“This error keeps happening.

[kkanggye939-jpg]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Copilot in GitHub

Body

Error
GitHub API rate limit exceeded. Please wait and try again. For more on scraping GitHub and how it may affect your rights, please review our Terms of Service (https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/github-terms/github-terms-of-service)

“I thought it would be fixed soon, but it’s been like this for 6 hours. What could be the reason?”

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[txhno]

If it has been happening for 6 hours, this is probably either a real Copilot rate limit or service-side load, not something broken in your editor. I would check GitHub Status, wait a bit before retrying, and avoid sending repeated requests while it is happening. If it keeps going well past that, Support is worth contacting with a screenshot and the exact time it started.

[RudranshGawande]

This "GitHub API rate limit exceeded" error in Copilot is a common issue, and there are a few different scenarios that could be causing it. Here's a breakdown of the possible causes and how to address each one:

Possible Causes

1. Copilot Rate Limiting (Most Likely)

GitHub Copilot has request rate limits per user. If you've been making a lot of completion requests in a short period, you may have hit your limit. This is especially common if:

• You're using Copilot heavily (many completions per minute)
• You have multiple editors/IDEs open simultaneously making requests
• You're using Copilot in Agent Mode or with large context windows

Copilot Pro limits: Pro users have higher rate limits than free tier, but they still exist. If you're on the free tier, your limits are lower.

2. GitHub API Rate Limiting

If you're using Copilot in conjunction with GitHub API calls (e.g., in a workflow or automation), you might be hitting the GitHub REST API rate limit instead:

• Unauthenticated: 60 requests/hour per IP
• Authenticated: 5,000 requests/hour per user
• Check your remaining rate limit at: https://api.github.com/rate_limit

3. GitHub Service Outage or Degradation

As txhno mentioned, if it's been going on for 6+ hours, it could be a service-side issue. Many users are reporting Copilot outages today.

Steps to Diagnose and Fix

Step 1: Check GitHub Status

Go to https://www.githubstatus.com/ and check if there are any ongoing incidents with:

• GitHub Copilot
• GitHub API
• GitHub Services

Step 2: Check Your Copilot Plan

Go to https://github.com/settings/billing/copilot to verify:

• What plan you're on (Free, Pro, Business, Enterprise)
• Whether your subscription is active

Step 3: Restart Your Editor

Sometimes stale connections can cause repeated rate limit errors:

• Close VS Code (or your IDE) completely
• Reopen it and sign back into GitHub Copilot

Step 4: Check GitHub CLI Rate Limit

If you have GitHub CLI installed:

gh api rate_limit

This will show your current rate limit status.

Step 5: Review Your Usage

• Check if you have multiple IDEs or browser tabs with Copilot open simultaneously
• Close any unnecessary sessions to reduce concurrent requests
• If using Copilot Agent Mode, try switching to standard completion mode temporarily

Step 6: Wait and Retry

If it's a genuine rate limit (not an outage), waiting 15-30 minutes should reset your limit.

Step 7: Contact GitHub Support (If Still Not Resolved)

If the error persists beyond 6-12 hours:

• Go to https://support.github.com/contact
• Select GitHub Copilot as the subject
• Include:
  • Screenshot of the error
  • Approximate time the error started
  • Your Copilot plan (Free/Pro/Business)
  • Mention: "API rate limit error persisting for 6+ hours — possible service-side issue or account provisioning problem"

If You're on Copilot Free

Note that GitHub recently announced that Copilot is no longer available for free tier users in many regions. If you were previously on the free tier, you may need to upgrade to Copilot Pro to continue using the service.

If You're on Copilot Pro

If you're already on Pro and still hitting rate limits after 6+ hours, this is almost certainly a backend service issue that requires GitHub Support intervention.

Let me know what you find after trying these steps, and I can help you troubleshoot further!