{"id":36214,"date":"2026-01-21T18:17:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T18:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/?p=36214"},"modified":"2026-01-26T18:57:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T18:57:17","slug":"now-in-public-preview-github-copilot-build-performance-for-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/now-in-public-preview-github-copilot-build-performance-for-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"Now in Public Preview: GitHub Copilot build performance for Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019re 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/visualstudio.microsoft.com\/insiders\/\">Visual Studio 2026 Insiders<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201cI&#8217;ve tried the feature for a few hours and I&#8217;m happily impressed. The agent provided accurate suggestions, implemented them, and managed to reduce my build time by about 20%.&#8221; &#8211; Alessandro Vergani, ARGO Vision<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>Optimizing Build Times with GitHub Copilot<\/h2>\n<p>When you use this new capability in Visual Studio, GitHub Copilot will use an agent to:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Initiate a build and capture a diagnostic trace<\/li>\n<li>Identify bottlenecks in the following areas:\n<ul>\n<li>expensive headers<\/li>\n<li>long function generation times<\/li>\n<li>costly template instantiations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Suggest and apply optimizations<\/li>\n<li>Validate changes through rebuilds so your code stays correct<\/li>\n<li>Report measurable improvements and recommend next steps<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>To see how it works in action, please watch our demo below.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_demo_gif.gif\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-36230\" src=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_demo_gif.gif\" alt=\"gif of github copilot in action reducing build time for sqlite_flux\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Learn more:<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/aka.ms\/BuildPerfCppDocs\">Documentation for GitHub Copilot build performance for Windows | Microsoft Learn<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Using GitHub Copilot build performance for Windows<\/h2>\n<p>There are several ways to start the new build performance capabilities:<\/p>\n<p>1. Select the responder in Copilot Chat by typing \u201c@BuildPerfCpp\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_chat.gif\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-36242\" src=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_chat.gif\" alt=\"gif of github copilot chat with @buildperfcpp\" width=\"1016\" height=\"1080\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>2. Select menu entry Build &gt; Run Build Insights &gt; <strong>Improve build performance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_menu_entry.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-36219\" src=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_menu_entry.webp\" alt=\"context menu entry Build &gt; Run Build Insights &gt; Improve build performance\" width=\"874\" height=\"211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_menu_entry.webp 874w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_menu_entry-300x72.webp 300w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_menu_entry-768x185.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 874px) 100vw, 874px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3. If you already have a .etl trace file open from Build Insights, click Improve on the <u>top right corner<\/u> of the report view. The view or tab you click from gives GitHub Copilot important context to focus on the relevant hot spots when the chat session begins.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_report_entry.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-36220\" src=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_report_entry.webp\" alt=\"entry point from a build insights report\" width=\"687\" height=\"160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_report_entry.webp 687w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_report_entry-300x70.webp 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 687px) 100vw, 687px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Once you start a chat session from any of the entry points above, GitHub Copilot begins analyzing your build and offering suggestions to reduce build time. It will iterate on these optimizations until your build completes successfully. You\u2019ll always have final approval on whether to apply the changes.<\/p>\n<h2>Using The Build Insights Tool<\/h2>\n<p>To start trace collection, GitHub Copilot will ask your permission to run the Build Insights tool.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_confirm.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-36221\" src=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_confirm.webp\" alt=\"accepting using build insights tool\" width=\"624\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_confirm.webp 624w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_confirm-300x110.webp 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>If it is your first time using Build Insights, you will need to grant a one-time elevated request.<a href=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_elevated.webp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-36228\" src=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_elevated.webp\" alt=\"bpa elevated prompt\" width=\"653\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_elevated.webp 653w, https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/01\/bpa_elevated-300x138.webp 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 653px) 100vw, 653px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Learn more:<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/learn.microsoft.com\/en-us\/cpp\/build-insights\/elevate-note?view=msvc-170&amp;f1url=%3FappId%3DDev18IDEF1%26l%3DEN-US%26k%3Dk(bi_permissions)%26rd%3Dtrue\">Build Insights needs additional permissions | Microsoft Learn<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Template Instantiation Collection<\/h2>\n<p>To collect template information, you must opt-in via Tools &gt; Options &gt; Build Insights &gt; Trace Collection &gt; <strong>Collect template instantiation.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Default Report Location<\/h2>\n<p>By default, your reports will be saved in %TEMP%\/BuildInsights. You can customize the save location at Tools &gt; Options &gt; Build Insights &gt; Trace Collection &gt; <strong>Override default location for saved reports<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Share your feedback<\/h2>\n<p>We\u2019d love to hear feedback on how we can improve GitHub Copilot build performance for Windows. Please leave feedback by commenting below or report any issues with Help &gt; Send Feedback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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\u2019re 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39811,"featured_media":36219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3954,3960,3961],"class_list":["post-36214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cplusplus","tag-build-insights","tag-build-performance","tag-speed"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"<p>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\u2019re 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39811"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/cppblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}