C++ language server now auto-configures MSBuild builds

GitHub's Microsoft C++ Language Server for Copilot CLI now bundles its MSBuild compile commands extractor and runs it automatically when the server starts on project open.

Before, getting go-to-definition, find references, and other language server features in an MSBuild-based C++ project meant supplying your own compile_commands.json, or waiting for Copilot to find and run a configuration skill that generated one. That discovery step took setup time and used tokens before Copilot could start on your code. Now the extractor ships with the server, and generating the compilation database for MSBuild projects is deterministic, so setup uses fewer tokens.

CMake projects still use the generate compile commands skill, which you trigger by asking Copilot CLI to load the project. For custom build systems, you can bring your own compile_commands.json or write a custom build extractor skill.

The language server is still in preview. To use it, install the plugin and accept the EULA by following the quick start. You need an active GitHub Copilot subscription.