GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio 17.13: New features to supercharge your development workflow
Welcome to another exciting GitHub Copilot update for Visual Studio! This release introduces several powerful new features to enhance your workflow, improve transparency, and make coding with Copilot even more intuitive.
GitHub Copilot Free now available in Visual Studio
GitHub Copilot is now more accessible than ever with our new free plan for Visual Studio. With your GitHub account, you’ll get:
2,000 code completions per month – Speed up development with AI-powered suggestions.
50 chat messages per month – Get instant coding help, explanations, and debugging support.
Access to the latest AI models (Claude 3.5 Sonnet & GPT-4o) – Write, refactor, and improve your code with cutting-edge AI.
For developers who are just getting started with AI coding tools or those who only need occasional assistance, the free plan provides an easy way to experience the benefits of GitHub Copilot.
Refactor and edit multiple files faster with Copilot Edits:
Preview with clarity – See which files are affected before making changes.
Review with flow – Accept (TAB) or reject (Alt+Del) changes inline with code diffs.
Iterate with confidence – Use checkpoints to revisit past iterations.
Copilot Edits helps you make large-scale changes more efficiently, helping to ensure accuracy and control over your codebase. Whether you’re refactoring, applying consistent patterns, or fixing issues across multiple files, GitHub Copilot Edits speeds up the process while keeping you in control.
To try it today, click the Edits thread button (a “+” symbol with a pencil icon) in the top-right corner of the GitHub Copilot Chat window to start a Copilot Edits session.
GitHub Copilot just got smarter: Automatically retrieve relevant context
GitHub Copilot can now pull in the information you need without requiring manual input, making it easier than ever to get accurate, context-aware suggestions. Copilot can search for information from:
Your current file, open files, and related files – Get relevant suggestions based on what you’re actively working on.
Your entire codebase – Surface insights from across your project without switching context.
Debugger data (locals, call stacks, etc.) – Use real-time debugging information to troubleshoot faster.
Visual Studio itself – Get answers about IDE settings, commands, and workflows.
Instead of manually copying code, searching through files, or retyping information, Copilot can now pull in the right context automatically—helping you write, debug, and refine code faster.
Need more control? Use #file, #method, or #solution in your prompts to specify exactly where Copilot should look.
Code referencing for completions: More transparency, more control
Ever wondered where Copilot’s completions (gray text) come from? Now, with Code Referencing for Completions, you’ll get more visibility when Copilot suggests code that matches public GitHub repositories.
Toast notification – If you accept a completion that matches public code, you’ll see a toast notification in the bottom-right of your editor.
Copilot Output Window – View license details and links to the original repository in the Copilot Output Window (Ctrl+Alt+O).
Adjustable settings – Individual subscribers can block or allow suggestions that match public code in their GitHub settings.
By default, matches to public code are rare (less than 1% of completions), but this tool helps you code with more confidence and transparency.
Bug fixes & improvements
Added support for zooming in and out within Copilot windows for improved accessibility and readability.
Users can now easily retry their prompts for better responses.
Users can now pick which model GitHub Copilot is using for inline chat with the model picker, allowing for quick and easy model selection.
How to update
Make sure you’re using Visual Studio 2022 17.13 or later to access these features.
The improved merge experience on the pull request page announced in December will be enabled by default over the next few days! The feature remains in public preview while we address feedback (keep it coming!) and make final improvements before making it generally available later this quarter.
This improved experience, while still familiar, is designed to help you better understand the state of your pull request and get it merged faster. To learn more, see the public preview announcement.
Recent fixes
There have been numerous bugs fixed and feature gaps filled since the public preview launched last year. Here are some notable fixes:
Fixed: Enabling auto-merge, deleting branch (after merging), or restoring branch previously failed with an unexpected error message.
Fixed: In certain scenarios, the commit author email address shown when merging the pull request would not match the email address in the resulting merge (or squash) commit.
Fixed: GitHub Actions workflow runs could only be approved from the classic merge experience.
To switch back to the classic experience, click the Switch back to the classic merge experience just below the merge experience on the Conversation page:
If you want to return to the improved experience, click Try the new merge experience below the merge box on the pull request page:
We want to hear from you! To provide feedback, ask questions, and see a list of known issues, visit the GitHub Community improved merge box discussion.
You can now iterate on your prompt in any user repositories without breaking your flow. With just one click, jump from a prompt in your GitHub-hosted code to the GitHub Models prompt editor:
This feature detects files with “prompt” in the content and uses 10 lines above and below the selected line as context. Once in the prompt editor, you can experiment with models, fine-tune your prompts, and customize parameters.
GitHub Models is a catalog and prompt editor of AI models to help you build AI features and products. You can start using models for free with just your GitHub PAT. This is the first of more features to come that will help with seamless integration between your existing workflow and the GitHub Models prompt editor!
