AI Agent Troubleshooting

Start from the observed symptom. Do not paste an API key, account screenshot, confidential prompt, or complete private-repository transcript into a support request.

Copilot Student Is Not Available#

1. Confirm VS Code is signed into the same GitHub account shown at https://github.com/settings/education/benefits.
2. Confirm student verification and Copilot Student activation are complete.
3. Read the current included allowance and model restrictions.
4. Sign out of GitHub in VS Code, restart, and sign in with the intended account.

If GitHub asks for payment, stop. Continue the manual workflow while verification is pending; purchasing AI access is not required for onboarding.

Chat Works But Agent Actions Do Not#

Check whether the current plan, allowance, selected harness, workspace trust, and extension state support agent tools. A chat response proves only model access; it does not prove file or terminal-tool access.

Do not enable broad automatic approval to diagnose this symptom. Use a new session with one read-only repository question first.

Zed Uses The Wrong OpenRouter Key#

Zed reads UI-entered provider keys from the local operating-system keychain. A non-empty OPENROUTER_API_KEY in the environment that launched Zed takes precedence.

1. Stop the agent.
2. Revoke any key that may be exposed.
3. Remove the unintended environment variable from the local launch context.
4. Restart Zed and enter the intended replacement through Settings -> AI -> LLM Providers -> OpenRouter.
5. Verify with fictional training content and inspect OpenRouter activity.

Authentication, Budget, Or Model Error#

• 401: the key is invalid, expired, revoked, or entered incorrectly.
• Budget/payment error: the personal credit balance or key limit is reached.
• Model unavailable: the identifier, entitlement, provider, privacy route, or tool support may have changed.

Do not solve these errors by enabling auto-recharge, removing a safety limit, or selecting a more expensive model without checking current pricing and data policy.

Agent Changes Too Much#

1. Stop the session and any running terminal command.
2. Run git status --short and inspect git diff.
3. Preserve intended manual work.
4. Restore only understood unwanted paths or use the editor's session checkpoint after reviewing its scope.
5. Start a new session with one goal, explicit files, and forbidden actions.

Never use git reset --hard as the beginner recovery step.

Agent Claims A Check Passed#

Find the actual command and output. Then run the documented check personally in the intended repository and environment. If the command or dependency is not declared, report the documentation defect instead of inventing a setup.

Session Becomes Inconsistent#

Stop adding context. Inspect the working tree and external activity, then start a new session with the current goal, files, constraints, Git state, and verification. Compaction or a long transcript is not evidence that the agent still remembers the original boundaries.

Unexpected Spending Or Account Activity#

1. Stop every session using the personal key.
2. Revoke or disable the key immediately.
3. Disable auto-recharge if it was enabled.
4. Preserve sanitized timestamps, key label, model, and cost evidence.
5. Contact the provider about suspected unauthorized use.

The account holder is responsible for personal-account activity and charges under the provider's terms. IDEAL Lab cannot recover a personal account or unused credits.

Protected Material Entered An AI Service#

Stop sharing, preserve the service/account details without reposting the material, notify the information owner, and follow the incident procedure. Deleting a chat does not by itself complete containment or reporting.

Ask For Help Safely#

Provide:

Operating system and editor:
Agent/harness and model, if known:
Personal free, personal paid, or separately managed account mode:
Fictional/training repository used:
Sanitized exact error:
Expected result:
Git status and checks attempted:
Unexpected files, commands, network activity, or cost:

Replace account identifiers and protected material with <redacted>. Never send the API key or complete private prompt content.

Primary Sources#

• GitHub Copilot Student
• VS Code agent changes and checkpoints
• Zed API-key precedence
• OpenRouter current-key information

Verified: 2026-08-26. Review by: 2026-11-26. Owner: lab software maintainer.