Visual Studio September Update Brings More AI Flexibility and Smarter Debugging

Microsoft has released its September 2026 Visual Studio update, introducing new AI-powered capabilities and debugging enhancements to help developers streamline their workflows. The update focuses on giving developers more flexibility in choosing AI models while improving code security, pull request reviews, and debugging experiences.

Here's what you need to know:

• Bring Your Own AI Model

  Visual Studio's updated Bring Your Own Model (BYOM) lets developers connect to their preferred AI providers, including Microsoft Foundry, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Ollama. With support for the new Agent (Preview), developers can tailor AI-assisted workflows to their needs.

• Fix NuGet Vulnerabilities with GitHub Copilot

  Developers can now use GitHub Copilot to address vulnerable NuGet packages directly from the Visual Studio Error List. This makes it easier to identify security issues, review suggested fixes, and apply changes.

• Explore Pull Requests with the Git Agent

  The Git agent helps developers explore pull requests by summarising relevant discussions, comments, and file changes. With navigable links and follow-up questions, developers can investigate changes directly within Visual Studio.

• Simplify Debugging with Branch Highlighting

  Visual Studio now highlights the expressions that determine the outcome of C# if statements using && or ||. This helps developers understand conditional logic more easily while debugging.

• Debug Podman Containers

  Visual Studio now supports attaching to Podman containers alongside Docker. Developers can discover and debug .NET and C++ containers directly from the IDE.

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