Visual Assist Build 2026.1: smarter code insights, faster AI, polished experience.
Hover over macros to see their full Clang expansions. Watch AI responses stream in real-time. Enjoy modernized dialogs and rock-solid reliability with Visual Studio 2026.
We’re kicking off 2026 with improvements largely based on user feedback from changes we added on our previous releases. These are designed to give you more speed and power while keeping Visual Assist fast and unobtrusive.
The highlight of this release is the enhanced macro expansion feature that now leverages Clang’s powerful resolution engine. We’ve also wrapped up our UI modernization effort, improved our Local AI experience with realtime streaming, and ensured better compatibility with Visual Studio 2026. Learn more about these changes in our complete release post below.
Download the release now by visiting our website download page.
Table of Contents
Enhanced Macro Expansion with Clang Integration
An update to the macro expansion added in VA 2025.3 has arrived: Clang-powered resolution.
Originally introduced based on a request from an Unreal Engine developer, the macro expansion feature allowed VA to display macro definitions when hovering—particularly valuable when working with complex preprocessor directives in large projects or for users who disabled IntelliSense to maximize performance on large codebases. With Build 2026.1, we’ve made this feature even better.
What’s new: When you hover over a macro, Visual Assist now shows you both VA’s parser resolution and Clang’s expansion side-by-side. This gives you the most complete picture of what a macro actually does, regardless of complexity.
The tooltip now includes:
- Formatted code with proper indentation
- Syntax highlighting for better readability
- Both resolutions suggested by VA’s and Clang’s parser
How to use it: With IntelliSense disabled, simply hover over any macro definition in your code. The enhanced tooltip appears automatically, showing you the complete expansion with clear formatting.
Completed UI Update
With Build 2026.1, we’re completing the UI modernization journey that began in our previous release. The Visual Assist Options dialog was redesigned with a modern UI framework, moving away from the legacy Win32 interface theme.
What’s improved:
- Consistent visual theming across all Visual Assist interfaces
- Better high-DPI support for modern displays
- Cleaner layouts with improved spacing and hierarchy
- More intuitive interaction patterns
This wraps up the foundation of our UI refresh, ensuring that whether you’re using Find References, Rename, Extract Method, or any other VA feature, you’ll experience the same polished, modern interface. Most if not all Visual Assist dialogs have now been updated to this new standard.
Realtime AI Response Streaming
Visual Assist’s Local AI feature now feels significantly more responsive thanks to progressive streaming of responses.
Before: When you asked VA Intelligence to explain code, you’d wait for the complete response to generate before seeing anything—sometimes several seconds for complex queries.
Now: Responses stream in real-time as they’re generated. You can start reading the explanation immediately, even while the AI continues processing the rest of your query.
VA Intelligence now streams responses in real time.
This makes Local AI interactions feel more natural and conversational, similar to how you’d experience modern AI chat interfaces. For complex code explanations or longer responses, the difference is particularly noticeable.
How to use: VA Intelligence requires compatible GPU hardware and must be explicitly enabled in Visual Assist options. Learn more about setup requirements.
Note: This enhancement maintains VA Intelligence’s core principle—all processing happens locally on your GPU. No code leaves your machine, ensuring your intellectual property remains private and secure.
Persistent AI Splitter Position
A small but meaningful quality-of-life improvement for VA Intelligence users: the response splitter now remembers its position between queries.
When you’re working through multiple code explanations or having an extended conversation with VA Intelligence, you likely adjust the splitter to create your preferred layout. Previously, this position would reset each time you started a new query, forcing you to readjust repeatedly.
Now, VA remembers your preference and maintains the splitter position across sessions. It’s one of those subtle improvements that reduces friction in your workflow—you set it once and focus on your code.
Bug Fixes and Improvements
We’ve addressed several issues that affected the accuracy and consistency of Visual Assist’s navigation features. Furthermore, a key issue causing crashes when opening VS 2026 has been fixed.
This build also fixes an issue where accepting Smart Suggestions in C# wouldn’t include generic parameters. This particularly affected developers working with generic types and collections—the suggestion system now correctly expands the full generic syntax.
// Before: Accepting suggestion would give List items; // Now: Correctly expands to List<string> items;
Lastly, a compatibility issue between Visual Assist and GitHub Copilot where users couldn’t accept Copilot’s inline suggestions when VA was enabled is now resolved. Leverage VA’s powerful refactoring and navigation alongside Copilot’s AI-powered code generation reliably.
Full list of fixes and improvements:
- Fixed crash when opening a project in Visual Studio 2026.
- Fixed issue where Open File in Solution results could change if you closed and re-opened the dialog.
- Fixed issue where functions could be missing from Find Symbol in Solution (and more) if defined after certain string operations.
- Fixed issue where accepting Smart Suggestions would not include generic parameters C#.
Availability & Feedback
This release was made generally available on January 19, 2026, and can be downloaded via the downloads page. As always, we appreciate feedback, especially on the newly enhanced macro expansion and Local AI improvements.
Update now to an active license to utilize all the features and fixes in this release. If you have any questions or encounter any issues, feel free to reach out to support@wholetomato.com or start a conversation in our Discord community.
Release FAQs
- What’s new in Visual Assist 2026.1?
Visual Assist 2026.1 introduces enhanced macro expansion with Clang integration, completes the UI modernization across all dialogs, adds progressive AI response streaming, implements persistent AI splitter positioning, and ensures full Visual Studio 2026 compatibility. It also includes critical bug fixes for navigation features and C# Smart Suggestions.
- How does the enhanced macro expansion work?
When you hover over a macro definition, Visual Assist now displays both its own parser’s resolution and Clang’s expansion side-by-side. The tooltip includes syntax highlighting, proper formatting, and comprehensive expansion details—giving you complete insight into complex preprocessor directives without leaving your code.
- What is progressive AI response streaming?
Instead of waiting for Local AI to generate a complete response before displaying it, responses now stream progressively in real-time. You can start reading explanations immediately while VA Intelligence continues processing, making interactions feel more natural and responsive—especially for complex queries.
- Does Visual Assist 2026.1 support Visual Studio 2026?
Yes. Fixing reported incompatibilities with Visual Studio 2026 was a top priority for this release. All Visual Assist features should now work seamlessly with Microsoft’s latest IDE version, including fixes for integration points that changed in the 2026 release.
- Can I use Visual Assist alongside GitHub Copilot now?
Yes. We’ve resolved the compatibility issue that prevented users from accepting Copilot suggestions when Visual Assist was enabled. Both extensions now work together without conflicts, letting you combine VA’s refactoring power with Copilot’s AI-generated code.
- Where can I download Visual Assist 2026.1?
You can download the latest version directly from the Visual Assist downloads page with an active license to access all features and fixes.