C++ Team Blog

The latest in C++, Visual Studio, VS Code, and vcpkg from the MSFT C++ team

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C++ symbol context and CMake build configuration awareness for GitHub Copilot in VS Code
Feb 19, 2026
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C++ symbol context and CMake build configuration awareness for GitHub Copilot in VS Code

Sinem Akinci
Sinem Akinci

C++ code navigation and build system tooling play an important role in the developer inner-loop. Code navigation tooling provides a precise, semantic understanding of your codebase, while build system tooling helps you express build configurations and variants for reproducible builds. In the VS Code ecosystem, these powerful capabilities are available through our C/C++ and CMake Tools extensions.With the latest updates to GitHub Copilot in VS Code, we're bringing the same C++-specific intelligence directly into agent mode by surfacing key language and build system capabilities as tools the agent can invoke. T...

Microsoft C++ (MSVC) Build Tools v14.51 Preview Released: How to Opt In
Feb 19, 2026
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Microsoft C++ (MSVC) Build Tools v14.51 Preview Released: How to Opt In

Augustin Popa
Augustin Popa

Today we are releasing the first preview of the Microsoft C++ (MSVC) Build Tools version 14.51. This update, shipping in the latest Visual Studio 2026 version 18.4 Insiders release, introduces many C++23 conformance changes, bug fixes, and runtime performance improvements. Check out the release notes for an in-progress list of what’s new. Conformance improvements and bug fixes will be detailed in an upcoming blog post and Insiders release notes in the near future.We plan to ship more frequent, incremental MSVC Build Tools previews, just as we are shipping more frequent IDE updates. As a result, we have adjust...

What’s New in vcpkg (Nov 2025 – Jan 2026)
Feb 6, 2026
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What’s New in vcpkg (Nov 2025 – Jan 2026)

Augustin Popa
Augustin Popa

This blog post summarizes changes to the vcpkg package manager as part of the 2025.12.12 and 2026.01.16 registry releases and the 2025-11-13, 2025-11-18, 2025-11-19, 2025-12-05, and 2025-12-16 tool releases. These updates include support for targeting the Xbox GDK October 2025 update, removing a misleading and outdated output message, and other minor improvements and bug fixes.Some stats for this period: vcpkg changelog (2025.12.12, 2026.01.16 releases) Total ports available for tested tripletsWhile vcpkg supports a much larger variety of target platforms ...

MSVC Build Tools Versions 14.30 – 14.43 Now Available in Visual Studio 2026
Feb 4, 2026
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MSVC Build Tools Versions 14.30 – 14.43 Now Available in Visual Studio 2026

Augustin Popa
Augustin Popa

When Visual Studio 2026 reached General Availability in November, it included several versions of the Microsoft C++ (MSVC) Build Tools: To make it easier to bring your Visual Studio 2022 projects to Visual Studio 2026, we are now including all the versions of MSVC that shipped in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.0 and later to the Visual Studio 2026 installer. This includes MSVC versions 14.30 – 14.43 and x64/x86 and ARM64/ARM64EC build targets. This change also addresses a request from our users on Visual Studio Developer Community.With these new options in the installer, you can tr...

GitHub Copilot app modernization for C++ is now in Public Preview
Jan 27, 2026
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GitHub Copilot app modernization for C++ is now in Public Preview

Michael Price
Michael Price

With the launch of Visual Studio 2026, we announced a Private Preview of GitHub Copilot app modernization for C++, which reduces the cost of adopting the latest version of the MSVC Build Tools. We used the feedback we received from our many Private Preview participants to make improvements that benefit all our users. After receiving feedback, we added support for CMake projects, reduced hallucinations, removed several critical failures, improved Copilot’s behavior when encountering an internal compiler error, and reinforced Copilot’s understanding of when project files need to be modified to do the upgrade.He...

Visual Studio Code CMake Tools 1.22: Target bookmarks and better CTest output
Jan 27, 2026
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Visual Studio Code CMake Tools 1.22: Target bookmarks and better CTest output

Sinem Akinci
Sinem Akinci

We're excited to announce the latest 1.22 release of the CMake Tools extension for Visual Studio Code. This update brings a host of new additions, including project outline updates for filtering and bookmarking CMake targets in large CMake projects and expanded CTest support to customize this output. To view the full list of updates with this release, please look at our CHANGELOG.This release features the following contributions from our open-source community. Thank you for your continued support! Project Outline view updates: Filter and bookmark your CMake TargetsNaviga...

Now in Public Preview: GitHub Copilot build performance for Windows
Jan 21, 2026
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Now in Public Preview: GitHub Copilot build performance for Windows

David Li
David Li

Last year, we launched our new GitHub Copilot build performance capabilities in Private Preview. With help from our fantastic C++ community, we gathered insights and addressed key feedback. We’re happy to share that GitHub Copilot build performance for Windows is now in Public Preview. Today, all C++ developers can try out the new capabilities in the latest Visual Studio 2026 Insiders.“I've tried the feature for a few hours and I'm happily impressed. The agent provided accurate suggestions, implemented them, and managed to reduce my build time by about 20%." - Alessandro Vergani, ARGO VisionOptimizing Bui...

C++ code editing tools for GitHub Copilot: now in Public Preview
Dec 16, 2025
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C++ code editing tools for GitHub Copilot: now in Public Preview

Sinem Akinci
Sinem Akinci

In November, we introduced C++ code editing tools for GitHub Copilot as a Private Preview, focusing on partnering with customers to tackle one of the common, taxing challenges for C++ development: refactoring at scale. Since then, we've listened to feedback and refined our tooling to make wide-sweeping C++ edits easier."With C++ code editing tools for GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio, we've seen noticeably better overall results, with fewer errors and faster processing on large projects." - Software engineer (from our Private Preview)We're excited to announce that C++ code editing tools for GitHub Copilot are ...

New release cadence and support lifecycle for Microsoft C++ Build Tools
Nov 24, 2025
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New release cadence and support lifecycle for Microsoft C++ Build Tools

Marian Luparu
Marian Luparu

Starting with Visual Studio 2026, we are introducing a new support lifecycle for the Microsoft C++ (MSVC) Build Tools. We are also updating the MSVC release cadence.As Visual Studio moves to a Modern Lifecycle with monthly feature updates and an annual new version, decoupling the compiler from the IDE offers you the best of both worlds – rapid iteration in the IDE and predictable, long-term stability for the build tools. This approach brings you the latest C++ advancements across both IDE and build tools while helping you maintain secure and compliant build environments, with enterprise-grade support, and fle...

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