Category: Visual Studio

Last updated: March 5, 2026

These release notes cover the Insiders build of VS Code and continue to evolve as new features are added. To try the latest updates, download Insiders.
To read these release notes online, go to code.visualstudio.com/updates.

You can still track our progress in the Commit log and our list of Closed issues.

These release notes were generated using GitHub Copilot and might contain inaccuracies.

Happy Coding!

March 5, 2026

• VS Code now recursively searches for *.instructions.md files in subdirectories under .github/instructions/, matching the behavior of Copilot CLI and web-based GitHub Copilot agents. Previously, only files in the root .github/instructions/ directory were discovered. #295944

• You can now copy the name of an item in the Source Control Repositories view by using the context menu option Copy Stash Name, Copy Branch Name, or other. #289824

• Custom agent frontmatter now supports agent-scoped chat hooks. These hooks only run when the custom agent is selected or invoked via runSubagent. #299337

• A new /troubleshoot slash command injects agent mode event logs into the chat context. Use it to ask the agent which customizations are loaded, how many tokens are consumed, debug instructions, and more. #299344

• CLI sessions now support folder and repository isolation, in addition to worktree isolation. #299376

March 4, 2026

• AI CLI terminal profiles now get a dedicated group in the terminal dropdown, making them easier to discover instead of being listed among other profiles. #293554

March 3, 2026

• MCP Apps now support file downloads. #298836

• Add Ctrl+F5 keyboard shortcut for a page refresh in the integrated browser, instead of unexpectedly opening the browser debugger. #291219

March 2, 2026

• Added OpenTelemetry instrumentation support for Copilot Chat, enabling observability and performance tracing. #298834

• Chat tips now only appear when a single chat session or the welcome view is visible, avoiding tips in sessions where multiple chat editors are open. #297759

• After a user acts on or dismisses a chat tip, no more tips are shown for the rest of that session. #297682

• You can now Go to Definition on localization placeholder strings (for example, %config.settingName%) in package.json to jump directly to the corresponding entry in package.nls.json. #297496

• Selecting an agent plugin in the Extensions view now opens a detail view with an uninstall button, rendered README, and a list of contributed features. #297246

March 1, 2026

• Markdown tables in chat now render with a horizontal scrollbar and improved column widths. #265062

February 28, 2026

• Full-width CJK punctuation characters now render with consistent widths. #242138

• Add a new foldedLine unit to the cursorMove command, enabling vim-like cursor movement that treats each folded region as a single step. #81498

February 27, 2026

• Adjusts chat accessibility announcements so the accessibility.verboseChatProgressUpdates setting is respected, reducing unintended speech output (e.g. auto-synthesized TTS) for in-progress “thinking”/progress content. #296720

• The confirm button in the ask_questions tool’s multi-page UI is repositioned on the last page to prevent overlap with the next-page arrow. #292404

• Theme token customization now supports relative numeric values for font sizes and weights, instead of requiring absolute numbers. #285891

We really appreciate people trying our new features as soon as they are ready, so check back here often and learn what’s new.

I upgraded an old solution to Visual Studio 2015, and ran into trouble with one of the .asmx web services. I have a number of them in this solution, and IIS express loads and runs them all correctly, except one. This one service always returns a 404 if I try to load the .asmx URL in IIS express. It runs correctly in full-blown IIS.

None of the problems I’ve found online solve my situation. Here are the details:

1. The web.config files of the working and non-working web services are identical.
2. The IIS express/.csproj configuration is identical, except for the port and project names, and a few different assembly references.
3. The projects are virtually identical as well, with only a single .asmx service file with a code behind .asmx.cs and .asmx.resx files.
4. The C:\Users[my username]\IIS Express\config\applicationhost.config doesn’t list any of the working or non-working services, so that can’t be the difference.
5. Examining the complete trace from C:\Users[my username]\IIS Express\TraceLogFiles[service]\fr000040.xml for a request on working and non-working services, they are virtually identical right up to step 109, AspNetMapHandlerEnter. The working service goes right to AspNetMapHandlerLeave at step 110, where the non-working service sets a few cache headers and then at step 112 sets the status code to 404 with a “warning” label on it.

I’m not sure what’s going on here or what I can do next, so any suggestions would be much appreciated.

I am having trouble configuring Visual Studio 2022 to sign Git commits for GitHub using SSH or GPG keys.

I tried setting up GPG signing using the following commands:

git config --global user.signingkey 3AA5C34371567BD2
git config --global commit.gpgsign true

However, when I try to make a commit in Visual Studio.

I get the following error:

Your Git hook is not supported. This is probably because the first line is not "#!/bin/sh".

I checked all the files in the .git/hooks directory and they all have #!/bin/sh as the first line.

If I don’t set git config --global commit.gpgsign true, the commit goes through but on GitHub it is marked as unverified.

How can I properly configure Visual Studio to sign Git commits for GitHub using SSH or GPG keys? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Update:

I found a solution for signing commits with SSH in Visual Studio 2022. Here are the steps I followed:

1. Edit the gitConfig file using the command git config --global --edit.
2. Add the following line: [gpg "ssh"] sshCommand = C:/Windows/System32/OpenSSH/ssh.exe.
3. Run the following commands:
   git config --global gpg.format ssh,
   git config --global user.signingkey /C:/Users/Admin/.ssh/id_signinged25519.pub and
   git config --global commit.gpgsign true.

Now, when I do a PUSH with Visual Studio, the commits have the verified label in GitHub.

.Net 9.0 maui – 2026

AndroidManifest.xml

<!-- to App update apk -->
<provider
  android:name="androidx.core.content.FileProvider"
  android:authorities="com.companyname.xxxx.fileprovider"
  android:exported="false"
  android:grantUriPermissions="true">
  <meta-data
        android:name="android.support.FILE_PROVIDER_PATHS"
        android:resource="@xml/file_path"/>
</provider>

add /Android/Resources/xml/file_path.xaml

<paths>  
    <files-path name="my_files" path="." />    
    <cache-path name="my_cache" path="." />   
    <external-path name="my_external" path="." />    
    <root-path name="root" path="." />
</paths>

add clsse /Android
//https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2141510/how-to-update-version-in-apk-maui-application-auto

public static class apkInstallHelper
{

     private const int RequestCode = 200;
       public static void InstallAPK(string filepath)
       {

        if (Build.VERSION.SdkInt >= BuildVersionCodes.R && !Platform.CurrentActivity.PackageManager.CanRequestPackageInstalls())

        {
            Intent intent = new Intent(Settings.ActionManageUnknownAppSources);

            intent.SetData(Uri.Parse("package:" + Platform.CurrentActivity.PackageName));

            Platform.CurrentActivity.StartActivityForResult(intent, RequestCode);
        }

        installApk(filepath);
    }

private static void installApk(string filepath)
{

        Java.IO.File file = new Java.IO.File(filepath);

        Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ActionView);
        Uri apkUri = FileProvider.GetUriForFile(Platform.CurrentActivity, "com.companyname.micropresdev.fileprovider", file);

        intent.SetDataAndType(apkUri, "application/vnd.android.package-archive");
        intent.SetFlags(ActivityFlags.NewTask | ActivityFlags.GrantReadUriPermission);
        Platform.CurrentActivity.StartActivity(intent);
    }
}

go to update:

{
            string urlS3 = "https://your server/update.apk"; 
            string caminhoPrivado = Path.Combine(FileSystem.AppDataDirectory, "update.apk");

        try
        {
               using var client = new HttpClient();

   
               var data = await client.GetByteArrayAsync(urlS3);

              await File.WriteAllBytesAsync(caminhoPrivado, data);

              MicroPresDEV.Platforms.Droid.apkInstallHelper.InstallAPK(caminhoPrivado);
    


           }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
               await Shell.Current.DisplayAlert("Erro S3", "Falha no download: " +  ex.Message, "OK");
         }


}

This is a visual studio problem not a MSBuild problem. So the solution is just to factor out the duplicate items into a separate MSBuild file

.vcxproj

<Import Project="MyShader.targets" />

MyShader.targets

<Project xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/msbuild/2003">
  <ItemGroup>
    <FxCompile Include="MyShader.hlsl">
      <PreprocessorDefinitions>USE_X=1</PreprocessorDefinitions>
      <ObjectFileOutput>MyShader_USEX.cso</ObjectFileOutput>
    </FxCompile>

    <FxCompile Include="MyShader.hlsl">
      <PreprocessorDefinitions>USE_Y=1</PreprocessorDefinitions>
      <ObjectFileOutput>MyShader_USEY.cso</ObjectFileOutput>
    </FxCompile>

    <FxCompile Include="MyShader.hlsl">
      <PreprocessorDefinitions>USE_X=1;USE_Y=1;USE_Z=1</PreprocessorDefinitions>
      <ObjectFileOutput>MyShader_XYZ.cso</ObjectFileOutput>
    </FxCompile>
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

I have a python script to generate the .targets file

Edit:

My project didn’t load when I opened up visual studio this morning 🤦‍♂️. I’ve opened a ticket

https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/Cannot-load-project-with-an-import-with/11045727

I’m just going to have my python script generate a file for each permutation.

I’m using MSVC with a .vcxproj project.

I want a specific file (xyz.cpp) to:

• Be included only for a specific Configuration|Platform (e.g. Debug|x64)

• Be completely absent in other configurations

• Not appear in Solution Explorer

• Not be searchable in the project when not active

I do not want to use <ExcludedFromBuild> because the file still shows up in the editor and search, which creates noise.

So far I tried conditioning the ItemGroup in the .vcxproj:

<ItemGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">
  <ClCompile Include="path\to\xyz.cpp" />
</ItemGroup>

However:

• Switching configurations does not update the UI

There are no other explicit references to xyz.cpp in the project file (as far as I can see).

Question:

What is the correct way in a C++ .vcxproj project to conditionally include a source file so that it is completely hidden from the project (including Solution Explorer) when the configuration/platform condition does not match?

Is this even supported reliably by the VC project system?

TL;DR: if you do have the right .NET Core (or .NET I guess) runtime installed, install any patch updates or reinstall the latest version if there aren’t any.

Detail:
Similar to a couple of other answers where they just didn’t have the right .NET core installed. I was trying to run a .NET Core 3.1 web app which had worked fine previously for months, and this suddenly started happening.

I did have 3.1 (runtimes 3.1.21 and 3.1.22) installed. However a new one (3.1.23) had been released 12 days earlier, and installing that fixed the problem.

I have no idea if this was because it’s aware that there’s a new patch and I didn’t have it so it wouldn’t run, or if there was just something wrong with my 3.1.22 installation. Worth trying installing latest patch, or reinstalling existing installations.

What you could do is program Roslyn, the (not so) new cool kid in town. It allows you to parse C# (or VB.NET) projects quite easily. Then you can visit the detected nodes and check what you really want to check. Detecting magic literals for a machine is not always as easy as it seems for a human. For example, is 1 really a magic number? I personally consider it’s not, but 2 is more suspect…

Anyway, here is a small sample that does a good part of the job I believe, but it could/should be improved, maybe to tailor your exact business needs or rules (which is very interesting).

Note Roslyn can also be used directly in the context of Visual Studio, so you could turn this sample into what’s called a diagnostic (an extension to Visual Studio) that can help you directly live from within the IDE. There are samples for this: Samples and Walkthroughs

internal class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var text = @" 
public class MyClass 
{ 
public void MyMethod() 
{ 
    const int i = 0; // this is ok
    decimal d = 11; // this is not ok
    string s = ""magic"";
    if (i == 29) // another magic
    {
    }
    else if (s != ""again another magic"")
    {
    }
}
}";
        ScanHardcodedFromText("test.cs", text, (n, s) =>
        {
            Console.WriteLine(" " + n.SyntaxTree?.GetLineSpan(n.FullSpan) + ": " + s);
        }).Wait();
    }

    public static async Task ScanHardcodedFromText(string documentName, string text, Action<SyntaxNodeOrToken, string> scannedFunction)
    {
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(documentName);
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(text);
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(scannedFunction);

        var ws = new AdhocWorkspace();
        var project = ws.AddProject(documentName + "Project", LanguageNames.CSharp);
        ws.AddDocument(project.Id, documentName, SourceText.From(text));
        await ScanHardcoded(ws, scannedFunction);
    }

    public static async Task ScanHardcodedFromSolution(string solutionFilePath, Action<SyntaxNodeOrToken, string> scannedFunction)
    {
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(solutionFilePath);
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(scannedFunction);

        var ws = MSBuildWorkspace.Create();
        await ws.OpenSolutionAsync(solutionFilePath);
        await ScanHardcoded(ws, scannedFunction);
    }

    public static async Task ScanHardcodedFromProject(string solutionFilePath, Action<SyntaxNodeOrToken, string> scannedFunction)
    {
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(solutionFilePath);
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(scannedFunction);

        var ws = MSBuildWorkspace.Create();
        await ws.OpenProjectAsync(solutionFilePath);
        await ScanHardcoded(ws, scannedFunction);
    }

    public static async Task ScanHardcoded(Workspace workspace, Action<SyntaxNodeOrToken, string> scannedFunction)
    {
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(workspace);
        ArgumentNullException.ThrowIfNull(scannedFunction);

        foreach (var project in workspace.CurrentSolution.Projects)
        {
            foreach (var document in project.Documents)
            {
                var tree = await document.GetSyntaxTreeAsync();
                if (tree == null)
                    continue;

                var root = await tree.GetRootAsync();
                foreach (var n in root.DescendantNodesAndTokens())
                {
                    if (!CanBeMagic(n.Kind()))
                        continue;

                    if (IsWellKnownConstant(n))
                        continue;

                    if (IsMagic(n, out var suggestion))
                    {
                        scannedFunction(n, suggestion);
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }

    public static bool IsMagic(SyntaxNodeOrToken kind, [NotNullWhen(true)] out string? suggestion)
    {
        var vdec = kind.Parent?.Ancestors().OfType<VariableDeclarationSyntax>().FirstOrDefault();
        if (vdec != null)
        {
            if (vdec.Parent is MemberDeclarationSyntax dec)
            {
                if (!HasConstOrEquivalent(dec))
                {
                    suggestion = "member declaration could be const: " + dec.ToFullString();
                    return true;
                }
            }
            else
            {
                if (vdec.Parent is LocalDeclarationStatementSyntax ldec)
                {
                    if (!HasConstOrEquivalent(ldec))
                    {
                        suggestion = "local declaration contains at least one non const value: " + ldec.ToFullString();
                        return true;
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        else
        {
            var expr = kind.Parent?.Ancestors().OfType<ExpressionSyntax>().FirstOrDefault();
            if (expr != null)
            {
                suggestion = "expression uses a non const value: " + expr.ToFullString();
                return true;
            }
        }

        // TODO: add other cases?

        suggestion = null;
        return false;
    }

    private static bool IsWellKnownConstant(SyntaxNodeOrToken node)
    {
        if (!node.IsToken)
            return false;

        var text = node.AsToken().Text;
        if (text == null)
            return false;

        // note: this is naïve. we also should add 0d, 0f, 0m, etc.
        if (text == "1" || text == "-1" || text == "0")
            return true;

        // ok for '\0' or '\r', etc.
        if (text.Length == 4 && text.StartsWith("'\\") && text.EndsWith('\''))
            return true;

        if (text == "' '")
            return true;

        // TODO add more of these? or make it configurable...

        return false;
    }

    private static bool CanBeMagic(SyntaxKind kind) => kind == SyntaxKind.CharacterLiteralToken || kind == SyntaxKind.NumericLiteralToken || kind == SyntaxKind.StringLiteralToken;
    private static bool HasConstOrEquivalent(SyntaxNode node)
    {
        var hasStatic = false;
        var hasReadOnly = false;
        foreach (var tok in node.ChildTokens())
        {
            switch (tok.Kind())
            {
                case SyntaxKind.ReadOnlyKeyword:
                    hasReadOnly = true;
                    if (hasStatic)
                        return true;
                    break;

                case SyntaxKind.StaticKeyword:
                    hasStatic = true;
                    if (hasReadOnly)
                        return true;
                    break;

                case SyntaxKind.ConstKeyword:
                    return true;
            }
        }
        return false;
    }
}

It requires the following nuget packages:

• Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp
• Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp.Workspaces
• Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.Workspaces.MSBuild

If you run this little program (I’ve also provided helper methods to use it on solution or projects), it will output this:

 test.cs: (6,20)-(6,22): local declaration contains at least one non const value:         decimal d = 11; // this is not ok

 test.cs: (7,19)-(7,26): local declaration contains at least one non const value:         string s = "magic";

 test.cs: (8,17)-(8,19): expression uses a non const value: i == 29
 test.cs: (11,22)-(11,43): expression uses a non const value: s != "again another magic"