Summary
After updating VS Code to 1.116.0, GitHub Copilot Chat stopped working on a Remote SSH connection. Copilot Chat worked fine locally and worked fine after downgrading back to VS Code 1.115.0.
The root cause is a PendingMigrationError: navigator is now a global in nodejs thrown repeatedly by Remote SSH extension v0.122.0, which causes the remote extension host to fail to start properly. As a result, workspace extensions like Copilot Chat, Claude that are supposed to run on the remote host never activate.
Environment
- VS Code version: 1.116.0
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- Remote SSH extension version: ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh-0.122.0
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- Remote host OS: Linux (Ubuntu)
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- Remote host: connected via SSH
Steps to Reproduce
- Update VS Code to 1.116.0 (released April 15, 2026)
- Connect to a remote Linux server via Remote SSH
- Open a workspace on the remote
- Try to use GitHub Copilot Chat/ Claude, You can see this
Copilot Chat shows: "Chat took too long to get ready. Please ensure you are signed in to GitHub and that the extension GitHub.copilot-chat is installed and enabled."
Copilot Chat does not appear in the running extensions list on the remote. The local extension host log shows "isRemote": false — confirming only the local extension host is functioning; the remote extension host is not loading workspace extensions.
Log Evidence
From Help > Show Logs > Extension Host:
{"remote": {"authority": "ssh-remote+XXXX", "isRemote": false}, ...}
The isRemote: false confirms the log belongs to the local extension host, not the remote one. The remote extension host is either not starting or crashing silently.
The following error repeats many times in the log:
PendingMigrationError: navigator is now a global in nodejs
at ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh-0.122.0/out/extension.js
There is no activation of github.copilot-chat anywhere in the log, confirming Copilot never loads on the remote.
What did work as a temporary fix
Downgrading VS Code to 1.115.0 resolves the issue immediately. The PendingMigrationError disappears, the remote extension host starts correctly, and Copilot Chat activates on the remote as expected.
Download link for 1.115.0 (Mac Universal): https://update.code.visualstudio.com/1.115.0/darwin-universal-dmg/stable
Summary
After updating VS Code to 1.116.0, GitHub Copilot Chat stopped working on a Remote SSH connection. Copilot Chat worked fine locally and worked fine after downgrading back to VS Code 1.115.0.
The root cause is a
PendingMigrationError: navigator is now a global in nodejsthrown repeatedly by Remote SSH extension v0.122.0, which causes the remote extension host to fail to start properly. As a result, workspace extensions like Copilot Chat, Claude that are supposed to run on the remote host never activate.Environment
Steps to Reproduce
Copilot Chat shows: "Chat took too long to get ready. Please ensure you are signed in to GitHub and that the extension GitHub.copilot-chat is installed and enabled."
Copilot Chat does not appear in the running extensions list on the remote. The local extension host log shows
"isRemote": false— confirming only the local extension host is functioning; the remote extension host is not loading workspace extensions.Log Evidence
From Help > Show Logs > Extension Host:
The
isRemote: falseconfirms the log belongs to the local extension host, not the remote one. The remote extension host is either not starting or crashing silently.The following error repeats many times in the log:
There is no activation of
github.copilot-chatanywhere in the log, confirming Copilot never loads on the remote.What did work as a temporary fix
Downgrading VS Code to 1.115.0 resolves the issue immediately. The
PendingMigrationErrordisappears, the remote extension host starts correctly, and Copilot Chat activates on the remote as expected.Download link for 1.115.0 (Mac Universal): https://update.code.visualstudio.com/1.115.0/darwin-universal-dmg/stable