GitHub Copilot Retires 3 Models Nov 16: Your Migration Checklist
GitHub published a changelog entry on October 15 with a date and three model names: on November 16, 2026, Claude Opus 4.8, Claude Opus 5, and GPT-5.6 Terra disappear from every GitHub Copilot experience. Not just chat - inline edits, ask and agent modes, code completions, all of it. I read the entry twice, then checked what it does not say, because the sentence that worries me is the one most…
On November 16, 2026, three GitHub Copilot models - Claude Opus 4.8, Claude Opus 5, and GPT-5.6 Terra - will be retired from all Copilot experiences, including chat, inline edits, ask and agent modes, and code completions. Users will need to update their workflows and integrations to use supported models before this date. Individual annual subscribers can still use Opus 4.8, but everyone else will lose access to all three models.
To prepare for the migration, audit all instances of these model names in prompts, scripts, agents, CI jobs, IDE settings, and confirm the replacements are enabled in your organization's model policies. GitHub does not specify the outcome for references to retired models after the cutoff date, so it is recommended to assume they will be broken by default.
The migration process involves auditing, confirming admin settings, and identifying all occurrences of the retiring models to replace them with the suggested alternatives: Claude Opus 5.5, GPT-6.1 Sol, and GPT-6 Luna.
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