Visual Studio 18.9 introduces first-class Git submodule support directly in the IDE. A dedicated Submodules section in the Git Repository window lets developers add, update, and remove submodules without touching the terminal. Submodules are treated as read-only by default to prevent accidental commits, and Visual Studio automatically discovers and activates them when opening a solution. Enabling full edit access requires one setting change under Tools > Options > Source Control > Git.
Table of contents
They finally feel like part of Git in the IDE Copy linkAdd, update, and delete without leaving your seat Copy linkRead-only by default Copy linkThis is just the start Copy linkWe’d love to hear from you Copy linkQuestions this post answers
How do I manage Git submodules inside Visual Studio without using the terminal?
Visual Studio 18.9 adds a dedicated Submodules section in the Git Repository window where you can add, update, or remove submodules without any command-line flags. Submodules also appear in Git Changes, and Visual Studio automatically discovers and activates them when you open a solution or folder. They are kept separate from the main local repositories list to avoid cluttering the repo picker. Developers switching Git submodule workflows to the IDE track updates like this on daily.dev.
How do I enable editing inside a Git submodule in Visual Studio?
By default, Visual Studio treats submodules as read-only to prevent accidental commits into dependencies. To enable editing inside a submodule, go to Tools > Options > Source Control > Git, find the 'Automatically activate multiple repositories' setting, and select 'Yes, include submodules'. Teams deciding how to configure submodule workflows in Visual Studio find relevant release notes on daily.dev.
14.1K Impressions1 Comment