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Oct 30, 2026
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Does ‘eval’ in the workspace path change what your agent does?

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Waldek Mastykarz

Your eval might be telling the agent it's a test before the agent reads a single instruction. Eval tools need a fresh folder for every run, and the easiest way to get one is a temp directory with a random name like . The agent sees that path on every turn, in the system prompt as its working directory and in the output of every tool call. If models can tell when they're being tested, a folder literally called is about the easiest giveaway there is. So we checked whether the folder name changes what agents do. Across about 900 runs and four models, it made them more convinced they were being tested, but it didn'...

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Oct 28, 2026
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Publish Visual Studio Marketplace extensions securely with Trusted Publishing

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Lynn Dai

Publish Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio extensions from GitHub Actions or Azure Pipelines without storing a long-lived personal access token.

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Oct 26, 2026
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PostgreSQL Like A Pro: Build, query, and troubleshoot without leaving VS Code

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Cynthia,
Pooja

Build, query, and troubleshoot without leaving VS Code.

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Oct 20, 2026
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Can a local git remote replace GitHub in your agent eval?

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Waldek Mastykarz

We swapped GitHub for a local git remote in our agent evals. Rebasing and pushing on request were unaffected, but the agent pushed on its own 11 points less often. Here's when a local remote is a safe shortcut, and when it isn't.

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Oct 9, 2026
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Introducing the Agent Experience (AX) Practitioner Playbook

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Waldek Mastykarz

AI coding agents now pick the SDK, the version, and the pattern for your developers. The AX Practitioner Playbook is our method for finding out whether they get your technology right, and for fixing the sources they rely on when they don't.

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Oct 7, 2026
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From Spec-First to Enterprise-Ready: Extending GitHub Spec Kit

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Apoorv Gupta

How presets, extensions, bundles, workflows, and governed catalogs make Spec-Driven Development adaptable at scale This article continues Spec-Driven Development: A Spec-First Approach to AI-Native Engineering, which introduced the principles and lifecycle of SDD. Here, we focus on the next challenge: adapting that workflow to the standards, domains, tools, and governance needs of a large engineering organization. When a good workflow meets organizational reality Spec-Driven Development (SDD) gives teams a durable source of truth: structured specs that carry intent through requirements, design, implementatio...

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Oct 6, 2026
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Build Azure canvases with the Canvas authoring plugin

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Alex Weininger

Learn how the Canvas authoring plugin helps you build Azure canvases with Microsoft Canvas Toolkit, from a read-only starter to a working app you can inspect, test, and adapt.

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Oct 6, 2026
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What is Agent Experience (AX)?

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Waldek Mastykarz

Your agent says it's done, and the code compiles, but did it pick your technology? Did it use it correctly? Learn what Agent Experience (AX) is, how to measure it, and why the obvious fix isn't always the right one.

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Sep 29, 2026
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Build with Azure Canvases: a shared workspace for agents

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Matt Hernandez

See how Azure Canvases bring plans, code, previews, and deployment feedback together in a collaborative workspace for agent-assisted development.