Upcoming deprecation of selected GitHub Copilot models in mid-November
By Steven Van ·
Claude Opus 4.8, Claude Opus 5 and GPT-5.6 Terra go on November 16, with Opus 4.8 kept for individual annual subscribers.
GitHub will deprecate three models across all GitHub Copilot experiences on November 16, 2026, covering Copilot Chat, inline edits, ask and agent modes, and code completions, according to the release note.
Models and suggested alternatives
- Claude Opus 4.8: replace with Claude Opus 5.5
- Claude Opus 5: replace with Claude Opus 5.5
- GPT-5.6 Terra: replace with GPT-6.1 Sol or GPT-6 Luna
Opus 4.8 exception
Claude Opus 4.8 will remain available to individual Copilot subscribers on annual plans, so they keep an Opus option. The deprecation does not apply to them.
What admins and users need to do
Workflows and integrations should move to supported models before the deprecation date. Under default model enablement, the suggested alternatives are turned on automatically for Copilot Enterprise and Copilot Business customers, unless an administrator has turned off the global default or explicitly disabled the model. Where the global default is off, the alternatives can be enabled through their model policies in Copilot settings. Once enabled, they appear in the Copilot Chat model selector in supported Copilot experiences.
No action is needed to remove the deprecated models afterwards. GitHub Enterprise customers with questions can contact their account team.
