Upcoming August 2026 model deprecations in GitHub Copilot
Quick Answer
GitHub Copilot will deprecate several models, including Gemini 3.1 Pro and Claude Opus 4.5, on September 1, 2026.
Quick Take
Users are advised to transition to alternatives like Gemini 3.6 Flash and Claude Opus 4.7 or 5 before this date.
Key Points
- Deprecation affects all GitHub Copilot experiences including Chat and code completions.
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 remains available for annual subscribers despite its deprecation.
- Administrators must enable access to alternative models in Copilot settings.
- No action is required to remove deprecated models post-deprecation.
- Enterprise customers can contact account managers for assistance.
📖 Reader Mode
~2 min readWe will deprecate the following models across all GitHub Copilot experiences (including Copilot Chat, inline edits, ask and agent modes, and code completions), on September 1st, 2026:
| Model | Deprecation date | Suggested alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.1 Pro | 9-1-2026 | Gemini 3.6 Flash |
| Claude Opus 4.5 | 9-1-2026 | Claude Opus 4.7, Claude Opus 4.8, or Claude Opus 5 |
| Claude Opus 4.6 | 9-1-2026 | Claude Opus 4.7, Claude Opus 4.8, or Claude Opus 5 |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | 9-1-2026 | Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6* | 9-1-2026 | Claude Sonnet 5 |
| Raptor Mini | 9-1-2026 | MAI-Code-1-Flash |
Claude Sonnet 4.6 will remain available to individual GitHub Copilot subscribers on annual plans so they retain a Sonnet offering. The deprecation of Claude Sonnet 4.6 does not apply to these customers.
Please update your workflows and integrations to use the supported model before these dates. Copilot Enterprise administrators may need to enable access to the alternative model through their model policies in Copilot settings. As an administrator, you can verify availability by checking your individual Copilot settings and confirming that the policy is enabled for the specific model. Once enabled, you’ll see the model in the Copilot Chat model selector in VS Code and on github.com. No action is required to remove the models once they have been deprecated.
GitHub Enterprise customers with questions or concerns are encouraged to reach out to their account manager for further assistance.
To learn more about the models available in Copilot, see our documentation on models and get started with Copilot today.
Join the GitHub Community to share your feedback.
— Originally published at github.blog
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