News

Visual Studio Code Moves to Weekly Releases Starting with Version 1.111

  • By John K. Waters
  • March 11, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Visual Studio Code is moving to weekly releases. Microsoft will replace the long-standing monthly update cycle with smaller weekly updates, starting with version 1.111, to deliver features more quickly.
  • The change reflects the fast pace of AI development tools. Frequent updates to AI coding models and related tooling are pushing development environments like VS Code to release updates faster.
  • Version 1.111 focuses on AI coding improvements. The update adds new controls for AI agent permissions, improves chat guidance for users, and begins deprecating the older AI Edit Mode in favor of agent-based editing.

Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code development environment will move from monthly updates to a weekly release schedule, beginning with version 1.111, according to the development team.

For several years, the popular code editor has issued major updates roughly once a month. Under the new plan, smaller updates will arrive each week. Microsoft said the change is intended to deliver features more quickly while maintaining stability.

“With the move to weekly Stable releases, we continue to improve our engineering processes to ship high-quality features at a faster pace,” the Visual Studio Code team said in a blog post.

The new cadence means each update may contain fewer changes than the previous monthly releases. However, features that are ready will no longer have to wait several weeks to appear in the stable version.

Microsoft did not give a specific reason for the shift. The change comes as development tools are rapidly adding artificial intelligence capabilities. New AI models for coding are being released frequently. Anthropic introduced Claude Opus 4.5 in November 2025 and followed with Opus 4.6 in February, while OpenAI has been updating its GPT models regularly.

Frequent model updates and related tools often require adjustments in development environments to support new features and workflows. A faster release cycle could help Visual Studio Code keep pace with those changes and compete with newer AI-focused development tools.

Version 1.111, the first weekly release, focuses largely on AI-related improvements. The update adds a permissions picker in the Chat interface that lets users adjust how much autonomy an AI agent has. Settings range from standard approval requirements to a fully unrestricted “Autopilot” mode.

Developers can also use agent debug events as context in chat conversations with the AI assistant. This allows users to ask the system about configuration issues, token usage, or other troubleshooting tasks.

Microsoft also reorganized the chat tips shown in the interface. Guidance on using the Plan agent and creating custom agents now appears first, while more advanced or experimental topics appear later. The change is intended to make the tips easier for developers new to AI-assisted coding to understand.

The update also begins phasing out the original Edit Mode for AI coding. That feature is deprecated in version 1.111 and scheduled for removal in version 1.125. For now, it can still be enabled through the chat.editMode.hidden setting, but Microsoft said agent-based editing will become the primary supported approach going forward.

About the Author

John K. Waters is the editor in chief of a number of Converge360.com sites, with a focus on high-end development, AI and future tech. He's been writing about cutting-edge technologies and culture of Silicon Valley for more than two decades, and he's written more than a dozen books. He also co-scripted the documentary film Silicon Valley: A 100 Year Renaissance, which aired on PBS.  He can be reached at [email protected].

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