Microsoft

Azure MCP Server Now Built-In with Visual Studio 2026: A New Era for Agentic Workflows

Managing cloud resources often means juggling multiple tools, writing custom scripts, and switching contexts between your IDE and cloud management portals. These extra steps slow development and make it harder to build intelligent, secure applications efficiently. We’re excited to announce that Azure MCP Server (Model Context Protocol) tools are now generally available out-of-the-box in Visual […]
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A first look at the all‑new UX in Visual Studio 2026

Visual Studio 2026 introduces a refreshed user experience, thoughtfully crafted for clarity, accessibility, and a clean interface that feels right at home on Windows. This update is the result of extensive collaboration with developers and incorporates valuable feedback from the community. We’ve improved typography, iconography, and the overall layout to minimize distractions and keep your […]
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Introducing Copilot auto model selection (preview)

Faster responses, a lower chance of rate limiting, and 10% off premium requests for paid users – auto picks the best available model for each request based on current capacity and performance. With auto, you don’t need to choose a specific model. Copilot automatically selects the best one for your task. Auto model selection in […]
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Artificial Intelligence

Visual Studio 2026 is here: faster, smarter, and a hit with early adopters

Dear developers, We’re thrilled to announce that Visual Studio 2026 is now generally available! This is a moment we’ve built side by side with you. Your feedback has helped shape this release more than any before. Since the introduction of the Insiders Channel in September, more developers have downloaded and tested this preview than any […]
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Roadmap for AI in Visual Studio (November)

Today, we’re excited to share our public roadmap, which outlines the next steps in evolving Visual Studio with AI-powered agentic experiences. With every month, we aim to deliver smarter, faster, and more intuitive tools that enhance your coding experience. Disclaimer: The items outlined here represent ongoing work for the month. They are not commitments or […]
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Artificial Intelligence

Azure Developer CLI: Azure Container Apps Dev-to-Prod Deployment with Layered Infrastructure

This post walks through how to implement “build once, deploy everywhere” patterns using Azure Container Apps with the new azd publish and layered infrastructure features in Azure Developer CLI v1.20.0. You’ll learn how to deploy the same containerized application across multiple environments with proper separation of concerns. This is the third installment in our Azure […]
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Join us at .NET Conf: Dive into the future of development with Visual Studio 2026

We’re thrilled to invite you to one of the most exciting events in the .NET ecosystem: .NET Conf. It runs from November 11th through the 13th and you’re invited! This annual virtual conference is a must-attend for developers, architects, and enthusiasts looking to level up their skills and stay ahead of the curve in .NET […]
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Visual Studio October Update – new models, memories, planning, and more

The October 2025 update for Visual Studio 2022 (v17.14) is now available. In this month, we are bringing you improvements to model choices and agentic flows.  New Models  We now have Claude Sonnet 4.5  and Claude Haiku 4.5 available in the chat window. This means the latest innovations for driving your agentic workflows is right at your fingertips.  Memories  For […]
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Introducing Planning in Visual Studio (Public Preview)

Quick prompts are great for small fixes, but they fall short on big projects. You end up rewriting instructions, tweaking them constantly, and hoping the model stays on track. It gives Copilot a visible, structured path to follow, one that updates as it works and keeps you in control at every step. In Agent Mode, […]
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Artificial Intelligence

Modernizing Visual Studio Extension Compatibility: Effortless Migration for Extension Developers and Users

We have great news for extension users and developers: Visual Studio 2026 is introducing an extension compatibility model designed specifically to make your life easier. Our top priority is to ensure that your extensions continue to work seamlessly across Visual Studio releases – with no extra effort required from you. For users: extensions that work […]
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Upcoming Updates for Azure Pipelines Agents Images

To ensure our hosted agents in Azure Pipelines are operating in the most secure and up-to-date environments, we continuously update the supported images and phase out older ones. In October 2024, we announced support for Ubuntu-24.04. Soon, we plan to update the ubuntu-latest image to map to Ubuntu-24.04. Additionally, MacOS 15 Sequoia and Windows 2025 […]
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Modernizing Authentication for Legacy Visual Studio Clients

As part of our ongoing commitment to security and modernization, we’re updating outdated authentication mechanisms used by older versions of clients reliant on our older Visual Studio client libraries. For full details on all known impacted clients, refer to the official announcement we made in April 2024: End of Support for Microsoft products reliant on […]
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Azure DevOps local MCP Server is generally available

Today we are excited to take our local MCP Server for Azure DevOps out of preview 🥳. Since the initial preview announcement, we’ve worked closely with early adopters and the community to incorporate feature suggestions and feedback. We’ve improved login and authorization, added and refined tooling, and introduced domains so users can scope active tools […]
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Announcing the new Azure DevOps Server RC Release

We’re excited to announce the release candidate (RC) of Azure DevOps Server, bringing new features previously available in our hosted version. You can  download Azure DevOps Server RC today. A direct upgrade to Azure DevOps Server RC is supported from any version of Team Foundation Server, including Team Foundation Server 2015 and newer. Note: October […]
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Visual Studio Dev/Test Benefit Explained

Before joining Microsoft, I served as VP of Application Development at one of the largest temporary staffing companies in the United States. I’ll never forget the look on our CFO’s face when I told him we needed two to three additional cloud environments to support a large-scale modernization project. His expression went from curious to […]
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Azure Boards integration with GitHub Copilot (Private Preview)

As of October 16, 2025, we are no longer accepting organization signups for the private preview. Our focus is now on completing the feature and preparing it for general availability in the coming weeks. Several months ago, GitHub introduced the public preview of its Copilot coding agent, a powerful new capability that allows you to […]
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Make Sense of Your Output Window with Copilot

Ever found yourself staring at the Output Window, overwhelmed by endless lines of logs and cryptic messages? You’re not alone! For years, developers have relied on the Output Window for critical build and debug information. But making sense of it—and translating it into action—has been a challenge. What if you could instantly ask questions about your […]
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New Test Run Hub in Azure Test Plans

Delivering high-quality software is a necessity and that’s why Azure Test Plans has introduced the all-new Test Run Hub, an enabler for teams who want to take control of their testing process and drive continuous improvement. What Makes the Test Run Hub a Must-Have? The Test Run Hub is designed to help teams track test […]
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Boost Your Copilot Collaboration with Reusable Prompt Files

Writing effective prompts for AI tools can be time-consuming and challenging. Cement those efforts by leveraging reusable prompt files. These custom prompts allow for quick access at the prompt box, and they’re automatically stored and shared with your teammates to make it easy to multiply your Copilot successes.   Reusable prompt files solve the prompt-writing challenge  Reusable prompt files let you write, save, and run prompts right […]
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Roadmap for AI in Visual Studio (September)

Today, we’re excited to share our public roadmap, which outlines the next steps in evolving Visual Studio with AI-powered agentic experiences. With every month, we aim to deliver smarter, faster, and more intuitive tools that enhance your coding experience. Disclaimer: The items outlined here represent ongoing work for the month. They are not commitments or […]
The post Roadmap for AI in Visual Studio (September) appeared first on Visual Studio Blog.
Artificial Intelligence

The Visual Studio August Update is here – smarter AI, better debugging, and more control

The August 2025 update for Visual Studio 2022 (v17.14) is now available, and it’s all about helping developers stay focused, productive, and in control. Whether you’re building games, tuning performance, or exploring AI, this release brings meaningful improvements that make everyday development smoother and smarter. GPT-5 support now available We’re excited to announce that GPT-5 […]
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GitHub Copilot for Azure (Preview) Launches in Visual Studio 2022 with Azure MCP Support

The GitHub Copilot for Azure extension is now in Public Preview for Visual Studio 2022 (17.14+). It brings a curated set of Azure developer tools—exposed through the Azure MCP server—directly into GitHub Copilot Agent Mode in Visual Studio. The extension automatically installs and manages the Azure MCP server, so you can query resources, diagnose issues, […]
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Better Control over Your Copilot Code Suggestions

Copilot code completions and suggestions in the editor speed you up in your daily programming and coding activities, at every keystroke. They help you finish the line you’re typing or anticipate your next edit, making your workflow smoother and faster. At the same time, editor is where you focus and put in the deep work. […]
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Bring Your Own Model to Chat in Visual Studio

We’re excited to announce that you can now bring your own language model into Visual Studio Chat. You can connect API keys from providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google) to access a wider range of models. This makes it easy to test the latest releases, customize workflows, or run on infrastructure you control. What it unlocks […]
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Artificial Intelligence

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is Now Generally Available in Visual Studio 🎉

We’re excited to announce that MCP support is now GA in Visual Studio—unlocking richer, real-time context from your entire development stack and expanding the power of Agent Mode like never before. Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that makes it easy for AI agents to connect with external tools and services—think of it […]
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Artificial Intelligence

Improving Codebase Awareness in Visual Studio Chat

Smarter Code Search in Visual Studio: From BM25 to Semantic Search  In our latest 17.14.11 release, we’ve made a significant leap forward in how we explore your code to retrieve meaningful context. Our new Remote Semantic Search integration helps you find exactly what you need faster and with greater precision than ever before.  By embedding […]
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From Redmond to San Diego: VS Live! Highlights, Session Examples, and What’s Next

There’s something special about hosting developers at Microsoft HQ — and this year’s Visual Studio Live! Redmond reminded me why I love these events. The energy in every room was electric. From the moment the first session kicked off, developers leaned in, asked smart, challenging questions, and took every opportunity to connect with the Product […]
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Azure Developer CLI: From Dev to Prod with Azure DevOps Pipelines

Building on our previous post about implementing dev-to-prod promotion with GitHub Actions, this follow-up demonstrates the same “build once, deploy everywhere” pattern using Azure DevOps Pipelines. You’ll learn how to leverage Azure DevOps YAML pipelines with Azure Developer CLI (azd). This approach ensures consistent, reliable deployments across environments. Environment-Specific Infrastructure The infrastructure approach is identical […]
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Azure DevOps OAuth Client Secrets Now Shown Only Once

We’re making an important change to how Azure DevOps displays OAuth client secrets to align with industry best practices and improve our overall security posture. Starting September, newly generated client secrets will be shown only once at the time of creation. After that, they will no longer be retrievable via the UI or API. This […]
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GPT-5 Now Available in Visual Studio

We’re excited to share that GPT-5, OpenAI’s latest frontier model, is now rolling out in GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio. GPT-5 offers faster responses and even better performance for writing and understanding code. This release brings a new level of capability to your development workflow, making it easier to move from idea to implementation. Try […]
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Hunting Living Secrets: Secret Validity Checks Arrive in GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps

If you’ve ever waded through a swamp of secret scanning alerts wondering, “Which of these are actually dangerous right now?” — this enhancement is for you. Secret validity checks in GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps (and the standalone Secret Protection experience) add a high‑signal field to each alert: Active (still usable), or Unknown (couldn’t […]
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Real-Time Security with Continuous Access Evaluation (CAE) comes to Azure DevOps

We’re thrilled to announce that Continuous Access Evaluation (CAE) is now supported on Azure DevOps, bringing a new level of near real-time security enforcement to your development workflows. 🔐 What Is CAE? Continuous Access Evaluation (CAE) is a feature from Microsoft Entra ID that enables near real-time enforcement of Conditional Access policies. Traditionally, Microsoft Entra […]
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Visual Studio 2015 Retirement: Support reminder for older versions of Visual Studio

Support for Visual Studio 2015 will end on October 14, 2025. If you’re using an older version of Visual Studio, we want to keep you productive and secure when using Visual Studio, and strongly recommend you upgrade to Visual Studio 2022, which brings the power of Copilot to your development workflow. It also contains key […]
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Automate your open-source dependency scanning with Advanced Security

Any experiences that require additional setup is cumbersome, especially when there are multiple people needed. In GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps, we’re working to make it easier to enable features and scale out enablement across your enterprise. You can now automatically inject the dependency scanning task into any pipeline run targeting your default branch. […]
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From Manual Testing to AI-Generated Automation: Our Azure DevOps MCP + Playwright Success Story

In today’s fast-paced software development cycles, manual testing often becomes a significant bottleneck. Our team was facing a growing backlog of test cases that required repetitive manual execution—running the entire test suite every sprint. This consumed valuable time that could be better spent on exploratory testing and higher-value tasks. We set out to solve this […]
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Fresh Learning Paths Now Available on Pluralsight for VS Subscribers

We’ve been thrilled to see so many of you jump back into your Pluralsight benefit after our April 3rd announcement about extended access. Your enthusiasm for learning and leveling up with Visual Studio inspires us every day. If you haven’t had a chance to dive in yet—or want to explore what’s new since then—I wanted […]
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Azure Developer CLI: From Dev to Prod with One Click

This post walks through how to implement a “build once, deploy everywhere” pattern using Azure Developer CLI (azd) that provisions environment-specific infrastructure and promotes applications from dev to prod with the same build artifacts. You’ll learn how to use conditional Bicep deployment, environment variable injection, package preservation across environments, and automated CI/CD promotion from development […]
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