You probably don’t look forward to the process of modernizing your applications. It can be time consuming, risky, and full of manual toil. Today we’re changing that.

We are thrilled to announce the public preview of GitHub Copilot app modernization – Upgrade for .NET, an AI-powered experience that helps you bring your .NET applications to the latest version quicker and more confidently than ever before. Powered by GitHub Copilot and Agent Mode, it serves as an intelligent upgrade companion that understands your code, determines the right upgrade path, and applies changes step by step with minimal manual effort.

Upgrading a .NET app isn’t just about tweaking code – it’s about managing complexity. GitHub Copilot app modernization – Upgrade for .NET is built to do exactly that, combining automation with intelligence so you can modernize faster without losing control.

Here’s what happens:

Start by telling the GitHub Copilot what you want to do – like upgrading your entire solution to .NET 8. No need to go project-by-project.

The tool analyzes your solution and generates a dependency-aware plan that upgrades projects in the right order. If Project A depends on Project B, it understands that and adjusts the sequence automatically.

The tool executes the upgrade based on the upgrade plan, rewriting code and applying changes on your behalf.

When the AI hits a tricky part of your code, it doesn’t guess or fail silently. It prompts you to step in, makes it easy to resolve the issue, then picks up right where it left off.

Better yet, Copilot learns from your fixes. If it sees the same issue later in the upgrade, it applies the same solution automatically. Every manual fix makes your upgrade smarter and smoother.

Once everything’s upgraded, the tool wraps up by suggesting any final or follow-up steps to get your app truly production-ready. If your projects have unit tests, they will be run at this point. The tool has been creating git commits on your behalf along the way, so be sure to review them before merging!

Bottom line: You get a guided, AI-powered experience that automates the boring parts, helps you navigate the tricky ones, and delivers a modern .NET app that’s ready to run.

Getting started with GitHub Copilot app modernization – Upgrade for .NET is easy.

Head to the Visual Studio Marketplace and download the GitHub Copilot app modernization – Upgrade for .NET extension. Once installed, you’re ready to use the tool.

To unlock the full power of AI-assisted upgrades, install the latest version of Visual Studio 17.14 and sign-in to a GitHub account with an active Copilot subscription.

i. Ensure you have agent mode enabled: In Visual Studio, go to Tools > Options > GitHub > Copilot > Copilot Chat and select “Enable agent mode in the chat pane.”

ii. Turn on Agent Mode: To get started, open the GitHub Copilot Chat window, click the “Ask” button, then click “Agent”. This turns on Copilot Agent Mode, which gives you a smarter, more natural way to run the tool.

iii. Select the Upgrade Tool: Once in Copilot Agent Mode, be sure to select the “Upgrade” tool from the Copilot Chat Tool Selector. Otherwise, Agent Mode won’t be able to call our upgrade tool.

For more information on Agent Mode, check out our blog on the topic.

You’ve got two options:

“Upgrade my solution to .NET 8”

That’s it. The tool gets to work analyzing your code, preparing the upgrade, and helping Copilot guide you through code changes.

Your feedback is crucial to us as we aim to improve the product during this public preview. To share feedback with the team, please utilize the “Leave Feedback” feature in the upper right corner of the tool’s Upgrade Manager UX in Visual Studio.

We also welcome feedback via email to [email protected], as well as direct responses to our feedback survey.

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