# GitHub Models Is Now Fully Retired

**GitHub shut down Models entirely on July 30, 2026, cutting off the playground, catalog, inference API, and key access for every customer.**

## What changed

GitHub Models, the company's built-in playground for testing AI models, was fully retired on July 30, 2026. According to [GitHub's changelog](https://github.blog/changelog/2026-07-30-github-models-is-now-retired/), four pieces of the product are now unavailable to any customer: the playground itself, the model catalog, the inference API, and bring-your-own-key (BYOK) access. GitHub says this applies even to existing customers who still had active usage running through the service, so nobody was grandfathered in past the cutoff date.

## What GitHub Models offered

Before the shutdown, GitHub Models bundled four things into one product. The playground let a developer try prompts against different models in a browser. The model catalog listed which models were available to call. The inference API let an application send requests to those models programmatically, and bring-your-own-key access let a customer connect their own model provider credentials instead of relying only on GitHub's own setup. As of July 30, 2026, none of those four pieces still works for any customer.

## Why now

The July 30 shutdown is the second and final step of a retirement process. GitHub says this move completes the retirement it announced on July 1, when GitHub Models stopped being available to new customers. That earlier step cut off new signups first and gave existing users some runway before GitHub closed the service to everyone on July 30.

## Who this affects

Anyone who had wired GitHub Models into a live project is affected, not just people who were experimenting. GitHub specifically calls out existing customers with active usage as losing access, which is a stronger step than simply closing signups. A team that depended on the playground for quick testing, the catalog for choosing a model, the inference API for live calls, or bring-your-own-key access to plug in its own provider all need a replacement path starting July 30, 2026.

## What you can do instead

GitHub is steering displaced projects toward two of its own products. For general AI model access in new or existing projects, GitHub points to Microsoft Foundry's model catalog, which it describes as broad. For developers who want to keep building AI-powered workflows without leaving GitHub, GitHub Copilot now covers that role, giving access to a range of models. GitHub also directs anyone with questions toward its documentation on GitHub Models and toward its community discussions, where it says people can ask questions and share feedback about the transition.

## Key facts

- GitHub Models fully retired on July 30, 2026, for every customer, including those with active usage.
- The playground, model catalog, inference API, and bring-your-own-key (BYOK) access are all gone.
- The shutdown completes a retirement process GitHub announced on July 1, when new signups stopped.
- GitHub recommends Microsoft Foundry's model catalog for general AI model access.
- GitHub recommends GitHub Copilot for AI-powered workflows built directly on GitHub.

## Check your understanding

- Which four parts of GitHub Models stopped working for every customer on July 30, 2026?
- What two products does GitHub suggest using now that GitHub Models has shut down?

## Sources

- [GitHub Changelog: GitHub Models is now retired](https://github.blog/changelog/2026-07-30-github-models-is-now-retired/)

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- Category: implement (tooling)
- Affects: —
- Published: 2026-07-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Original: https://github.blog/changelog/2026-07-30-github-models-is-now-retired/
- Generated by tinker news