Frequent Rate Limit Issues When Calling GitHub Copilot via VS Code IDE

[ugbinn-rgb]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Copilot in GitHub

Body

I am on a GitHub Copilot Pro 30-day free trial (with card added) and have been
hitting a persistent global rate limit error for over 6 hours, despite my premium
request usage being only at 45.3% (~136/300 requests).

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🐛 Bug Description

The error message shown in Copilot Chat reads:

"You've hit your global rate limit. Please upgrade your plan or wait for your limit to reset."

This has been showing continuously for 6+ hours. Clicking "Try Again" does not resolve it.
The monthly quota is clearly not exhausted (45.3% used), and the reset date is still
April 1, 2026 at 5:30 AM.

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📸 Screenshots

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🖥️ Environment

• Plan: GitHub Copilot Pro (30-day free trial, card added)
• Editor: VS Code (latest version)
• Model: Claude Sonnet 4.6
• OS: Windows
• Extension versions: GitHub Copilot + GitHub Copilot Chat (both latest)

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📊 Usage Stats at Time of Issue

Metric	Value
Inline Suggestions	Included ✅
Chat Messages	Included ✅
Premium Requests Used	45.3% (~136/300)
Additional Paid Requests	Disabled
Allowance Reset Date	April 1, 2026 at 5:30 AM

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🔁 Steps to Reproduce

1. Use Copilot Chat with Claude Sonnet 4.6 model normally
2. At some point, global rate limit error appears
3. Wait several hours — error does not resolve
4. Check usage panel — monthly quota shows only 45.3% consumed

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✅ Troubleshooting Steps Already Taken (none resolved)

• Waited 6+ hours after the error first appeared
• Signed out and re-signed into GitHub in VS Code
• Reloaded VS Code window (Ctrl+Shift+P → Developer: Reload Window)
• Updated both GitHub Copilot and GitHub Copilot Chat extensions to latest

---

🤔 Expected Behavior

Since my monthly quota is less than half consumed, I should not be hitting any global
rate limit. Even if this is a burst/short-term rate limit, it should reset within minutes
— not persist for 6+ hours.

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❌ Actual Behavior

The global rate limit error persists indefinitely with no automatic recovery, making
premium models like Claude Sonnet 4.6 completely unusable. Switching to GPT-4o works as
a workaround, but premium model access remains blocked.

---

📝 Additional Notes

• This issue started suddenly with no change in usage pattern
• The error mentions "upgrade your plan" which is misleading — I am already on Copilot Pro
• Other users in recent discussions seem to have reported similar stuck rate limits
  after March 2026 enforcement changes

Any help from the GitHub team or community would be greatly appreciated. Is there a way
to manually trigger a reset, or is this a known backend issue?

[github-actions[bot]]

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[Akash1134]

We sincerely apologize for the disruption you may have experienced earlier today.

For a period of a few hours, a service-side issue impacted some users and may have caused unexpected errors or interruptions. Our team quickly identified the root cause and has since implemented a fix to fully resolve the issue.

We are actively reviewing what happened and taking steps to strengthen our systems to help prevent similar issues in the future. Thank you for your patience and for bearing with us while we worked to restore normal service.

[ugbinn-rgb]

Hi, the issue has started again. Despite having tokens, for past half an hour, I am seeing this.

Kindly guide in resolving this issue @Akash1134

[DavidKirschey]

Yes, it's still the same problem here, too