Chat sign-in: auto-enable GitHub Authentication extension if silently disabled

[Copilot]

When the built-in vscode.github-authentication extension gets silently disabled, Copilot Chat sign-in fails with a confusing error and no clear remediation path.

Changes

• src/vs/base/common/product.ts — Added providerExtensionId: string to IDefaultChatAgent to identify the extension backing the auth provider.
• product.json — Set "providerExtensionId": "vscode.github-authentication" in defaultChatAgent.
• chatSetupController.ts — Added maybeEnableAuthExtension(), called at the top of signIn():
  • Looks up the auth extension in extensionsWorkbenchService.local
  • If its enablementState is DisabledGlobally or DisabledWorkspace, re-enables it via setEnablement() and restarts extension hosts via updateRunningExtensions() so the auth provider registers before the sign-in attempt proceeds
  • Only acts on user-controlled disabled states — does not override DisabledByMalicious, DisabledByTrustRequirement, or other system-managed states

Original prompt

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This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Chat sign-in should automatically enable the GitHub Authentication extension if it's disabled</issue_title>
<issue_description>We've seen cases where the built-in GitHub Authentication extension gets silently disabled (#296170). When this happens, users can't sign in to Copilot Chat and get confusing errors with no clear path to fix it.

The chat setup / sign-in flow should automatically re-enable the GitHub Authentication extension if it detects it's disabled, rather than failing silently.

References:

• GitHub Authentication keeps getting disabled for some reason #296170</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

• Fixes Chat sign-in should automatically enable the GitHub Authentication extension if it's disabled #296302

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR addresses an issue where users cannot sign in to Copilot Chat when the built-in GitHub Authentication extension (vscode.github-authentication) becomes silently disabled. The solution automatically re-enables the extension during the chat sign-in flow.

Changes:

• Added providerExtensionId configuration to identify the auth provider extension backing the chat agent
• Implemented maybeEnableAuthExtension() function to detect and re-enable disabled auth extensions
• Integrated auto-enablement into both the sign-in flow (chatSetupController.ts) and the request forwarding flow (chatSetupProviders.ts)

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 5 out of 5 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/vs/base/common/product.ts	Added providerExtensionId: string field to IDefaultChatAgent interface to identify the auth provider extension
product.json	Set providerExtensionId to "vscode.github-authentication" for the default chat agent configuration
src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatSetup/chatSetup.ts	Implemented maybeEnableAuthExtension() to detect and re-enable disabled auth extensions, only acting on user-controlled disabled states
src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatSetup/chatSetupController.ts	Integrated maybeEnableAuthExtension() into the sign-in flow to ensure auth extension is enabled before sign-in attempts
src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/chatSetup/chatSetupProviders.ts	Integrated maybeEnableAuthExtension() into request forwarding flow with token refresh when extension is re-enabled