"Failed to connect to GitHub. Please try again later."

[realnotsteve]

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Receiving this message whenever I try to connect chatGTP macOS app to GitHub. Other macOS apps are connected. There is no existing connection from chatGTP. Any ideas? Thanks.

[angelscatman]

This looks like an issue with the OAuth callback handshake or a stale token session.

You can try debugging it with these steps:

1. Clear Stale Tokens: Go to GitHub Settings > Applications > Authorized OAuth Apps. If you see "ChatGPT" listed there (even if the app says it's not connected), revoke it. This forces a clean re-authorization request.
2. Check the Callback Handler: Sometimes non-default browsers (like Arc or Brave) or extensions strip the callback parameters required for the connection. Try temporarily setting Safari as your default browser to rule this out.
3. Network Filters: If you use tools like Little Snitch, LuLu, or a strict VPN, ensure they aren't blocking the local connection request from the ChatGPT binary.

Hope this helps solve it.

[realnotsteve]

Thank you, so far no joy. I am baffled by there being literally no hits in google for that error message. How is that possible?

[Nixxx19]

@realnotsteve

It usually means the ChatGPT macOS app cannot complete the OAuth handshake with GitHub.
Since other macOS apps are connecting fine, the issue is most likely local to the ChatGPT app or its cached credentials.

Try these steps:

1. Fully quit the ChatGPT app

   • Menu bar → ChatGPT → Quit
   • Reopen and try connecting again.

2. Clear any partial or stale GitHub authorization

   • Go to macOS System Settings → Privacy & Security → Developer Tools
   • Remove ChatGPT if listed, then relaunch the app.

3. Check if GitHub registered a failed authorization attempt

   • Visit: https://github.com/settings/applications
   • Under Authorized OAuth Apps, remove any ChatGPT entry if it exists.
   • Retry connection from the ChatGPT app.

4. Verify network rules

   • VPN, firewall tools (like Littlesnitch / Radio Silence), or corporate networks can block OAuth redirects.
   • Temporarily disable them and try again.

5. Sign out & sign back into the ChatGPT app
   Sometimes the app stores a corrupted session token that breaks external integrations.

6. Reinstall the ChatGPT macOS app

   • Delete the app
   • Remove ~/Library/Application Support/ChatGPT
   • Reinstall the latest version.

If none of these work, collect the request ID shown in the error (if available) and open a support ticket with GitHub or OpenAI. The request ID allows their teams to inspect the failed OAuth transaction directly.

[realnotsteve]

Thank you, I did try but seem to still have the issue. I finally found something Google, but then realised…

[pruthviraj-gaikwad]

This issue usually happens when the GitHub OAuth handshake fails on macOS, and it’s almost always caused by one of these:

✅ 1. ChatGPT app blocked from opening the GitHub auth URL

macOS sometimes blocks apps from opening external login URLs.

Try:

• Quit the ChatGPT app
• Reopen it
• Try GitHub connect again
• When macOS asks for permission to open your browser, click Allow

✅ 2. Browser blocking the authorization page

If your default browser has strict privacy or extension rules (AdBlock, Ghostery, etc.), the GitHub OAuth page may fail to load.

Try:

• Temporarily disable extensions
• Or switch your default browser to Safari/Chrome and retry

✅ 3. Existing OAuth session is stuck

Even if ChatGPT doesn’t show a connection, GitHub may have a partially created authorization.

Check here:
GitHub → Settings → Applications → Authorized OAuth Apps

If “ChatGPT” is listed, remove it, then retry connecting from the app.

✅ 4. Network or proxy interference

If you're on a work network, VPN, or proxy, GitHub OAuth redirects may be blocked.

Try:

• Turn off VPN/proxy
• Try on a different network (hotspot works as a test)

✅ 5. ChatGPT app cache issue

A reset sometimes fixes it.

macOS:

1. Quit the ChatGPT app
2. Option-click the app icon
3. Select Developer → Reset App State
4. Reopen and try again

If none of these help

It may be a temporary outage on either GitHub OAuth or OpenAI’s OAuth bridge.
You can check:

• GitHub Status: https://www.githubstatus.com
• OpenAI Status: https://status.openai.com

If both are green, the cache reset (above) usually resolves it.

---

Hope this helps — let me know if you need a simpler step-by-step!

[ishanrajsingh]

Additional Troubleshooting Steps
Since the standard fixes haven't worked, try these advanced solutions:

1. Check GitHub OAuth App Permissions
   The ChatGPT app may be requesting permissions GitHub temporarily disabled:

Go to https://github.com/settings/developers

Click "OAuth Apps" tab

Look for any pending authorization requests

If you see ChatGPT-related entries, delete them completely

2. Test OAuth Flow Manually
   Open Terminal and test if GitHub OAuth is working:

bash
curl -I https://github.com/login/oauth/authorize
If you get a non-200 response, GitHub OAuth may have temporary issues in your region.​

3. macOS Keychain Conflict
   Sometimes macOS Keychain stores corrupted GitHub tokens:

Open Keychain Access app

Search for "github" and "openai"

Delete any related entries

Restart ChatGPT app and try reconnecting

4. DNS Resolution Issue
   Your Mac might be resolving github.com to a cached/stale IP:

bash

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

5. Check ChatGPT App Version
   OpenAI may have pushed an update that fixes this:

ChatGPT menu → About

Compare your version with latest on https://openai.com/chatgpt/download/

Reinstall if outdated

If Still Failing
Since you found Google results showing others with the exact same error, this is likely a temporary backend issue between OpenAI's OAuth bridge and GitHub's API. The fact that there are minimal search results suggests it's either very new or intermittent.​

Best immediate workaround: Use the ChatGPT web version at https://chat.openai.com/ which has more stable GitHub integration until the macOS app issue is resolved.

Report this to OpenAI support with your macOS version and ChatGPT app version - they may be tracking this specific OAuth regression.

[E5Anant]

This usually happens when GitHub has a stuck or incomplete OAuth authorization for the ChatGPT app, even if nothing appears in your connected apps. Try clearing old tokens at https://github.com/settings/tokens, sign out and restart the ChatGPT app, then try again. If it still fails, GitHub Support needs to reset the stuck OAuth entry on their side.