GitHub Copilot Chat Stuck on “Initializing” in PyCharm 2026.1.2 (403 Unauthorized on listModels)

[ygg-basil]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

JetBrains & Xcode

Body

Environment

• IDE: PyCharm Professional 2026.1.2
• Build: PY-261.24374.152
• GitHub Copilot Plugin: 1.10.1-251
• OS: macOS 26.5.1 (Apple Silicon)
• Runtime: JetBrains Runtime 25.0.2+10-b329.117
• GitHub Plan: GitHub Copilot Business

Problem

GitHub Copilot Chat remains indefinitely on “Initializing…” inside PyCharm.

The GitHub account is authenticated successfully and Copilot is active for the account. However, the chat interface never loads.

What Works

• GitHub Copilot works normally in VS Code using the same GitHub account.
• GitHub Copilot Business subscription is active.
• Copilot Chat in IDE is enabled in GitHub settings.
• Agent Mode in IDE Chat is enabled.
• Editor Preview Features are enabled.
• GitHub account authentication in PyCharm succeeds.

What Does Not Work

• Copilot Chat remains stuck on “Initializing…”
• Agent mode never becomes available.
• Model list cannot be loaded.

Relevant Log Output

INFO - RemoteAgentService - Fetched 3 agents:
[github, project, github-copilot-coding-agent]
WARN - [BackgroundAgent] getAvailableModels failed {
error: '403 "unauthorized: not authorized to use this Copilot feature"'
}
Caused by:
Failed to retrieve models: 403 "unauthorized: not authorized to use this Copilot feature"

The error occurs repeatedly for:

backgroundAgent/listModels

Troubleshooting Already Performed

Authentication

• Removed and re-added GitHub account in PyCharm
• Reauthenticated through browser login
• Verified correct GitHub account is being used

Cache Cleanup

Deleted:

rm -rf ~/.cache/github-copilot
rm -rf ~/.config/github-copilot

Plugin Cleanup

Removed and reinstalled GitHub Copilot plugin.

Credential Investigation

• No GitHub/Copilot entries found in macOS Keychain
• No stale Copilot configuration directories found
• Only plugin installation directories remain

Verification

• Same account works correctly in VS Code
• Same account has active Copilot Business entitlement
• Copilot Chat in IDE enabled in GitHub settings

Expected Result

Copilot Chat should initialize successfully and load available models.

Actual Result

The plugin successfully authenticates, loads agents, and then fails while retrieving available models with:

403 unauthorized: not authorized to use this Copilot feature

which leaves the UI permanently stuck on “Initializing…”.

Additional Information

This appears to be specific to the JetBrains plugin because:

1. The same GitHub account works in VS Code.
2. Copilot Business and Chat entitlements are active.
3. Authentication succeeds in PyCharm.
4. Failure occurs only during model enumeration (backgroundAgent/listModels).

Potentially related to Agent Mode / model entitlement handling in plugin version 1.10.1-251.

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[Tejas-h-blitz]

The log tells you exactly what's happening:
403 "unauthorized: not authorized to use this Copilot feature"
backgroundAgent/listModels
Authentication succeeds but the Agent Mode / model enumeration is hitting a separate entitlement check that the JetBrains plugin isn't passing — even though VS Code works fine with the same account. This is a known plugin-level bug in 1.10.1-251.
Things to try:

Go to GitHub Settings → Copilot → Policies and check if "Agent Mode in IDE" is explicitly enabled for your organization/account
Downgrade the Copilot plugin to the previous stable version (1.9.x) via JetBrains Marketplace → Manage Plugin Versions
In PyCharm: Settings → GitHub Copilot → disable Agent Mode — this bypasses the listModels call entirely and Chat should initialize normally
If on a Business plan, ask your org admin to check if Agent Mode is enabled at the org policy level — it's off by default for Business plans

The VS Code plugin handles this 403 more gracefully by falling back to a default model, whereas the JetBrains plugin hard-blocks on it.