Welcome to our monthly roundup of what’s new on stackoverflow.com. We usually spotlight updates from the prior month, but for this first edition of the new year, we’re taking a step back to highlight some of the most impactful features shipped over the last year and how they can help you start 2026 strong.
AI Assist
AI Assist has gone through both alpha and beta experiment phases in 2025, testing and gathering feedback, and constantly iterating since the Spring. This AI-powered, conversational search and discovery experience finally became available on Stack Overflow in December 2025. AI Assist provides learners with ways to find and understand community-verified answers, getting help instantly. Answers from Stack Overflow and the Stack Exchange network are provided first, then LLM answers fill in any knowledge gaps when necessary.
You can use AI Assist like a trusted expert to understand error messages, compare different libraries, or get help architecting apps. You can even copy code snippets to accelerate your build. Be sure to log in to get access to more features, like saving or sharing your chat!
Expanded access to open-ended questions on Stack Overflow
In October 2025, we began testing questions involving developer preferences, personal experiences, and topics with more than one "right" answer. While historically these questions have been closed for being opinion-based or not having a single accepted solution, we have seen excellent performance of these questions types on the platform.
We are continuing to iterate on how Stack Overflow can host these valuable, inclusive questions and answers on the platform while still maintaining our standards for quality. Be on the look out for the Beta release coming early 2026. If you’d like to start asking more open-ended questions, fill out this form for early access.
Expanded voting access to all users
Voting is an integral part of the Stack Overflow experience, as it helps indicate questions and answers that the community values. Historically, we have gated voting based on reputation points—15 for upvotes and 125 for downvotes. This past year, we introduced “free votes” to help new users engage in curation early. We believe this is one of the most effective ways to encourage new users to come back.
Free votes are a new kind of vote, originally introduced as part of an experiment, to help educate users on how to use votes on the platform, before they have earned enough reputation to vote normally. Learn more about this voting update.
Updates to Chat
A hidden gem on Stack Overflow, Chat is a space that allows real-time interaction with the community.
New from this past year:
- We launched the Stack Overflow Lobby and Stack Exchange Lobby, dedicated chat rooms for novice and experienced users to chat and connect.
- We improved the look and experience of Stack Overflow chat room landing page to help users discover relevant and popular chat rooms.
- We built out moderation tooling for Chat Moderators and room owners, while implementing new security measures to validate that users are ‘Not a Robot’ and updated users flagging options supplied by the community.
Coming in January 2026, Chat on Stack Overflow will open all public chat rooms to all registered users, no matter their reputation score.
Join Chat to get real-time advice on your projects, deep dive with experienced developers on subjects you’re passionate about, and build relationships with peers learning how to code from all over the world.
MCP Server
The Stack Overflow Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server allows developers to integrate the site’s vast and trusted knowledge base directly into AI applications, agents, and other tools.
While currently in beta and rate limited to 100 requests per day, the MCP server supports prototyping, community projects, and a wide range of lightweight, exploratory tools, especially those that enhance developer workflows through real-time context.
After using the MCP server, share your feedback with us here. We’d love to know more about the projects you’re working on and what your experience is.
Coding Challenges
Researchers have found that one of the best ways to retain information you’re learning is to “exercise those muscles” by practicing your new skills. This past year, we launched Coding Challenges, a fun and community-focused way for you to apply your skills. These unique prompts give you a place to code creatively, think outside the box, and practice your coding in a low-stakes environment. Challenges are posted regularly, so go join in on the fun.