Why doesn't the session rate limit get reset with a new session?

[kamyarkaviani]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Copilot Agent Mode

Body

I keep seeing

when even opening a new session. Isn't a session rate limit related to one session? Why does the session rate limit from one session affect all session? This seems like a bug.

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[Leocm123]

Hi! This is actually intended behavior, not a bug — the naming is a bit confusing though.

In GitHub Copilot Agent Mode, the "session" rate limit refers to a time-based window tied to your account, not to individual chat sessions in your editor. So opening a new chat window or starting a new conversation does not reset it.

How it actually works:

• The limit is tracked per account over a rolling time window (typically per hour depending on your plan)
• • It measures total AI interactions across all your editor sessions, not just one
• • "Session" here means a billing/usage window, not a UI session in your editor
    What you can do:

1. Wait for the window to reset — limits typically reset after 1 hour
2. 2. Check your usage at https://github.com/settings/copilot
3. 3. Switch to a non-premium model manually — some rate limits only apply to premium models; selecting a lighter model can help avoid hitting the cap
4. 4. Upgrade your plan if you consistently need higher limits (Copilot Pro+ has higher thresholds)
      The naming is definitely misleading and worth flagging to GitHub so they can improve the UX!

[kamyarkaviani]

That's bullshit. How can I bypass this? Is it a money issue? I hit the time limit every 5 or 6 prompts. Are you expecting me to wait 6 hours every few prompts? What's the endgame here? I paid for a service to be able to use the premium models indefinitely without silly time limits. When you say upgrade your plan, what plan are you referring to? I'm already on the highest paid individual plan.

[PellucidDice]

That's bullshit.

^
This exactly.
It seems like the session rate is going to be running out more often than the context window tokens now after the great update.
Rediculous.

[Leocm123]

Hi! I totally understand the frustration — this is genuinely confusing and the lack of transparency from GitHub doesn’t help.
To clarify what’s happening: the “session rate limit” in Agent Mode is a separate limit from your regular Copilot quota. It exists even on the highest individual plan (Copilot Pro+) and was introduced to control infrastructure costs as Agent Mode became popular. There is no individual plan upgrade that removes it — the next tier is Copilot Business/Enterprise, which is designed for teams, not personal use.
Practical workarounds while GitHub doesn’t fix this:
1. Switch to regular Copilot Chat when you don’t need full agent autonomy — the rate limit only applies to Agent Mode
2. Use lighter models (GPT-4o mini, Claude Haiku) in Agent Mode — they consume less of the quota
3. Alternate between Agent Mode and Chat during your workflow to stretch your usage further
It’s a legitimate grievance — GitHub added this limit after the fact without being upfront about the exact thresholds. The best thing you can do besides workarounds is upvote and comment on the relevant feedback discussions so the team feels the pressure to either raise the limit or be more transparent about it.

[kamyarkaviani]

This is the most ridiculous and pointless AI slop response I've ever seen. I've been a loyal GitHub Copilot customer since 2023, having spent close to $700 on this service so far. Sadly, all these changes, especially the rate limiting disaster that's been introduced has completely wiped away any real value in the offering of the Copilot as a usable product. It can no longer reasonably compete with other AI-integrated IDEs that offer access to the same premium models without the constant nuisance of rate limits.

There is absolutely no point in even opening up the AI assistant when I have to constantly worry about the response cutting off mid-work, hitting a hard limit when I'm not looking, and even worse, counting the broken response towards billing as a completed request. That is insulting to me as a loyal customer. This whole move, to retire the most useful model Opus 4.6, and add totally hidden rate limits preventing me from working normally has been nothing but a spit in my face as a customer.

What is the point of showing that I have 1500 premium requests, when I cannot use them. This total advertised by GitHub today is an absolute lie that is practically impossible to achieve. Where things stand, I'd be lucky if I can get 3 or 4 premium requests before hitting session limits. And let's not even mention week limits, completely curtailing the entire feature for a whole week. I'm pretty sure this is an egregious breach of their original agreement for the service they sold me when I paid for it.

I will be cancelling my subscription soon and will give Cursor a try. GitHub Copilot as it stands today has turned into a complete loser. And it will be flushed in the toilet, along with the loser product managers and confused Microsoft leadership that have no idea how to create a competitive offering that isn't financially below water without ruining the lives and productivity of their users. This has caused so much distress and disarray to a wide range of users, from developers and hobbyists alike, and it will go down as one of Microsoft's most disgraceful moments of leadership.

[majedghezal]

We pay for a service, and now you’re limiting us? Why should we, as clients, be affected by infrastructure problems? We pay for a plan that gives us a certain number of tokens. Once we use them up, then fine, we can no longer use the service. That should be the equation, as simple as that — not forcing us to wait for the model to reset while we still have tokens left. Very disappointed.

[22140505]

I noticed that there is a statement about hourly token limits in your documentation, but I can't find any place to check the token consumption, nor do I know how many tokens will trigger the limit. I hope this can be made transparent.

[fabianogz]

Currently in our office we have several computers, which various developers use with their respective accounts.
But we noticed that even when switching accounts between individuals, the "limit" seems to be universal, and even if someone hasn't used their tokens that day, when they log in and try to use them, it says that their quota has expired.

[P-r-e-m-i-u-m]

@kamyarkaviani — the naming is definitely confusing here.
Real talk: "Session" in that error message doesn't mean your current chat window. It refers to a global time window for your account. So even if you start a "new session" in the UI, the backend clock is still ticking down for you.
You basically have to wait out that timer to reset

[Aloneking789]

There is also Some kind of weekly limits too this is completely bullshit. I think the product team has gone mad. This do not makes sense at all hourly limits weekly limits. Its just Taking 5 to 6 prompts for me to reach this limit. Why the hell this kind of update. This must be resolved ASAP .Why the hell will i use copilot will use better IDEs without this bullshit

[kamyarkaviani]

GOOD

 
 

 
 
 
 

BYE

  

 
 
 
 

GitHub Copilot

 
 

 
 
 

I will not be returning. Gonna enjoy the Composer 2 on Cursor for a while, for a cheaper $20 subscription to see how well it works. The benchmarks show it can perform similar or even better than Opus, while still having access to Opus 4.6.

[simorai]

Im doing the same thing. Screw this money grab shit

[DanielJacksonAvo]

Same issue this side. I'm hitting a weekly session limit while using 0x model. I only sent 15-20 basic prompts and now I'm locked out from using my github copilot account THAT I AM PAYING FOR for the next week! And this is using 0x models which were marketed as "unlimited". Now, even my Generate Committ messages in github don't work due to session limits. Github needs to sort this rubbish out, they say it's to protect server capacity... Did they not see this coming? They could have easly created other plans, remove certain massive models, warn users of this change in advance or gradually roll out limits. The way Github has betrayed their customers here is unacceptable. Dude to their narrow sightness and lack of action (the capacity/money issue didn't sudenly appear) they are destorying their brand reputation with developers and staining the only good part of Microsoft's "Copilot" roll outs. Github, you should be ashamed.

[Chamika-Palinda]

This is day light robbery

[mjf]

I am hitting "session limit" since YESTERDAY (!) AFTERNOON:

You've hit your session limit. Please upgrade your plan or wait for your limit to reset. Learn more

It says only "session limit", no "weekly" or other limit! No additional info anywhere. The "Learn more" link is not helpful too. Even trying to upgrade to Pro+ does not seem to help! From what I found the "session limit" should reset in few hours or so but I am still unable to work with Copilot after almost a day! This is horrible! (P.S. I worked only in the web UI chat here on GitHub.)

[aeticusdev]

3 Codex 5.3 Medium messages and got limited for four days, great.
this is unusable, I'm shifting.

[muhemmed005]

Same problem here,

I have been using the Copilot agent since 2024, and the experience has been amazing. I have finished too many projects with this issue, but the new session time limit is absolutely crazy; this is not how GitHub usually treats its users. Please fix this as soon as possible. Does anyone know a good alternative?

[DilerFeed]

Yes, it seems Copilot is simply unusable now. I make two requests and get a limit with no timeout specified.

[anburocky3]

Just executed two prompts and my session limit has hitted!

Its like giving all the comfort and taking all away from us suddenly!

[Giftyafisa]

Most useless so far. GitHub copilot is now a scam. Bullshit rate limit

[bgswaroop]

Untill GitHub sorts out their infrastructure issues, and completely removes any kind of rate limit, it's time to say good bye. Limiting based on monthly number of tokens / prompts is acceptable. No to rate limits.

[ragart]

Current rate limits are concerningly low. And them appearing oveernight with no warning from GitHub is even more worrying. On Friday, I was sent to the bench until today after a few prompts using Agent mode in VSCode. Today it took ridiculously low amount of prompts over the span of an hour to be put on hold again for hours.

[rtefrfrtft]

I am also a GitHub Copilot Pro+ subscriber. Since the 22nd, I've been running into rate limits every day, forcing me to wait several hours before I can use it again. But the most frustrating part was last Saturday (April 25, 2026), when it directly told me I had hit the weekly limit and I wouldn't be able to continue using GitHub Copilot Pro+ until after this week (once the time period ending at 00:00:00 on April 27, 2026 passed). I don't even know what to say anymore—I've already submitted a support ticket. There's no point in paying for Copilot Pro+ like this. Even the top-tier personal subscription doesn't give me stable usage, so what's the point?

[myothuko98]

I’m a Pro+ subscriber and the current session rate limit behavior is very frustrating during my development workflows.

I frequently receive the “session rate limit” warning when usage is only around 57–65%, even though my subscription usage is far from exhausted. From a user perspective, this feels inconsistent and confusing because it appears that I still have significant capacity remaining.

For engineering tasks (debugging, long coding sessions, iterative prompts), the session throttle interrupts productivity and breaks workflow continuity. It is especially problematic when working through complex problems that require sustained interaction.

I might need to shift to other products.

[iinfotecnica]

That's exactly it, it also cancels for several reasons, just like the child above, kamyarkaviani.
It was in trial mode, but I found it too short; the plan ends quickly and the limit takes a long time to return.
Several problems, they use the worst possible models, the most basic agents, and the error rates are grotesque.
It accepts external APIs, but they never work; only their own API works, even on the paid plan.
I canceled and went to another agent.
It wasn't a cancellation because of opportunism in trial mode, but because it didn't meet my needs.
Right now, even on the free plan, I was thinking of subscribing to the paid plan, but you send a message, the agent starts saying they'll check, and then the limit appears.
A new chat opens, the same process blocks, and the limit keeps increasing.
Imagine if something like this happens on the pro plan.

[thedelhidude]

Who the hell is running the show at Github? The kind of changes the product team has made in the last 15 days clearly shows you guys are in panic mode. From stopping trials, to weekly and daily limits to API based usage fee, you clearly have screwed up big time.

The customer is not a fool, the 10-39$ customers which you're taking too lightly would never come back to you. Mark these words. To hell with your entire updates

[kelvinjack7]

Yeah, that does feel confusing “session” there is a bit misleading since the limit is usually tied to your account or API usage window, not just a single chat instance. So opening a new session won’t reset it. They probably need clearer wording in the UI. I’ve run into similar quirks while testing things across apps (even casually checking behavior on inat box indirme), and it’s often more about backend limits than the session itself.

[jeromflo]

I am going out too

[jovbcorreia]

Hi @kamyarkaviani! The frustration here is completely valid and shared by many. A few things worth knowing:

The term "session" in the rate limit message is genuinely misleading — it doesn't mean your chat window session. It refers to a rolling time window on GitHub's backend (typically per hour or per day depending on the feature). Starting a new chat does nothing to reset it.

The core problem: GitHub introduced these limits silently, without upfront communication, and without providing users any dashboard to see their actual consumption in real time. That's the main grievance — not just the limits themselves, but the lack of transparency.

Most actionable things right now:

• Go to https://github.com/settings/copilot to check your usage
• • Switch model to Auto or a lighter model (Haiku, GPT-4o mini) to avoid hitting premium model quotas faster
• • Add your upvote and experience to the official feedback thread: https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/193263
    GitHub has acknowledged the feedback is being reviewed. Whether they act on it quickly is another matter — but the more people who document specific use cases ("X prompts, Y model, hit limit after Z minutes"), the harder it is for them to ignore.

[simorai]

the session time limit is absolutely insane. Sry but i am canceling.