Can't assign copilot from github issue

[DmitryLukyanov]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Copilot in GitHub

Body

When I try to assign copilot I see this error:

The agent encountered an error and was unable to start working on this issue: This may be caused by a repository ruleset violation. See granting bypass permissions for the agent, or please contact support if the issue persists. (Request id: FD8C:2F3B39:EB9D2F:B18DD2:69DE1420)

This worked yesterday without any additional configuration. I also tried to rerun issues that I created previously and it works with error too. I tried to apply the suggested ruleset config, with no luck so far.

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[aowen-uwmad]

I'm having the same issue across multiple repositories. Was working fine yesterday and is not today; no changes to the rulesets between then.

I'm also getting Language model unavailable when I try to use the VS Code GitHub Copilot chat.

[aowen-uwmad]

My recollection of the April 10th announcement was that only free trials of GitHub Copilot Pro that were new would be paused.

However, the announcement page was updated yesterday with the following text (emphasis added):

April 13, 2026 update: All GitHub Copilot Pro trials, including existing trials, have been paused while our investigation continues. In the meantime, if you were on a Copilot trial, you can change your plan to Copilot Free or upgrade to either a Copilot Pro or Pro+ subscription.

My recollection is supported by the text in the opening paragraph of the announcement (emphasis added):

To protect the experience and integrity of the platform for legitimate developers, we are pausing new GitHub Copilot Pro trials while we investigate and strengthen our protection mechanisms.

So to summarize:

1. GitHub widely announced that new free trials were being paused
2. GitHub quietly amended said announcement to include existing free trials
3. GitHub disabled existing free trials from functioning with no corresponding error or communication.

I've been enjoying using the Copilot service, and was planning to continue the subscription after the trial period was over (hell, I was willing to pay for it from the beginning but there was no opportunity to opt out of the free trial).

But the poor user communication (and nearly hostile lack thereof) has me reconsidering.

[DmitryLukyanov]

I have paid copilot pro

[aowen-uwmad]

Hmm, maybe you got caught as collateral? If not, then yes, sounds like they have an infrastructure problem.

[OlliV]

hmm it would have been nice if this was communicated to the users and I wouldn't have needed to google for a solution.