Hi @kslars1,

That sounds incredibly frustrating, especially after you've already gone through the "nuclear option" of reinstalling both the extension and VS Code itself.

The error "Chat took too long to start" combined with "Language model unavailable" usually points to a handshake failure between your local machine and GitHub’s inference servers. Since you've already tried the basics, the issue likely lies in a corrupted local credential store or a network-level block.

Here are a few deeper troubleshooting steps to try:

1. Clear the "Secret Storage" (The most likely culprit)
   Even when you reinstall VS Code, the authentication tokens stored by your OS (Keychain in macOS or Windows Credential Manager) often persist.

Windows: Open Credential Manager > Windows Credentials. Look for any entries related to git:https://github.com or vscode-github.login and remove them.

macOS: Open Keychain Access, search for GitHub or vscode, and delete the tokens.

After doing this, restart VS Code and try to sign in fresh.

2. Switch to the Pre-Release Version
   Sometimes the stable version of the extension has a bug with specific account entitlements.

Go to the Extensions view in VS Code.

Right-click GitHub Copilot Chat.

Select "Switch to Pre-Release Version".

Do the same for the base GitHub Copilot extension.

Reload VS Code.

3. Check for Proxy/SSL Interception
   Copilot Chat uses a persistent WebSocket/Stream connection. If you are behind a corporate firewall or using a VPN, it might be killing the connection before the model can "initialize."

Try disabling your VPN or switching to a mobile hotspot briefly to see if it starts working. If it does, you'll need to whitelist *.githubcopilot.com.

4. Check "Extension Account Preferences"
   In the bottom-left of VS Code, click the Accounts (Person) icon > Manage Extension Account Preferences. Ensure that "GitHub Copilot Chat" is explicitly assigned to the correct GitHub account. Sometimes it defaults to "None" or a different logged-in account.

5. Check for Rate Limiting or Global Outage
   Rate Limits: Have you been using the Copilot API heavily elsewhere? Sometimes hitting a rate limit on the API side can temporarily "soft-lock" your Chat access.

Status: Although githubstatus.com might be green, there have been reports today (April 15) of intermittent "Language Model Unavailable" errors for specific regions.

Final Suggestion:
If none of these work, it is almost certainly a provisioning issue on GitHub's side. You should contact GitHub Support and ask them to "Refresh my Copilot entitlement state." They can essentially "reset" your license on their server, which usually fixes these stuck states.

Hi, we appreciate you reaching out to report this issue.

We have recently needed to pause GitHub Copilot Pro trial plans due to a significant rise in abuse of our free trial system, as announced on the GitHub Blog: Pausing new GitHub Copilot Pro trials.

⭐ We are aware that some users are having trouble cancelling the trial and we are working towards a solution. For more information and real-time updates, please subscribe to this discussion to receive notifications as we post additional details.