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 aideprecationengineer ·
GitHub Copilot Deprecates Gemini 2.5 Pro and 3 Flash Models
GitHub Copilot is deprecating Gemini 2.5 Pro and Gemini 3 Flash models as of July 31, 2026. This change affects all Copilot experiences, including chat and code completions. Users are advised to update workflows to supported alternatives like Gemini 3.1 Pro and 3.6 Flash, with administrators needing to enable these via Copilot settings.
deprecation - GitHub Changelog aiawspreviewengineer ·
GitHub Copilot Enterprise Teams Model Policy Targeting in Public Preview
GitHub Copilot Enterprise customers with Copilot Business or Enterprise licenses can now use user-based model policy targeting in public preview. This feature allows AI administrators to set baseline models for the enterprise and grant additional models to specific teams, enabling finer-grained control mapped to job roles or experimentation. Access begins rolling out on August 3rd, with opt-in available through an Enterprise teams mode toggle.
feature announcement - GitHub Changelog aideprecationengineer ·
GitHub Models officially retired
GitHub Models has been officially retired as of July 30, 2026, making its playground, catalog, and APIs unavailable. Existing customers with active usage are impacted. For AI model access, Microsoft Foundry and GitHub Copilot are recommended alternatives. Further details are available in the documentation and community forums.
deprecation - GitHub Changelog aiengineer ·
GitHub Copilot VS Code Updates: Agents, Chat, UI, and Accessibility
GitHub Copilot for VS Code received significant updates in July 2026, enhancing agent interactions, code review, and chat capabilities. These improvements aim to streamline developer workflows, offering features like multi-chat sessions, faster review tools, and better session management. The releases also introduce a modernized UI preview, improved editor and terminal navigation, and new accessibility features including built-in dictation. These changes affect developers and architects using Copilot within Visual Studio Code.
feature patch - GitHub Changelog infraengineer ·
GitHub Actions: Reference same-repo workflows with self-repository syntax
GitHub Actions now supports a new self-repository syntax (`$/`) to reference actions and reusable workflows within the same repository. This eliminates the need for checking out code or hardcoding versions, ensuring internal references remain consistent with the running commit SHA. This feature is available on github.com for runners version 2.336.0 and newer, simplifying maintenance and enabling adherence to enterprise policies requiring pinned action SHAs.
feature - GitHub Changelog infrapreviewengineer ·
GitHub Stacked Pull Requests Enter Public Preview
GitHub has launched Stacked Pull Requests in public preview, allowing engineers to break large changes into smaller, ordered, and reviewable pull requests. This feature aims to improve the review process for substantial code modifications, making it easier to maintain quality and speed up delivery. The preview is rolling out to all repositories, with merge queue support coming soon.
feature announcement - GitHub Changelog securityinfraengineer ·
GitHub Copilot restricts remote control to managed devices
GitHub Copilot now allows enterprises to limit remote control sessions to specific managed devices, enhancing administrative control. This new `remoteControl` enterprise setting allows administrators to mandate SSO authorization or tailor access per device, complementing existing policies. The feature is available via server-managed, MDM-managed, or file-based deployment mechanisms for users in enterprises.
feature - GitHub Changelog aiazurepreviewengineer ·
GitHub Copilot Visual Studio Update Adds New Agent, Skills, Code Review
GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio has released an update introducing a new agent in public preview, built-in expertise from .NET and Azure teams, and enhanced code review capabilities. This update aims to improve developer productivity by offering more tailored assistance and streamlined workflows. The new agent and skills are available to all plans, while organization-level custom instructions require a Business or Enterprise subscription.
feature announcement - GitHub Changelog aigapreviewengineer ·
GitHub Copilot Code Review: Agent Skills and MCP Now Generally Available
GitHub Copilot code review now offers generally available support for agent skills and MCP servers, enhancing reviews with team tools and external context. This feature, previously in public preview, integrates custom tools and data from third-party platforms directly into the review process. It is available to Copilot Pro, Pro+, Business, and Enterprise users, with existing preview configurations carrying over.
feature patch - GitHub Changelog aigaengineer ·
GitHub Copilot: Default Model Enablement for Business and Enterprise Plans
GitHub is rolling out a global default enablement policy for generally available Copilot models on Business and Enterprise plans. This change aims to simplify management by automatically enabling new models, requiring only an opt-out for organizations needing stricter governance. Admins have 28 days to configure this new policy before it takes effect on August 26, after which models not explicitly configured will follow the default setting unless manually overridden.
feature announcement - GitHub Changelog aiengineer ·
GitHub Copilot App Usage Metrics Expanded in API
GitHub has enhanced its Copilot usage metrics API to provide detailed insights into Copilot app activity, now attributing usage to individual users and breaking it down by feature, model, and language. This expansion allows organizations to better understand adoption and the impact of the Copilot app, comparing it against other Copilot surfaces. The new metrics are available in enterprise and organization reports, are backward compatible, and require specific permissions to access.
feature - GitHub Changelog securityengineermedia ·
npm Adds Publish-Time Malware Scanning and Dual-Use Metadata
npm now automatically scans packages for malware at publish time, introducing a brief delay before packages are available. This enhances supply-chain security for all users but may require automation updates to tolerate the delay. A new metadata requirement, `contentPolicy` in `package.json` and a `DISCLOSURE` file, is introduced for dual-use content to aid automated scanning and manual review. Publishers of dual-use packages must also enforce two-factor authentication during publishing.
feature security - GitHub Changelog aiengineer ·
Grok 4.5 reasoning model available in GitHub Copilot
Grok 4.5, xAI's latest reasoning model, is now rolling out in GitHub Copilot for various SKUs, offering fast, agentic coding with a 500,000 token context window. It supports text and image inputs and is designed for complex, time-sensitive workflows, showing strong performance in internal testing. Administrators must enable the Grok 4.5 policy, which is off by default, to access this model.
feature announcement - GitHub Changelog securityinfraengineer ·
GitHub Actions holds workflows for approval to prevent attacks
GitHub Actions now automatically holds potentially malicious workflows for approval before execution to prevent supply chain attacks. This measure requires a repository collaborator with write access to review and approve the workflow run through an authenticated web session. This protection is active for public repositories on GitHub.com and is not configurable by users. GitHub Enterprise Server is not affected by this change.
security announcement - GitHub Changelog securitygaengineer ·
Dependabot alerts expand to cover malicious packages from OpenSSF
GitHub's Dependabot alerts now incorporate malware advisories from the OpenSSF malicious-packages repository, broadening detection across ecosystems like npm and PyPI. This enhancement means users with malware alerting enabled will automatically benefit from expanded coverage, identifying risks from newly published malicious packages. To leverage this, users can enable malware alerting in repository settings or browse advisories directly on GitHub.
feature announcement - GitHub Changelog securityinfraengineer ·
GitHub Actions holds potentially malicious workflows for approval
GitHub Actions now holds certain workflow runs for approval to protect public repositories from supply chain attacks. This feature automatically prevents malicious workflows from executing until a collaborator with write access reviews and approves them via an authenticated web session. This protection is applied automatically and currently only affects public repositories on github.com, not GitHub Enterprise Server.
security announcement - GitHub Changelog aiinfraengineer ·
GitHub Copilot for JetBrains: Enhanced Config & Model Management
GitHub Copilot for JetBrains has been updated with improved OpenTelemetry configuration and model management, offering greater control over agent workflows and cost. This release introduces new options for token limits, disabling/enabling models, and integrating MCP servers and custom agents in Claude flows. The enhancements benefit engineers and architects managing observability, cost control, and custom IDE workflows.
feature patch - GitHub Changelog securitygovernanceengineer ·
GitHub Copilot enterprise managed settings expand to app and cloud agent
GitHub Copilot enterprise managed settings now extend to the Copilot app and cloud agent, allowing unified policy enforcement across multiple clients. This enables enterprise owners to control plugin usage, marketplace access, and prompt bypasses via a `managed-settings.json` file. This enhancement ensures consistent governance for developers using Copilot in various environments, including the app and cloud agent, mitigating security and compliance risks. The feature is available immediately for existing users of enterprise managed settings for CLI and VS Code.
feature - GitHub Changelog aiengineer ·
GitHub Copilot app access managed by new policy
GitHub now offers a dedicated policy to manage access to the Copilot application independently of the Copilot CLI. This feature provides enterprises and organizations granular control over who can use the Copilot app, enhancing security and compliance by aligning app usage with existing review and audit processes. The new policy is enabled by default, allowing immediate use by developers, and can be configured through enterprise or organization AI Controls.
feature - GitHub Changelog aiengineer ·
Claude Opus 5 model now available in GitHub Copilot
GitHub Copilot now supports Anthropic's Claude Opus 5, designed for complex coding tasks requiring multi-step reasoning and tool use. This new model enhances performance on agentic workflows and includes improved safeguards for cyber content, though these may occasionally block security-related requests. It's available to specific Copilot plan users, with gradual rollout and administrator policy enablement required.
feature announcement
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
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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.
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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.