Windows 11 arm64 VS2026 image generally available

GAAug 20, 2026VerifiedAdded Sep 22, 2026

The Windows 11 arm64 image with Visual Studio 2026 is now generally available on standard and larger GitHub-hosted runners. To use it in GitHub Actions, update your workflow file to runs-on: windows-11-vs2026-arm .

Observability Developer tools

Read GitHub's release notes

https://github.blog/changelog/2026-08-20-windows-11-arm64-vs2026-image-generally-available

Summaries of vendors' own notes. Product names and logos belong to their owners; logos via logo.dev.

More GitHub Actions releases

GitHub ActionsAug 20, 2026

Separate GitHub Actions path for GitHub Code Quality

A dedicated workflow path for code quality CodeQL actions workflows is now generally available. Your workflow run history and your Actions usage reports now tell GitHub Code Quality runs apart from GitHub code scanning runs.

GASecurityPricingBISource

GitHub ActionsAug 19, 2026

CodeQL 2.26.3 improves GitHub Actions queries and JavaScript modeling

CodeQL 2.26.3 adds JavaScript, TypeScript, and Vue source modeling and improves the accuracy of several GitHub Actions queries. CodeQL is the static analysis engine behind GitHub code scanning , which helps you find and remediate security issues in your code.

UpdateSQLSecurityDeveloper toolsSource

GitHub ActionsAug 27, 2026

Actions retention will cover checks, workflow runs, and statuses

Starting October 1, 2026, checks, workflow runs, and statuses will be governed by the same Actions retention setting that already controls how long artifacts and logs are kept, with a default of 90 days. Until now, checks, workflow runs, and statuses were retained for 400+ days regardless of your retention configuration.

UpdateObservabilityDeveloper toolsSource

GitHub ActionsSep 3, 2026

GitHub Actions: Early September 2026 updates

GitHub Actions now includes three updates that give you clearer visibility and finer-grained control over your workflows. New REST API for runner version deprecations A new REST API returns when registration and runtime support end for a given runner version, so you can plan runner upgrades before a version is deprecated.

UpdateSecurityPricingDeveloper toolsSource

GitHub ActionsSep 3, 2026

CodeQL 2.26.4 improves GitHub actions security detections

CodeQL is the static analysis engine behind GitHub code scanning, which finds and remediates security issues in your code. We’ve recently released CodeQL 2.26.4 , which adds support for Go 1.27, improves alert locations for Rust data flow queries, and includes accuracy improvements across C#, Java/Kotlin, and GitHub Actions.

UpdateSQLSecurityDeveloper toolsSource

GitHub ActionsSep 10, 2026

Control GitHub Actions cache access with cache-mode

You can now use cache-mode to apply least-privilege access to the GitHub Actions cache at the workflow or job level. By granting each workflow or job only the cache access it needs, you can prevent unnecessary restores or saves and help protect trusted workflows from cache poisoning. This capability is now generally available on all plans.

GAPricingDeveloper toolsSource

GitHub ActionsSep 10, 2026

Xcode 27 runner image now runs on macOS 27

You can now validate your Apple apps against macOS 27 using the Xcode 27 runner image for GitHub-hosted macOS runners, available in public preview. The image previously ran on macOS 26. How you target the image stays the same.

PreviewObservabilitySource

GitHub ActionsJul 30, 2026

Reference same-repository actions with self-repository syntax

You can now reference an action or reusable workflow that lives in the same repository using the new self-repository syntax. A uses: value that starts with $/ resolves to your workflow’s own repository at the exact commit that is running, with no checkout required.

UpdateGovernanceObservabilityDeveloper toolsSource

Also shipped on Aug 20, 2026

Google Cloud BigQueryAug 20, 2026

BigQuery adds ML.TREND, ML.SEASONALITY and ML.DETECT_CHANGE_POINTS in preview

New table-valued functions in the query editor and conversational analytics identify trends, repeating seasonal patterns and structural change points in time series data.

PreviewSQLSource

Google Cloud BigQueryAug 20, 2026

BigQuery Graph core processing limited to Enterprise editions from April 26, 2027

Standard edition and on-demand billing support for BigQuery Graph core graph processing is deprecated, with processing restricted to Enterprise and Enterprise Plus from April 26, 2027. Graph measures remain available except in Standard edition.

DeprecationSQLPricingSource

Google Cloud BigQueryAug 20, 2026

The run_bq_command tool exposes the bq command-line tool within the Cloud CLI remote MCP server

The run_bq_command tool exposes the bq command-line tool within the Cloud CLI remote MCP server. AI agents can now execute advanced BigQuery operations, such as job scheduling, job management, and reservation management, through a managed MCP endpoint. For more information, see Use the Cloud CLI remote MCP server . This feature is in Preview .

PreviewAI agentsMCPSQLSource

Snowflake Snowflake Cortex AIAug 20, 2026

AI_EXTRACT and AI_PARSE_DOCUMENT support for client-side encrypted stages and network-restricted accounts (General availability)

AI_EXTRACT and AI_PARSE_DOCUMENT now support documents stored on stages that use client-side or server-side encryption, including in accounts that use PrivateLink or other network policies that restrict public network access to stages. For more information, see the following topics:

GAGovernanceSecurityDeveloper toolsSource

Snowflake Snowflake Cortex AIAug 20, 2026

Cortex Agent code execution tool (Preview)

The Cortex Agent code execution tool is now in public preview. When you enable the tool on an agent, the agent can generate and run Python in a secure, isolated sandbox to process data, perform calculations, and produce visualizations.

PreviewAI agentsBISource

Databricks LakeflowAug 20, 2026

Salesforce connector mTLS authentication is now generally available

Mutual TLS (mTLS) authentication for the Salesforce connector in Lakeflow Connect is now generally available. With mTLS, Databricks and Salesforce exchange and verify client certificates to establish two-way trust, combined with the OAuth client credentials flow. Choose it for API-only users or when your organization requires mTLS.

GASecurityData integrationDeveloper toolsSource