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This troubleshooting guide includes steps for resolving GitHub Copilot issues in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.10 or later.
If you see the message Copilot is temporarily unreachable when you hover the mouse pointer over the GitHub Copilot badge in the upper-right corner of Visual Studio, GitHub Copilot is currently offline.
If the GitHub Copilot badge in the upper-right corner of the Visual Studio environment displays the message Copilot is temporarily unreachable, it means GitHub Copilot is currently offline.
GitHub Copilot may be offline due to one of the following reasons:
- Network issues
- Copilot service being unavailable
- Credentials requiring a refresh
- Copilot being disabled
If you're running into an issue not in this list, report your problem to us.
Network issues
If your network is down, GitHub Copilot may not be able to connect.
Action: Ensure you have a stable internet connection. For more information, see Troubleshooting network errors for GitHub Copilot.
Copilot service is unavailable
The GitHub Copilot service may be temporarily down.
Action: Wait for the service to come back online. You can check the status on GitHub Status.
Refresh your credentials
Occasionally, you may need to refresh your credentials due to expected timeouts.
Action: Select Refresh Your GitHub Credentials from the Copilot badge in the upper-right corner of your Visual Studio environment to reauthenticate your GitHub account and sign in again.
Note
Known issue: If you don’t see the option to refresh your credentials for the GitHub account in the All Accounts window, you can resolve this by removing and re-adding your GitHub account. For more information, refer to the Dev Community ticket related to this issue.
Custom agent tool groups start disabled or reset between turns
Some users reported this behavior in Visual Studio 2026 version 18.6.0 and 18.6.1 when using custom agents from .github/agents/*.agent.md, including minimal agent files that define only name and description.
Possible symptoms include:
- Tool groups such as C++ Context, or MCP server tools appear disabled after selecting a custom agent.
- Tool selections reset after each follow-up message in the same chat thread.
- In severe cases, Copilot falls back to file and shell methods because built-in and MCP selections are cleared.
If the behavior occurs, use the following workaround:
- Open the Tools panel in Copilot Chat and re-enable the required tool groups after selecting your custom agent.
- If selections reset after each follow-up, re-enable the required groups for each message turn.
- Confirm MCP integration is enabled in Tools > Options > GitHub > Copilot, and verify your MCP server configuration in
.vs/mcp.jsonor.mcp.json.
No confirmed product fix is available at this time.
For diagnostics and escalation:
- Open the Output window and select GitHub Copilot.
- Capture logs for agent selection and at least one follow-up message.
- Include your Visual Studio version, Copilot Chat extension version, and whether logs show entries such as
MCP sources changedor auth/session resets. - Report a problem from Visual Studio and share the same details in Visual Studio Developer Community.
Copilot is disabled
Your administrator may have disabled GitHub Copilot for individual or any Copilot license. With Visual Studio version 17.10, your admin can disable Copilot.
Action: Contact your IT department to confirm whether your admin has disabled Copilot.
Send feedback
- Report a problem to us from either the Visual Studio IDE or the installer. The built-in Feedback Tool makes it easy to add diagnostic information that helps the Visual Studio teams diagnose and fix the problems.
- Suggest a feature, track product issues, and find answers in the Visual Studio Developer Community.