AI Coding Tools Roundup: GPT-6.1 Sol Arrives in Codex and Copilot as Claude Code Ships 2.1.285
The story today is OpenAI's new model showing up everywhere at once. GPT-6.1 Sol in GitHub Copilot went generally available on September 29, the same day the Codex changelog made it the default model in Codex CLI. Meanwhile Claude Code 2.1.285 shipped a set of plugin and administration improvements.
GPT-6.1 Sol: Near-Astra Performance at Lower Cost
OpenAI describes GPT-6.1 Sol (identifier gpt-6.1-sol) as a model with near-Astra performance at a lower cost, aimed at repeated, long-running work. That positioning matters for coding agents, where a single task can burn through many steps and tool calls.
GitHub Copilot Rollout
Per the GitHub changelog entry, GPT-6.1 Sol is available to Copilot Pro+, Max, Business and Enterprise users. It appears in VS Code, Visual Studio, Copilot CLI, the GitHub Copilot app, github.com, GitHub Mobile, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode and Eclipse. Rollout is gradual, so check back if it is not in your model picker yet. GitHub reports that early testing showed the model completing tasks with noticeably fewer tokens and steps than earlier GPT-6 and GPT-5.6 versions. Billing is usage-based at provider list pricing.
For Business and Enterprise admins, new models are enabled automatically unless the global default or that specific model has been turned off in your Copilot model policy. If you restrict model access, review the policy today.
Codex CLI 0.159: Instant Interrupt and a New Default Model
Three Codex CLI releases landed on September 29 according to the Codex releases page:
- 0.159.0: an opt-in
instant_interruptfeature lets you steer the model with new input during code-mode calls, plus a compact welcome screen, wider native Mermaid rendering, and several Windows console fixes. - 0.159.1: GPT-6.1 Sol becomes the default model in the bundled and Amazon Bedrock catalogs.
- 0.159.2: a fix that stops console windows flashing on Windows when Codex launches background processes.
These build on 0.158.0 from September 28, which enabled terminal input approval by default for elevated permissions; see yesterday's Codex CLI roundup for that release.
Claude Code 2.1.285: Plugins, Admin Controls and a WebFetch Switch
The Claude Code changelog lists version 2.1.285 from September 29 with these additions:
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_WEB_FETCHenvironment variable to disable the WebFetch tool.claude --desktopopens the Claude desktop app on your current directory.claude plugin configure <plugin>for managing plugin configuration.- An
allowedProvidersmanaged setting to limit which API providers can be used. - Fixes for session stability (compaction, resumption, permissions), plugin installation edge cases and MCP server management.
This follows 2.1.284, which made auto mode the default and added Sonnet 5.5; we covered it in the September 29 roundup.
OpenCode: No New Release
The OpenCode releases page still shows v1.18.33 from September 28, which fixed Cloudflare AI Gateway model timeouts, MCP browser launch error reporting and credential redaction in debug output. Nothing newer has shipped.
What It Means for Developers
- Codex users get GPT-6.1 Sol by default after updating to 0.159.1 or later, so expect different cost and behavior on long tasks. Pin a model explicitly if you need consistency.
- Copilot admins should decide whether GPT-6.1 Sol should be on for their organization, since it defaults to enabled.
- Security-conscious teams running Claude Code can now disable WebFetch and restrict API providers through environment and managed settings.
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