introduce a new setting to disable the functionality, as it right now has it automatically activated if GitHub Copilot is available.

Some of the documentation needs to be updated.

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• option A: As AI became available for free with GH Copilot, it became obsolete.
• option B: This is for the sponsored AI only, so it needs to be removed
• option C: Correct, a new setting needs to be added, as GH Copilot came with a free offering. Before, you needed a paid license, so only to those instances, the options became available.
• option D: yes

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I hope this clarifies it a bit.</comment_new>
<comment_new>@estruyf
Hi @biomassboilers, no, there are no plans to put AI in it to generate content.</comment_new>

• Fixes Issue: frontMatter.sponsors.ai.enabled seems to be ignored #983

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