Overview
Visual Studio 2026 embeds agentic AI across the IDE, helping you understand unfamiliar codebases, adapt pasted snippets to project conventions, and surface performance and security insights before pull requests. These agents include language-specific assistants and a Profiler Agent that can identify and help fix performance hotspots
Setup and workflow tips
- Enable local agents where possible to keep latency low and preserve context; let the IDE index your solution so suggestions match your code patterns.
- Create a reproducible dev container with consistent SDKs and extensions so agent outputs remain stable across machines.
- Use the agent’s “Did You Mean” or intent detection to refine searches and code navigation when the IDE misinterprets your query.
- Why this matters: agents perform best when they have accurate, consistent project metadata and build traces to reference.
Writing and refactoring with agents
- - Ask agents for idiomatic conversions (e.g., convert loops to LINQ or async patterns) and then review the diff rather than accepting blindly.
- - Use paste-and-fix: paste snippets and let the agent adapt names, imports, and formatting to your project conventions; confirm tests and run the build after changes.
- - Generate unit tests and edge-case scenarios from the agent’s suggestions, then run coverage tools to validate test quality.
Debugging and profiling
- - Run the Profiler Agent early on slow scenarios; it can point to hot paths and suggest targeted fixes with benchmark-backed guidance.
- - Capture traces and feed them to the agent so recommendations are grounded in real runtime data rather than heuristics.
- - Use agent-suggested fixes as a starting point: implement, benchmark, and add microbenchmarks to prevent regressions.
Team practices and security
- - Treat agent outputs as first drafts: enforce code review and static analysis gates to catch logic, licensing, or security issues the agent might miss.
- - Document agent-assisted changes in PR descriptions so reviewers know what was automated and why.
- - Audit third-party suggestions for licensing and supply-chain risk; agents can suggest dependencies but you must validate them.
Quick cheatsheet
- - Daily: run solution index + agent sync; accept small fixes with tests.
- - Before PR: run agent code review, static analysis, and Profiler Agent for performance regressions.
- - When onboarding: ask the agent to summarize architecture, key modules, and common patterns to flatten the learning curve.
Bottom line: agentic AI in Visual Studio 2026 accelerates routine work and surfaces deep insights, but you keep final judgment—use agents to draft, test, and measure, not to replace review and validation.