Opus 4.1 Takes the Pilot Seat in Your GitHub Copilot

Developers using GitHub Copilot have a new intelligent partner: Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.1. Now rolling out to Copilot Enterprise and Pro+ plans, Opus 4.1 brings a deeper layer of reasoning and advanced summaries to everyday coding workflows.

With this release, teams can access Opus 4.1 directly within GitHub Copilot Chat, whether on github.com, in Visual Studio Code, or even through GitHub Mobile. Selecting Opus 4.1 is as simple as picking it from the chat model picker; in Visual Studio Code, developers will find the model available specifically in ask mode to guide their queries.

Smarter Coding Right Where You Work

As the successor to Opus 4, Claude Opus 4.1 is positioned as Anthropic’s most capable model yet. It enables not just more sophisticated code suggestions but also the ability to generate logical, stepwise explanations and extended context summaries. For development teams, this means faster troubleshooting, clearer code reviews, and more productive pair programming.

Opus 4.1 stands out by supporting “tool use” within collaborative code sessions. This lets the model interact with coding environments more robustly, offering in-chat suggestions informed by the wider context of your project, an advantage for multi-language repos and complex builds.

Did you know?
Claude Opus 4.1 can deliver extended logical reasoning and summaries, making it one of the first AI models in a major code assistant to combine tool use with natural language explanations in real-time.

Configuring Opus 4.1 in Your Organization

For Copilot Enterprise administrators, the new model can be enabled with just a policy update in Copilot settings. Admins can check their model list in the settings dashboard, flip the switch for Opus 4.1, and make it instantly accessible for teammates. Gradual rollout will continue, so eligible users should check their chat picker over the coming hours if the model is not yet visible.

GitHub is keeping Opus 4 available alongside its new sibling for 15 more days, giving users a window to compare performance and adapt existing workflows before the older model is deprecated.

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A New Era for AI-Powered Development

The public preview exemplifies growing competition among AI model providers. Claude Opus 4.1 joins an expanded field of advanced reasoning models vying for developer mindshare.

Anthropic’s focus on transparent explanations and logical accuracy could give software teams new confidence in the outputs of their AI partners.

Opus 4.1 strives to enhance the quality of Copilot-assisted development, regardless of whether you're prototyping, debugging, or writing production code. As users put the model through its paces, the broader impact on team performance and productivity is likely to become clear in the months ahead.