GitHub Releases
GitHub changelog, platform updates, and Copilot coding-assistant releases. New features, breaking changes, security advisories and deprecations - each summarised in plain English and updated continuously.
Tracking 199 GitHub releases · Updated
- GitHub Changelog infraengineer ·
Dependabot stops inferring .npmrc, uses dependabot.yml scope instead
Dependabot will no longer infer .npmrc configuration for npm private registries, resolving frequent authentication failures caused by lockfile inconsistencies. Instead, users can now define a `scope` property in their `dependabot.yml`, which becomes the authoritative source for registry configuration and takes precedence over committed .npmrc files. This enhancement is available for all github.com users and will ship in GHES 3.23.
patch - GitHub Changelog securityinfraengineer ·
GitHub Actions limits cache access for untrusted triggers
GitHub Actions now issues read-only cache tokens for untrusted triggers targeting the default branch, mitigating privilege escalation via cache poisoning. Previously, read-write tokens were issued for all events, allowing malicious actors to compromise trusted workflows. This change primarily affects untrusted workflows that write to the default-branch cache, which will now receive warnings and fail to save cache entries. To maintain caching benefits, a separate workflow with read-write access (e.g., 'push') should be used for cache saves.
security feature - GitHub Changelog aipreviewengineer ·
Claude Opus 4.8 fast mode available in GitHub Copilot preview
GitHub Copilot is now previewing Claude Opus 4.8 in fast mode, offering substantially improved output speeds for interactive coding and agentic workflows. While priced higher than standard Opus 4.8, this fast mode is billed at provider list pricing and is available to Copilot Pro+, Max, Business, and Enterprise users. Administrators need to enable the fast mode policy for their organization.
feature announcement - GitHub Changelog governanceengineer ·
GitHub restricts issue creation to collaborators only
Repository admins can now restrict issue creation to collaborators with write access, offering greater control and reducing unwanted issues. This change ensures only active maintainers and contributors can open issues, aligning with existing pull request permission controls. The setting is accessible via repository settings under Features and Issues.
feature - GitHub Changelog aigovernanceengineer ·
GitHub Copilot reports now track total merged PRs by AI adoption phase
GitHub's Copilot usage metrics API now includes total pull request merges per AI adoption phase in enterprise and organization reports. This enhancement allows administrators to calculate each phase's contribution to merged PRs and compare absolute throughput across phases, providing better insight into the impact of AI adoption on delivery velocity. These metrics are available to enterprise administrators and organization owners via the REST API.
feature - GitHub Changelog aigaengineer ·
GitHub Copilot Business and Enterprise gain MAI-Code-1-Flash
Microsoft's MAI-Code-1-Flash model is now generally available for GitHub Copilot Business and Enterprise. This model is optimized for coding, offering fast, low-latency responses for iterative workflows. Administrators must enable the MAI-Code-1-Flash policy in Copilot settings for users to access it.
feature announcement - GitHub Changelog aiengineer ·
GitHub Desktop 3.6: Worktrees, Copilot for Commits and Conflicts
GitHub Desktop 3.6 enhances Git workflows by integrating GitHub Copilot for commit authoring and merge conflict resolution, leveraging the new Copilot SDK. It also introduces Git worktree support, enabling parallel work across multiple branches. This update aims to streamline development by keeping users in their flow, especially when using AI coding assistants. The release is available now for macOS and Windows, with Copilot features requiring a GitHub Copilot subscription.
feature - GitHub Changelog aigapreviewengineer ·
GitHub Copilot for Jira reaches General Availability
GitHub Copilot for Jira has launched as generally available, incorporating feedback from its March 2026 preview. The update introduces real-time agent progress streaming within Jira issues and post-session steering for pull requests, allowing continued instructions without creating new pull requests. Onboarding has also been simplified, reducing setup steps for connecting GitHub organizations and repositories.
feature announcement - GitHub Changelog aigapreviewengineer ·
GitHub Copilot for Jira reaches General Availability
GitHub Copilot for Jira is now generally available after a public preview that began in March 2026. This release includes real-time progress monitoring within Jira issues and post-session steering for agents to refine draft pull requests, streamlining the development workflow. Onboarding has also been simplified, requiring fewer configuration steps to connect GitHub organizations and repositories. The update is available via the Atlassian Marketplace for existing and new users.
feature announcement - GitHub Changelog securitypreviewengineer ·
GitHub Copilot CLI and VS Code restrict plugin installs
Enterprises can now control which plugins users can install in GitHub Copilot CLI and VS Code via new enterprise-managed settings. This feature, currently in public preview, helps enforce client governance by allowing plugins only from explicitly defined marketplaces. This applies to users licensed through Copilot Business or Copilot Enterprise accounts.
feature announcement - GitHub Changelog aiengineer ·
Copilot Code Review: Deeper Analysis and Efficiency Gains
Copilot code review now leverages built-in CLI file exploration tools for improved cost efficiency without workflow changes. Users in the Medium analysis depth public preview gain new configurability and visibility options, including attribution in PR comments and organization-level default level settings. These enhancements reduce review costs by approximately 20% while maintaining review quality, benefiting developers and architects using Copilot for code reviews.
feature patch - GitHub Changelog infragaengineer ·
GitHub Actions: More Control Over Hosted Runners
GitHub Actions now offers organizations enhanced control over their hosted runners. Administrators can disable default runner labels and manage macOS runners through groups, improving security and capacity management. This feature is available for Team and Enterprise plans, providing granular control over runner access and concurrency.
feature - GitHub Changelog governancepreviewengineer ·
GitHub Issues adds saved views, Projects gets adjustable row heights
GitHub Issues now supports saved views, enabling teams to create and share filtered lists of issues for easier organization and access. This feature also integrates GitHub Projects more closely, with saved views appearing in a new sidebar. Additionally, Projects table layouts now offer adjustable row heights, allowing users to choose between Single, Medium, Tall, or Extra Tall to accommodate more information. These updates aim to improve issue management and project planning workflows.
feature announcement - GitHub Changelog infragaengineer ·
GitHub Actions supports running workflow steps in parallel
GitHub Actions now supports running workflow steps concurrently using the `background` keyword, allowing steps to execute in parallel while maintaining distinct logs. This enhancement enables more efficient job execution by handling patterns like parallel builds or starting background services without interleaved logs. Previously, developers relied on shell backgrounding which complicated log management. This feature is available now with new keywords `background`, `wait`, `wait-all`, and `cancel`.
feature - GitHub Changelog securityinfraengineer ·
npm adds preventive account protection for high-impact accounts
npm has introduced a new preventive safeguard for accounts managing critical packages, adding a 72-hour read-only state after detecting sensitive changes like email updates or 2FA recovery code usage. This measure aims to block account-takeover attacks that have been exploited in recent supply chain incidents, ensuring package availability and user security.
feature security - GitHub Changelog infrapreviewengineer ·
GitHub Actions RHEL runner images in public preview
GitHub Actions now offers Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9 and RHEL 10 images for larger runners in public preview, developed in partnership with Red Hat. These images provide a foundation for organizations to build custom runner environments with their specific tools and configurations. The RHEL images are available for Linux x64 larger runners, and users can select them as partner images when creating a new runner.
announcement - GitHub Changelog governanceawsengineer ·
GitHub Cost Centers Now Support Enterprise Teams
GitHub Enterprise Cloud now allows enterprise teams to be added as resources within cost centers for improved cost attribution. This feature automatically updates attribution as team membership changes via SCIM, aligning billing with organizational structure. Enterprise owners and billing managers can access this in Billing and licensing settings to manage budgets and spending caps by group.
feature - GitHub Changelog securitygovernanceengineer ·
GitHub Enterprise: Self-service credential revocation for incident response
GitHub Enterprise owners can now instantly revoke all credentials for a given user to speed up incident response. This feature allows enterprise owners and specific members to revoke SSO authorizations and delete user tokens/SSH keys programmatically or through a new self-service portal for individual users. Enterprise members can also manage their own credentials via a new self-service experience. The changes aim to improve security incident response times and provide better control over enterprise credentials.
feature security - GitHub Changelog aigaengineereducation ·
Copilot Free/Student Plans Default to Auto Model Selection
GitHub Copilot's Free and Student plans now default to automatic model selection, simplifying the user experience by dynamically choosing the best model for tasks. This change provides access to multiple model families while removing manual choice and the 'Preview' label for Microsoft-released models. Users can find more details in the documentation, and discussions are available on the GitHub Community.
feature patch - GitHub Changelog aiazureengineer ·
GitHub Copilot App Adds Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) Support
The GitHub Copilot app now supports BYOK, allowing users to connect their own model providers like Azure OpenAI, Anthropic, and self-hosted options. This feature enhances flexibility by enabling users to choose models based on session needs while keeping traffic within their own cloud tenants. BYOK is available for Copilot Business and Enterprise users who have the Copilot CLI enabled.
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About GitHub release tracking on ReleaseBytes
The GitHub changelog covers Actions, Copilot, code security, the API and the platform itself — dozens of entries a week. ReleaseBytes summarises each changelog entry and tags breaking changes and deprecations (like Actions runner image retirements and API sunsets) so platform teams catch them before workflows break.
Frequently asked questions
How often are GitHub release notes updated on ReleaseBytes? ›
Continuously. ReleaseBytes monitors the official GitHub release channels around the clock and publishes a plain-English summary of each announcement shortly after it lands.
What kinds of GitHub changes does ReleaseBytes track? ›
New features, enhancements, bug fixes, security advisories, breaking changes, deprecations and end-of-life announcements. Every item is tagged by type so you can filter to just the changes that need action.
How can I get alerts for new GitHub releases? ›
Set up a free email or Slack alert filtered to GitHub, subscribe to the weekly digest, or follow the RSS feed. Teams can also install the ReleaseBytes GitHub App or connect via MCP.
Where does the GitHub release data come from? ›
From the official sources: GitHub changelog, platform updates, and Copilot coding-assistant releases. Every item links back to the original vendor announcement.