diff --git a/Extension/CHANGELOG.md b/Extension/CHANGELOG.md
index 606fb27f54..d00d6843ef 100644
--- a/Extension/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/Extension/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 # C/C++ for Visual Studio Code Changelog
 
-## Version 1.23.0: October 24, 2024
+## Version 1.23.0: October 29, 2024
 ### Enhancements
 * Update to clang-format and clang-tidy 19.1.2. [#12824](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-cpptools/issues/12824)
+* Enable `#cpp` with GitHub Copilot chat without `C_Cpp.experimentalFeatures` enabled. [PR #12898](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-cpptools/pull/12898)
 
 ### Bug Fixes
 * Fix some translation issues. [#7824](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-cpptools/issues/7824), [#12439](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-cpptools/issues/12439), [#12440](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-cpptools/issues/12440), [#12441](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-cpptools/issues/12441)
diff --git a/Extension/src/Debugger/configurationProvider.ts b/Extension/src/Debugger/configurationProvider.ts
index 2b9ce38ac2..067983feac 100644
--- a/Extension/src/Debugger/configurationProvider.ts
+++ b/Extension/src/Debugger/configurationProvider.ts
@@ -331,7 +331,7 @@ export class DebugConfigurationProvider implements vscode.DebugConfigurationProv
 
         // Run deploy steps
         if (config.deploySteps && config.deploySteps.length !== 0) {
-            const codeVersion: number[] = vscode.version.split('.').map(num => parseInt(num, undefined));
+            const codeVersion: number[] = util.getVsCodeVersion();
             if ((util.isNumber(codeVersion[0]) && codeVersion[0] < 1) || (util.isNumber(codeVersion[0]) && codeVersion[0] === 1 && util.isNumber(codeVersion[1]) && codeVersion[1] < 69)) {
                 void logger.getOutputChannelLogger().showErrorMessage(localize("vs.code.1.69+.required", "'deploySteps' require VS Code 1.69+."));
                 return undefined;
diff --git a/Extension/src/LanguageServer/extension.ts b/Extension/src/LanguageServer/extension.ts
index c70abfb26b..02dd3e8861 100644
--- a/Extension/src/LanguageServer/extension.ts
+++ b/Extension/src/LanguageServer/extension.ts
@@ -252,9 +252,15 @@ export async function activate(): Promise<void> {
         activeDocument = activeEditor.document;
     }
 
-    if (util.extensionContext && new CppSettings().experimentalFeatures) {
-        const tool = vscode.lm.registerTool('cpptools-lmtool-configuration', new CppConfigurationLanguageModelTool());
-        disposables.push(tool);
+    if (util.extensionContext) {
+        // lmTools wasn't stabilized until 1.95, but (as of October 2024)
+        // cpptools can be installed on older versions of VS Code. See
+        // https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-cpptools/blob/main/Extension/package.json#L14
+        const version = util.getVsCodeVersion();
+        if (version[0] > 1 || (version[0] === 1 && version[1] >= 95)) {
+            const tool = vscode.lm.registerTool('cpptools-lmtool-configuration', new CppConfigurationLanguageModelTool());
+            disposables.push(tool);
+        }
     }
 
     await registerRelatedFilesProvider();
diff --git a/Extension/src/common.ts b/Extension/src/common.ts
index c962a719cd..dbd0bcdd63 100644
--- a/Extension/src/common.ts
+++ b/Extension/src/common.ts
@@ -1814,3 +1814,7 @@ export function findExePathInArgs(args: CommandString[]): string | undefined {
 
     return undefined;
 }
+
+export function getVsCodeVersion(): number[] {
+    return vscode.version.split('.').map(num => parseInt(num, undefined));
+}