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Deep dives, tutorials and community stories — written by developers, for developers.
Azure MCP Tools Are Now Baked Into Visual Studio 2022 — No Extension Required
Azure MCP tools ship as part of the Azure development workload in Visual Studio 2022. Over 230 tools, 45 Azure services, zero extensions to install.
Pin Clustering Finally Lands in .NET MAUI Maps — One Property, Zero Pain
.NET MAUI 11 Preview 3 adds native pin clustering to the Map control. One property, separate clustering groups, and tap handling — all built in.
.NET April 2026 Servicing — Security Patches You Should Apply Today
The April 2026 servicing release patches 6 CVEs across .NET 10, .NET 9, .NET 8, and .NET Framework — including two remote code execution vulnerabilities.
Aspire 13.2 Gets MongoDB EF Core and Azure Data Lake — Two Integrations Worth Trying
Aspire 13.2 adds MongoDB Entity Framework Core and Azure Data Lake Storage integrations with zero-config health checks and service discovery. Here's what they look like in practice.
azd update — One Command to Rule All Your Package Managers
The Azure Developer CLI now has a universal update command that works regardless of how you installed it — winget, Homebrew, Chocolatey, or install script.
Azure DevOps Server April 2026 Patch — PR Completion Fix and Security Updates
Azure DevOps Server gets Patch 3 with a fix for PR completion failures, improved sign-out validation, and restored GitHub Enterprise Server PAT connections.
Azure Smart Tier Is GA — Automatic Blob Storage Cost Optimization Without Lifecycle Rules
Azure Blob Storage smart tier is now generally available, automatically moving objects between hot, cool, and cold tiers based on actual access patterns — no lifecycle rules needed.
Where Should You Host Your AI Agents on Azure? A Practical Decision Guide
Azure offers six ways to host AI agents — from raw containers to fully managed Foundry Hosted Agents. Here's how to pick the right one for your .NET workload.
Agent Skills in .NET Just Got Seriously Flexible
The Microsoft Agent Framework now supports three ways to author skills — files, classes, and inline code — all composed through a single provider. Here's why that matters and how to use each one.
Azure MCP Server 2.0 Just Dropped — Self-Hosted Agentic Cloud Automation Is Here
Azure MCP Server 2.0 goes stable with self-hosted remote deployments, 276 tools across 57 Azure services, and enterprise-grade security — here's what matters for .NET developers building agentic workflows.
.NET Aspire 13.2 Wants to Be Your AI Agent's Best Friend
Aspire 13.2 goes all-in on agentic development — structured CLI output, isolated runs, auto-healing environments, and full OpenTelemetry data so your AI agents can actually build, run, and observe your apps.
Agentic Platform Engineering Is Getting Real — Git-APE Shows How
Microsoft's Git-APE project puts agentic platform engineering into practice — using GitHub Copilot agents and Azure MCP to turn natural-language requests into validated cloud infrastructure.
Aspire's Isolated Mode Fixes the Port Conflict Nightmare for Parallel Development
Aspire 13.2 introduces --isolated mode: random ports, separate secrets, and zero collisions when running multiple instances of the same AppHost. Perfect for AI agents, worktrees, and parallel workflows.
Building Real-Time Multi-Agent UIs That Don't Feel Like a Black Box
AG-UI and Microsoft Agent Framework team up to give multi-agent workflows a proper frontend — with real-time streaming, human approvals, and full visibility into what your agents are doing.
Connect Your MCP Servers on Azure Functions to Foundry Agents — Here's How
Build your MCP server once, deploy it to Azure Functions, and connect it to Microsoft Foundry agents with proper auth. Your tools work everywhere — VS Code, Cursor, and now enterprise AI agents.
GitHub Copilot's Modernization Assessment Is the Best Migration Tool You're Not Using Yet
GitHub Copilot's modernization extension doesn't just suggest code changes — it produces a full migration assessment with actionable issues, Azure target comparisons, and a collaborative workflow. Here's why the assessment document is the key to everything.
MCP Apps Get a Fluent API — Build Rich AI Tool UIs in .NET with Three Steps
The new fluent configuration API for MCP Apps on Azure Functions lets you turn any .NET MCP tool into a full app with views, permissions, and CSP policies in just a few lines of code.
Microsoft Foundry March 2026 — GPT-5.4, Agent Service GA, and the SDK Refresh That Changes Everything
Microsoft Foundry's March 2026 update is massive: Agent Service hits GA, GPT-5.4 brings reliable reasoning, the azure-ai-projects SDK goes stable across all languages, and Fireworks AI brings open models to Azure.
SQL MCP Server — The Right Way to Give AI Agents Database Access
SQL MCP Server from Data API builder gives AI agents secure, deterministic database access without exposing schemas or relying on NL2SQL. RBAC, caching, multi-database support — all built in.
That Visual Studio Floating Windows Setting You Didn't Know About (But Should)
A hidden Visual Studio setting gives you full control over floating windows — independent taskbar entries, proper multi-monitor behavior, and perfect FancyZones integration. One dropdown changes everything.
VS Code 1.116 — Agents App Gets Keyboard Navigation and File Context Completions
VS Code 1.116 focuses on Agents app polish — dedicated keybindings, accessibility improvements, file-context completions, and CSS @import link resolution.
VS Code 1.115 — Background Terminal Notifications, SSH Agent Mode, and More
VS Code 1.115 brings background terminal notifications for agents, SSH remote agent hosting, file paste in terminals, and session-aware edit tracking. Here's what matters for .NET developers.
C# 15 Gets Union Types — and They're Exactly What We've Been Asking For
C# 15 introduces the union keyword — compiler-enforced discriminated unions with exhaustive pattern matching. Here's what they look like, why they matter, and how to try them today.
Aspire 13.2 Ships a Docs CLI — and Your AI Agent Can Use It Too
.NET Aspire 13.2 adds aspire docs — a CLI for searching, browsing, and reading official documentation without leaving your terminal. It also works as a tool for AI agents. Here's why this matters.
Microsoft Agent Framework Hits 1.0 — Here's What Actually Matters for .NET Developers
Microsoft Agent Framework 1.0 is production-ready with stable APIs, multi-agent orchestration, and connectors for every major AI provider. Here's what you need to know as a .NET developer.
Aspire 13.2's Dashboard Just Got a Telemetry API — and It Changes Everything
.NET Aspire 13.2 ships smarter telemetry export, a programmable API for traces and logs, and GenAI visualization improvements. Here's why this matters for your debugging workflow.
azd Now Lets You Run and Debug AI Agents Locally — Here's What Changed in March 2026
The Azure Developer CLI shipped seven releases in March 2026. The highlights: a local run-and-debug loop for AI agents, GitHub Copilot integration in project setup, and Container App Jobs support.
Azure DevOps Finally Fixes the Markdown Editor UX Everyone Complained About
The Azure DevOps Markdown editor for work items gets a clearer preview-vs-edit mode distinction. It's a small change that fixes a genuinely annoying workflow issue.
Bookmark Studio Brings Slot-Based Navigation and Sharing to Visual Studio Bookmarks
Mads Kristensen's new Bookmark Studio extension adds keyboard-driven slot navigation, a bookmark manager, colors, labels, and export/share capabilities to Visual Studio bookmarks.
Visual Studio's March Update Lets You Build Custom Copilot Agents — and the find_symbol Tool Is a Big Deal
Visual Studio's March 2026 update ships custom Copilot agents, reusable agent skills, a language-aware find_symbol tool, and Copilot-powered profiling from Test Explorer. Here's what matters.