GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio — August update

GitHub's August 2026 update for GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio 2026 adds organization-level custom agents, model thinking effort controls (Low, Medium, High), better model management, and a Git agent for reviewing changes before pull requests. The update is available to all GitHub Copilot plans, including Free, Student, Pro, Pro+, Max, Business, and Enterprise.

Release GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio — August update August 2026 brought more control over how GitHub Copilot reasons, which models you use, how teams share specialized agents, and when you ask for a code review. Highlights highlights Here’s what’s new with GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio 2026. Check the Insiders channel for the latest: Organization-level custom agents : GitHub organization and enterprise owners can publish custom agents for use across repositories in their organization. Visual Studio automatically detects these agents and shows both their descriptions and organization source in the agent picker. This functionality requires a GitHub organization. Access your Copilot usage : Open the context window from the Copilot prompt box, then select View all Copilot usage to see your full plan details. Refined notifications also make it clearer when you are approaching a limit and what options are available. Adjust model thinking effort to match your task : Supported models now offer Low , Medium , and High thinking effort controls. Use lower effort for straightforward work or higher effort for complex debugging, algorithms, and architecture decisions. This enables you to balance reasoning depth with token usage. Better model control : Pin favorite models, collapse models you use less often, and select Manage models for a detailed view. The management view includes model capabilities, context window sizes, cost information, and controls for Copilot and custom models. Review changes and commits with the Git agent : Ask the Git agent to review uncommitted changes or commits before you open a pull request. Findings appear inline in the editor with a navigable list in Git Changes . You can continue the Copilot Chat conversation to understand or address each suggestion. Reviews work with GitHub and Azure DevOps repositories. This update is available to users on all GitHub Copilot plans https://docs.github.com/copilot/get-started/plans , including Copilot Free, Student, Pro, Pro+, Max, Business, and Enterprise. To learn more about what’s new, check out the Visual Studio blog https://devblogs.microsoft.com/visualstudio/visual-studio-august-update-work-smarter-across-models-and-branches and release notes https://learn.microsoft.com/visualstudio/releases/2026/release-notes . What’s next for Copilot in Visual Studio whats-next-for-copilot-in-visual-studio Stay up to date on the latest Copilot features by following the Visual Studio blog https://devblogs.microsoft.com/visualstudio , where you’ll find roadmap updates and opportunities to share feedback.