github / github/copilot-cli

Error: No authentication information found

Open
#3,746 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
area:authentication area:non-interactive
Dominant language
Shell
Stars
11.2k
Forks
1.9k
Avg merge
14h 16m
Merged PRs (30d)
6

Description

### Describe the bug

Hello,

I am facing the following error using GitHub Copilot CLI programatically:

```
Error: No authentication information found.
Copilot can be authenticated with GitHub using an OAuth Token or a Fine-Grained Personal Access Token.
To authenticate, you can use any of the following methods:
• Start 'copilot' and run the '/login' command
• Set the COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN, GH_TOKEN, or GITHUB_TOKEN environment variable
• Run 'gh auth login' to authenticate with the GitHub CLI
Error: Process completed with exit code 1.
```

Here is how the Actions workflow is configured:

``` yaml
name: Test GitHub Copilot CLI

on:
workflow_dispatch:
node_version:
description: Node.js Version
required: false
default: '24.x'
type: string

permissions:
contents: read

jobs:
copilot_cli_test:
name: Send test message
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Setup Node.js
uses: actions/setup-node@v6
with:
node-version: ${{ inputs.node_version }}

- name: Install Copilot CLI
run: npm install -g @github/copilot

- name: Run Copilot CLI
env:
GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
run: |
copilot -p "Review the git log for this repository and write a bullet point summary of all code changes that were made today, with links to the relevant commit on GitHub. Above the bullet list give a description (max 100 words) summarizing the changes made. Write the details to summary.md" --allow-tool='shell(git:*)' --allow-tool=write --no-ask-user
cat summary.md >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
```

The environment variable `COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN` was also considered on the test, that returns the same error.

Follow below the fine grained token created for the workflow:

Image

### Affected version

GitHub Copilot CLI 1.0.61.

### Steps to reproduce the behavior

The GitHub Action workflow is running in a repository that belongs to an organization.

1. Set the GitHub Action workflow secret in repository settings
2. Prepare the workflow file
3. Start workflow manually

Any feedback is highly appreciated.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by reproducing the supplied GitHub Actions workflow with Copilot CLI 1.0.61, testing GITHUB_TOKEN, COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN, and the fine-grained token in the organization-owned repository context. Review how the CLI reads authentication in this workflow environment; done means identifying the cause and confirming that the documented authentication path works or clearly documenting the limitation.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
github-actions, shell
Domain
authentication, ci-cd, cli
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.