Copilot retires older models: check the replacement before your next task

If a familiar Copilot model disappears, check the retirement notice before spending time repairing a working project. GitHub’s October 19 change removes selected older models across most Copilot experiences. The dated notice provides these suggested replacements:

The removal follows an earlier notice; October 19 is the effective event covered here. GitHub says no action is needed to remove the old models. Administrators may need to enable alternatives through model policies. That means a replacement named in a blog post is not proof that it is already selectable in your organization.

Resolve access before judging the replacement

There is a documentation conflict worth keeping visible: the general supported-model table still lists Grok 4.5, although the dated retirement announcement includes it. Confirm the selector and applicable policy in the Copilot surface you use. We cannot establish an exception for a particular account from that mismatch.

For a proposed migration check, take one small edit in a creator website and write down what must remain true: the form submits, its error message appears and the mobile layout stays intact. Ask the replacement for that same bounded edit, inspect the diff and run the existing checks. This is an illustrative procedure, not a Copilot task we performed. Keeping the job fixed helps distinguish access trouble from a change in the model’s behavior.

The notice concerns Copilot; it does not establish a shutdown of the vendors’ own APIs or promise an automatic fallback. Before a time-sensitive task, check access first and retain a supported alternative you can use. Our coding-workflow guide explains how to keep instructions, changes and verification tied to one concrete job.