Visual Studio October update adds Claude coding models

Microsoft has released the October 2025 update for Visual Studio 2022 (v17.14). The new release makes the Claude Sonnet 4.5 and Claude Haiku 4.5 coding models available in the GitHub Copilot chat window. Also for GitHub Copilot, the update adds Copilot memories, a feature that allows Copilot to remember project preferences, as well as support for instruction files and built-in planning for multi-step tasks.

The Visual Studio 2022 October update was announced October 30 and can be downloaded from visualstudio.microsoft.com.

With Claude Sonnet 4.5  and Claude Haiku 4.5 available in the GitHub Copilot chat window, the latest innovations for driving agentic workflows are right at the developer’s fingertips, Microsoft said. Copilot memories, meanwhile, enable Copilot to understand and apply a project’s specific coding standards, making the AI assistant project-aware and consistent across sessions. Memories use intelligent detection to understand project preferences as users prompt Copilot in the chat. Copilot then stores the preference in one of three files — .editorconfig for coding standards, CONTRIBUTING.md for best practices and guidelines, and README.md for high-level project information.

Also with the Visual Studio October update, GitHub Copilot in the IDE allows users to target specific instructions to specific folders or files in a repository by using instruction files. In addition, GitHub Copilot chat now has built-in planning to help guide multi-step tasks. When developers ask a complex question, Copilot automatically creates a markdown plan file with a task list, files to edit, and context. Copilot updates the plan in real time, tracking progress, adapting to blockers, and keeping its logic transparent, Microsoft said. 

Finally, two new commands are available for managing GitHub Copilot chat threads, /clear and /clearAll. The /clear command is to be used when issues are encountered with a current chat conversation that the developer would like to start fresh, while /clearAll can be used for clearing no-longer-needed threads.