Visual Studio's July 2026 Updates Make AI Assistance Smarter

The latest Visual Studio July 2026 updates are here, headlined by a new Agent (Preview) that leverages the GitHub Copilot SDK. Alongside this addition, Microsoft continues to enhance the developer experience with AI features focused on productivity and reliability.

Here are the highlights you shouldn't miss:

• Meet the New Agent (Preview)

  The new Agent (Preview) delivers more accurate results with fewer prompts, helping you complete coding tasks faster. It also provides a more consistent GitHub Copilot experience across Visual Studio, VS Code, the CLI, and GitHub.

• Unlock Built-in .NET & Azure Skills

  Visual Studio now includes built-in .NET and Azure skills created by Microsoft experts to enhance your AI-assisted workflows. Enable only the skills you need, giving you greater control over how your coding agent works.

• Standardise AI Responses Across Your Team

  GitHub organisations can now define organisation-level custom instructions so Copilot responds consistently for every developer. These shared preferences apply automatically within organisation repositories and can be disabled whenever needed.

• Chat with Branches Before You Switch

  You can now attach Git branches directly to Copilot Chat without checking them out first. Quickly summarise a branch or understand its purpose before deciding whether to work on it.

• Smarter MSVC Build Tool Discovery

  Visual Studio can now automatically locate the correct MSVC Build Tools across multiple installations when using pinned compiler versions. This helps maintain consistent builds across development teams while reducing manual configuration.

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