Microsoft is rolling out Bring Your Own Model (BYOM) in preview for Visual Studio, enabled by default across Community, Professional, and Enterprise SKUs. BYOM lets developers connect to Microsoft Foundry deployments or use their own API keys from OpenAI, Anthropic, or Ollama in Agent Mode, with or without a GitHub sign-in. The feature is available now in Visual Studio 18.10 Insiders and requires the new Agent (Preview) built on the GitHub Copilot SDK harness; previously added BYOM models under the old Ask/Agent modes are no longer supported and must be re-added. Upcoming work includes an ADMX policy to disable BYOM for enterprises, centralized model management, and more granular model controls.
Questions this post answers
How do I enable Bring Your Own Model (BYOM) in Visual Studio's Agent Mode?
Install the Visual Studio 18.10 Insiders Release, open the model picker in Chat, choose 'Add a model' or 'Manage models', click 'Add model provider', and select a provider before starting Agent (Preview) Mode. Supported providers in this preview are Microsoft Foundry, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Ollama, with custom URL support for OpenAI and Ollama. This works whether or not you are signed in to GitHub. daily.dev helps developers configuring custom AI providers keep up with Visual Studio's evolving agent tooling.
Why isn't my previously configured BYOM model working in Visual Studio anymore?
The earlier BYOM experience in the old Ask and Agent modes is no longer supported because Visual Studio's Agent (Preview) is now built on the new GitHub Copilot SDK-powered harness. Any models added under the previous system must be re-added using the new Agent (Preview) experience in the Visual Studio 18.10 Insiders release. Track breaking changes like this on daily.dev before they stall your Visual Studio AI workflow.
Which AI model providers can I connect directly to Visual Studio's Agent Mode besides GitHub Copilot?
Visual Studio's Bring Your Own Model preview supports connecting to Microsoft Foundry deployments, or using your own key from OpenAI, Anthropic, or Ollama, with custom URL support for OpenAI and Ollama. Not every model supports every Agent Mode capability yet, and unsupported features are designed to fail gracefully rather than break the workflow. Compare AI provider options for your IDE workflow with daily.dev before locking in a model choice.