microsoft/vscode · error · Error

User denied authentication. Cannot connect to GitHub MCP Ser

Error message

User denied authentication. Cannot connect to GitHub MCP Server.

What it means

Error "User denied authentication. Cannot connect to GitHub MCP Server." thrown in microsoft/vscode.

Source

Thrown at extensions/copilot/src/extension/githubMcp/common/githubMcpDefinitionProvider.ts:161

		}
		return [
			{
				...basics,
				headers,
				version
			}
		];
	}

	async resolveMcpServerDefinition(server: McpHttpServerDefinition, token: CancellationToken): Promise<McpHttpServerDefinition> {
		const accessToken = this.authenticationService.permissiveGitHubSession?.accessToken;
		if (accessToken) {
			server.headers['Authorization'] = `Bearer ${accessToken}`;
			return server;
		}

		if (this._askedForAuth) {
			throw new Error('User denied authentication. Cannot connect to GitHub MCP Server.');
		}

		try {
			const session = await this.authenticationService.getGitHubSession('permissive', {
				createIfNone: {
					detail: l10n.t('Additional permissions are required to use GitHub MCP Server'),
				},
			});
			server.headers['Authorization'] = `Bearer ${session.accessToken}`;
			return server;
		} finally {
			this._askedForAuth = true;
		}
	}
}

View on GitHub (pinned to a94b963a32)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at extensions/copilot/src/extension/githubMcp/common/githubMcpDefinitionProvider.ts:161 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

Understand the failure class

• Authentication and authorization failures — expired tokens, bad credentials, and missing scopes.

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/vscode@a94b963a32 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/75ff3aa4fa85d1c4. Report an issue: GitHub.