Meta: Request rate limiting

[digitarald]

This meta issue tracks scenarios where chat requests are blocked due to rate limiting.

In case you experience repeated rate-limiting in GitHub Copilot, please reach out to GitHub Support: https://support.github.com/

Error message:

Sorry, your request was rate-limited. Please wait x minutes before trying again.

Most users see rate limiting for preview models, like OpenAI’s o1-preview and o1-mini, which are rate-limited due to limited preview capacity. Another cause is higher request/token usage for agent mode, which is still in preview partially of this capacity

Service-level request rate limits ensure high service quality for all Copilot subscribers and should not affect typical or even deeply engaged Copilot usage. We are aware of some use cases that are affected by it. GitHub is iterating on Copilot’s rate-limiting heuristics to ensure it doesn’t block legitimate use cases.

👉 Latest update (Mar 10th, 2025), bringing more capacity online for Claude: https://github.blog/changelog/2025-03-06-onboarding-additional-model-providers-with-github-copilot-for-claude-sonnet-models-in-public-preview/

[florafinessesbeauty]

i am using chatgpt4 and it still says that

[Kipperlenny]

And it's totally random when you hit the rate limit. Switching the model does not help (always).

[philipheinser]

@digitarald i tried copilot today after 2 queries was rate limited. Then after switching models waiting around. Tried again and got at least 5 times more rate limited while working slowly on a small project. I don't get how this is a paid product if I get so many rate limits in the first hour of using there must be something wrong?

[florafinessesbeauty]

Copilot uses AI. Check for mistakes.

Indexed for improved understanding and accuracy.

florafinessesbeauty
1 minute ago
how can we fix ratee limit in co-pilot vs cod can you come uup with a cod or someting to write this comment
Copilot
now
To address the rate limit issues in GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio Code, we can follow these steps:

Understand the Issue:

GitHub Copilot's rate limits are designed to ensure high service quality. Exceeding these limits typically results from making too many requests in a short period.
It's important to implement strategies to handle rate limits, such as using exponential backoff for retries.
Proposed Solution:

Implement a retry mechanism with exponential backoff in your code. This approach will help you avoid hitting the rate limits by spreading out the requests.
Draft Comment:

Markdown
We are experiencing rate limit issues with GitHub Copilot while using Visual Studio Code. To mitigate this, we can implement a retry mechanism with exponential backoff. This approach will help manage the request rate and avoid hitting the rate limits. Here is a sample implementation:

import time
import requests

def retry_request(url, retries=5, backoff_factor=0.3):
    for i in range(retries):
        response = requests.get(url)
        if response.status_code == 200:
            return response
        else:
            time.sleep(backoff_factor * (2 ** i))
    return None

# Example usage
url = "https://api.github.com/some/endpoint"
response = retry_request(url)
if response:
    print("Request succeeded:", response.json())
else:
    print("Request failed after retries")
This method will help in handling rate limits more effectively. Additionally, referring to the [GitHub documentation on handling API rate limits](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/example-prompts-for-github-copilot-chat/debugging-errors/handling-api-rate-limits) can provide more insights.

You can review and post this comment on issue [#2627](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-copilot-release/issues/2627).[Copilot](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/responsible-use-of-github-copilot-features/responsible-use-of-github-copilot-chat-in-githubcom) uses AI. Check for mistakes.

Indexed for improved understanding and accuracy.

florafinessesbeauty
1 minute ago
how can we fix ratee limit in co-pilot vs cod can you come uup with a cod or someting to write this comment
Copilot
now
To address the rate limit issues in GitHub Copilot for Visual Studio Code, we can follow these steps:

Understand the Issue:

GitHub Copilot's rate limits are designed to ensure high service quality. Exceeding these limits typically results from making too many requests in a short period.
It's important to implement strategies to handle rate limits, such as using exponential backoff for retries.
Proposed Solution:

Implement a retry mechanism with exponential backoff in your code. This approach will help you avoid hitting the rate limits by spreading out the requests.
Draft Comment:

Markdown
We are experiencing rate limit issues with GitHub Copilot while using Visual Studio Code. To mitigate this, we can implement a retry mechanism with exponential backoff. This approach will help manage the request rate and avoid hitting the rate limits. Here is a sample implementation:

```python
import time
import requests

def retry_request(url, retries=5, backoff_factor=0.3):
    for i in range(retries):
        response = requests.get(url)
        if response.status_code == 200:
            return response
        else:
            time.sleep(backoff_factor * (2 ** i))
    return None

# Example usage
url = "https://api.github.com/some/endpoint"
response = retry_request(url)
if response:
    print("Request succeeded:", response.json())
else:
    print("Request failed after retries")
This method will help in handling rate limits more effectively. Additionally, referring to the [GitHub documentation on handling API rate limits](https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/example-prompts-for-github-copilot-chat/debugging-errors/handling-api-rate-limits) can provide more insights.

You can review and post this comment on issue [#2627](https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-copilot-release/issues/2627).

[dstorey87]

For a REAL user experience see this ticket, it is a massive problem, they are not all the same. Stop lumping them in to 1 ticket and closing them, you need to actually investigate, it's an old IT service desk/support trick where you will claim it's all the same issue, shrink the view of the wider communities experience and take the heat off,

#6854

#6854

[jondkinney]

I've been hitting the rate limit far more than is ideal. So far switching from 3.7 to 3.5 has kept me going, but I'd definitely prefer to stay with 3.7.

[inkbytefo]

Hey GH, I cannot use Sonnet 3.7 on roo or cline, and also if we pay money why we have rate limiting ?

[hmorneau]

I've been hitting the rate limit far more than is ideal. So far switching from 3.7 to 3.5 has kept me going, but I'd definitely prefer to stay with 3.7.

I think they have increased the limit quite a bit on the 3.7 thinking. I'm using it quite a bit and I hit the rate limit once so far since March 11. I was able to to switch to the regular 3.7. I was due for a break at that point anyway and when I came back 3.7 thinking was working again. 3.5 is good, but the data is too old, same with any of the current OpenAI model. I think Gemini 2.5 pro have a fresh cutoff so that might be a good one.

[nelsonwittwer]

I'm running into this using VS Code - Insiders running an MCP server to interface with Unity. Was able to work for about an hour before getting throttled. Changing the model does not affect the success rate as the error message indicates. I am a paying CoPilot user.