Copilot Chat throwing 403

[hjk1995]

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Copilot in VSCode throwing 403 error in output as it is showing empty list in Model picker

2025-11-26 13:20:22.234 [info] [certificates] Removed 3 expired certificates
2025-11-26 13:20:23.033 [info] [fetcher] Using Helix fetcher.
2025-11-26 13:20:23.192 [error] [default] Failed to fetch models from CAPI { status: 403, statusText: '' }
2025-11-26 13:20:23.357 [info] [fetcher] Using Helix fetcher.
2025-11-26 13:25:58.026 [info] [certificates] Removed 3 expired certificates
2025-11-26 13:25:59.075 [info] [fetcher] Using Helix fetcher.
2025-11-26 13:25:59.243 [error] [default] Failed to fetch models from CAPI { status: 403, statusText: '' }
2025-11-26 13:25:59.264 [info] [fetcher] Using Helix fetcher.
2025-11-26 13:26:24.697 [info] [certificates] Removed 3 expired certificates
202
5-11-26 13:26:25.526 [info] [fetcher] Using Helix fetcher.
2025-11-26 13:26:25.671 [error] [default] Failed to fetch models from CAPI { status: 403, statusText: '' }
2025-11-26 13:26:25.707 [info] [fetcher] Using Helix fetcher.
2025-11-26 13:27:42.487 [info] [certificates] Removed 3 expired certificates
2025-11-26 13:27:43.508 [info] [fetcher] Using Helix fetcher.
2025-11-26 13:27:43.659 [error] [default] Failed to fetch models from CAPI { status: 403, statusText: '' }
2025-11-26 13:27:44.481 [info] [fetcher] Using Helix fetcher.
2025-11-26 13:31:51.361 [info] [fetcher] Using Helix fetcher.
2025-11-26 13:31:51.363 [info] [fetcher] Using Helix fetcher.
2025-11-26 13:31:51.519 [error] [default] Failed to fetch models from CAPI { status: 403, statusText: '' }

My account has access to Copilot chat, I have verified it and also copilot extension shows that I do have access

VSCode Extension Information:
Github Copilot: v1.388.0
Github Copilot Chat: v0.33.3

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[thisha-me]

It looks like the extension is not able to fetch the model list from CAPI, which is why the picker shows empty. A 403 from the model endpoint usually means the client is not fully authenticated, even if the UI shows Copilot access.

Here are a few things that normally fix this:

1. Re-authenticate the Copilot extension

In VS Code:
Command Palette → “GitHub: Sign Out”
Then Sign In again.
This refreshes the token used for model access (different from chat access).

2. Make sure both Copilot extensions match the latest version
   Older versions sometimes fail the CAPI model fetch.
   Update:

GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot Chat

3. Check if your network is blocking CAPI
   Some networks/firewalls/proxies block requests to:
   api.githubcopilot.com
   If you're on a corporate/VPN network, try connecting without it.

4. Clear the Copilot authentication state
   Delete this folder and re-authenticate:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/GitHub Copilot

Windows: %AppData%\GitHub Copilot

Linux: ~/.config/GitHub Copilot

5. Make sure your GitHub account has both “Copilot Chat” AND “Copilot for IDEs” enabled
   Sometimes Chat is active but IDE access is not fully provisioned.
   You can verify under Settings → Copilot.

If the issue continues, the 403 logs suggest your token may not have model access yet — in that case GitHub Support may need to refresh your Copilot entitlement on the backend.

[XusanDev07]

@hjk1995 Maybe you are experiencing the same situation.