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Announcing GA of Safe Key Rotation in Azure Cosmos DB
In our previous post, we introduced the private preview of Safe Key Rotation, a feature that helps Azure Cosmos DB customers avoid service disruptions during key rotations. By showing when each account key was last used, it helps teams make informed decisions before rotating keys or moving to Entra ID. This capability addresses a common challenge: keys that appear unused may still support critical applications, which can lead to unexpected outages if they are rotated too soon. What is new? With public preview, we are expanding this capability to give you even more control and confidence when managing you...
PowerToys 0.102 is here: new mouse utilities, Command Palette improvements and much more
We're back with a fresh PowerToys release! This one brings two new mouse utilities, Mouse Button Lock and CursorHide, an optional quick-access shelf for Command Palette, snip dictation in ZoomIt, and a set of new command-line tools for automating PowerToys. Color Picker and Text Extractor also move to WinUI 3, and Keyboard Manager picks up some long-requested remapping features. Get the update by checking for updates in PowerToys or by heading to the release page. Let's dive in! 🖱️ Mouse Button Lock and CursorHide Holding a mouse button down during a long drag or selection can be tiring. With Mouse Button Loc...
Go 1.27.3-1 and 1.26.10-1 Microsoft builds now available
A new release of the Microsoft build of Go including security fixes is now available for download.
Announcing TypeScript 7.1 Beta
Today we're excited to announce the beta release of TypeScript 7.1! Let's take a look at what's new in TypeScript 7.1! Support for Import Attributes in Ambient Modules Import attributes are metadata that are attached to import statements. Typically, they're meant to instruct runtimes and bundlers on how to interpret the content of an import, as well as the shape of the resulting module. For example, Everything in the object following the keyword is an import attribute. Environments like browsers can't simply decide how to deal with an import based on file name extensions like . Specifying tells what...
Activatable Extension Points
We often talk about "running an application", "launching an app", or "starting an app". This conjures up visions of spinning up a new process, giving the application life. For packaged applications, Windows has a specific term for bringing an application to life: activation. Bringing a packaged process to life involves more than ordinary unpackaged process creation. Windows calls this machine "activation". Activation does more than simply create a process. Among other things, it creates the new process with the appropriate package identity. Activation also verifies the package is in an appropriate state befor...
Azure DevOps available in Microsoft Copilot
The Azure DevOps Plugin is now available in Microsoft Copilot. It brings Azure DevOps directly into Copilot Chat, Cowork, and Code, so you can work with your projects, work items, pull requests, test plans, pipelines, and more without switching to Azure DevOps. The plugin also includes built-in skills to help with everyday development tasks. You can quickly see what needs your attention, triage bugs, and turn ideas or feature requests into structured backlogs with epics, features, user stories, and acceptance criteria. All of this can be done directly from Copilot. Copilot with Azure DevOps One of the biggest ...
Can a local git remote replace GitHub in your agent eval?
We swapped GitHub for a local git remote in our agent evals. Rebasing and pushing on request were unaffected, but the agent pushed on its own 11 points less often. Here's when a local remote is a safe shortcut, and when it isn't.
Work IQ: the new retrieve tool
The new Work IQ Retrieve tool grounds agents in the context of work, helping them reason over the right information and deliver more relevant, trustworthy responses. With one retrieval layer across work sources, developers can give agents richer organizational context without building separate search systems. Retrieve: grounded answers across work sources The new MCP tool named searches a user's workplace data—including email, files, meetings, Teams messages and people, as well as connected enterprise sources. As with any other tool offered by Work IQ, each user will be able to retrieve information only fr...
Go 1.27.2-2 Microsoft build now available
A new release of the Microsoft build of Go is now available for download.
Get Your .NET MAUI App Ready for Xcode 27
Use an agent skill to prepare your existing .NET MAUI app for Xcode 27, with the scene lifecycle changes and manual migration steps explained.
Bring Your Own Model to the GitHub Copilot SDK with C#
The GitHub Copilot SDK gives your application an agent runtime. BYOK lets you keep that runtime while sending model requests to your own Microsoft Foundry or Azure OpenAI deployment. Here is the complete C# setup.
Plan Your Java Upgrade Ahead of Microsoft’s 2027 Support Milestones
In April 2021, we announced the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK. We were starting with a preview of our Java 11 builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Today, if you're planning a Java upgrade on Azure, you have several generations of that work to build on: 11, 17, 21, and now 25. Java 8 has been part of that work too, with help from the fine folks at the Eclipse Foundation's Eclipse Adoptium project. Microsoft has supported Java 8 on Azure using their Eclipse Temurin builds of OpenJDK 8, rather than producing a Microsoft Build of OpenJDK 8. That collaboration goes back to the launch: our first Java 11 builds also used...
Organize and revisit tabs with the keyboard
Reorder your document tabs and return to them by visual position with new keyboard shortcuts.
Why do we need ud2 when int 6 is right there?
An interrupt is not a fault.
Browser automation tool in Microsoft Foundry is now GA
Build agents that automate tasks across public and private websites with managed browsers, native toolbox integration, Live View, and human control.
C++ futures part 5: std::future and std::shared_future
Getting the results back out.
MSVC Build Tools Version 14.52 Release Candidate Now Available
We are pleased to announce the availability of the release candidate for Microsoft C++ (MSVC) Build Tools version 14.52. With this release, C++23 is ready for production use and available through the /std:c++23 compiler option; see below for details. This is the last MSVC v14.52 preview before it moves to stable status and full support. You can download it from the Visual Studio 2026 Insiders Channel. As this is the release candidate, it is now the default toolset installed with C++ workloads in this channel. To check if it’s installed simply make sure one or both of these components are checked in the installer:...
What’s new in Microsoft Foundry | September 2026
Explore September's models, Routines, Tool Search, Model Router, and Insights through one two-agent workflow that turns public releases into a Foundry developer changelog.
Introducing dotnetup: A toolchain manager for .NET
Learn how the new dotnetup tool helps macOS and Linux developers install, manage, and update user-local .NET SDKs and runtimes.
Stop waiting on a failed build
Stop solution builds after the first project failure so you can return to fixing the error sooner.
C++ futures part 4: What if I want an immediate on-thread std::async?
Providing the case that the C++ language won't do.
AI Agents: Meet the Azure Cosmos DB vNext Emulator
Over a typical 2 day window, we record 10 times as many emulator sessions lasting more than 30 minutes for vNext as for the legacy emulator. Our bet is that agentic development is helping drive the difference! The appeal is straightforward: coding agents need a database they can run anywhere. They also need a database they can start, seed, test against and debug as they work. Our vNext emulator fits that workflow naturally. A different kind of developer With the vNext emulator, we're building for a broader idea of the developer: a person at a keyboard, a coding agent, or the two working together. The...
Vector stores in Agent Framework for Python: familiar foundations, streamlined for agents
Vector stores have been part of the Python experience in Semantic Kernel for some time. With Microsoft Agent Framework, we have ported that work forward rather than starting over. This post focuses on Python. For the .NET equivalent, see Use vector stores in .NET AI apps. The foundation remains familiar: typed record definitions, stores and collections, batch storage and retrieval, embedding generation, vector search, and a growing set of integrations. If you have used Semantic Kernel's vector-store APIs, you will recognize the overall model. At the same time, this is more than a straight p...
Canada’s 2026 time zone updates: guidance for Microsoft SQL
Affected locations in British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba will not turn their clocks back at 02:00 local time on November 1, 2026. They will remain at UTC−07:00, UTC−06:00, and UTC−05:00, respectively. Microsoft’s interim guidance for British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba describes the new Windows time zones and temporary workarounds. SQL Server on Windows requires the applicable Windows update—not a separate SQL Server product update. For SQL Server on Linux, Azure SQL Database, and Azure SQL Managed Instance, the following guidance applies when the new regional time zones are not yet available in ...
Azure MCP Server 3.0 stable release: More tools. More possibilities
Explore the new Azure MCP Server 3.0 stable release, with AI agent tools for Terraform, backup, recovery, and troubleshooting, plus stronger security defaults.
Build offline-first apps with Azure DocumentDB and PowerSync
Modern applications often need to work in places where network connectivity is slow, intermittent, or unavailable. Field service, retail, logistics, healthcare, and mobile SaaS applications are common examples. PowerSync recently introduced alpha support for Azure DocumentDB, giving developers a way to combine Azure DocumentDB as the cloud operational database with local SQLite databases on client devices. Applications can remain responsive and continue working offline while PowerSync synchronizes relevant data in the background. Note: PowerSync support for Azure DocumentDB is currently an alpha release. Be...
From extraction to action: Using grounding and confidence to build reliable document workflows
Learn how Azure Content Understanding grounding, field-level confidence, and calibration help teams prioritize human review and build reliable document workflows.
New Tools, New Workflows and the Value of the Visual Studio Subscription: What We Learned at VSLive! San Diego
What happens when developers who have spent decades working with Visual Studio start rethinking how they write code, learn new skills, and expand their access to development tools? At VSLive! San Diego, we had an opportunity to find out as developers gathered for five days of technical sessions, hands-on learning, and conversations about Visual Studio, .NET, AI, cloud, data, and modern application development. One of the most interesting things we heard in San Diego was how readily experienced developers are adopting new tools and workflows. GitHub Copilot is part of that story, and developers aren't...
C++ futures part 3: The mental model for std::async
Doing things later in different ways.
Announcing .NET 11 Release Candidate 2
.NET 11 Release Candidate 2 is available with improvements across libraries, runtime, SDK, MSBuild, NuGet, F#, ASP.NET Core, .NET MAUI, and Windows Forms.
October Patches for Azure DevOps Server
We are releasing new patches for our self‑hosted product, Azure DevOps Server. We strongly recommend that all customers stay up to date with the latest, most secure version of Azure DevOps Server. The most recent release, Azure DevOps Server, is available on the download page. The following versions have been patched. For more details on these updates, see the release notes: ⬇️Azure DevOps Server Patch Download ✅Verifying Installation To verify that the patch is installed, run the following command on the Azure DevOps Server machine using the patch installer you downloaded: Replace with the name of the...
Is it MSIX? Part 3: Find Package and Application Identity with TASKLIST and PowerShell
We previously determined how to programmatically retrieve a packaged process' package and application identity. Now let's find MSIX package identity using existing tools. TASKLIST.EXE Using the packaged app from our previous example, we know the "image name" (aka executable filename) and that its PID (process ID) is 7664. lists packaged processes and their package names: That's overkill when we're interested in a specific process. We can use the (filter) option to limit the output to our target process: Or we can specify the image name and get the same result: The column is actually the package fu...
Azure Content Understanding Prebuilt Analyzers: packaging domain knowledge for document AI
Learn how Azure Content Understanding prebuilt analyzers combine domain knowledge with grounding and confidence, and what Advanced Contextualization preview benchmarks show about quality, modeled cost, and latency.
C++ futures part 2: The mental model for std::promise, std::packaged_task
Building things out of the state.
Build AI-powered apps without creating a vector database
Developers building AI applications face a familiar challenge: how do you ground AI experiences in enterprise content while maintaining security, compliance, and governance? You can use the Microsoft 365 Copilot Retrieval API for SharePoint Embedded, which helps you add Microsoft 365 Copilot and agent experiences to your SharePoint Embedded apps when you want to control the grounding step, the prompt, and the model yourself. In addition, you can use the SharePoint Embedded Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, now available in public preview, to build and manage apps with a coding agent. Together, the...