Claude not available in GitHub Copilot or Cursor? Why it’s missing from your model picker, and how to fix it

Claude goes missing from GitHub Copilot’s model picker for one of four reasons: your plan doesn’t include that model, GitHub has retired it, your company hasn’t switched it on, or your editor is out of date. The most common is the first. GitHub’s supported models page shows that Claude Opus and Fable aren’t part of Copilot Pro at all, and that Opus 4.5, 4.6 and 4.7 have been retired since September. Cursor has a similar catch for one of its plans. Here’s how to work out which one you’ve hit, and what to do.

Which GitHub Copilot plans include Claude?

Every paid Copilot plan includes some Claude models, but the top ones start at Copilot Pro+. GitHub’s plan table splits them like this:

Monthly prices in US dollars, from GitHub’s plans page. Business and Enterprise models also depend on your organisation’s settings (see below).

Claude Opus not available in GitHub Copilot Pro

If you pay for Copilot Pro ($10 a month) and can’t find Claude Opus 4.8, Opus 5, Opus 5.5, Fable 5 or Fable 5.1, nothing is broken: GitHub doesn’t include them in Pro. On Pro you can pick Claude Haiku 4.5, Sonnet 5 and Sonnet 5.5. To get Opus and Fable you need Copilot Pro+ ($39), Max ($100), or a Business or Enterprise seat.

Copilot Free and Copilot Student are more limited still. GitHub says both only get models through Auto, which picks a model for each request, so you can’t choose Claude by name at all.

Claude Opus 4.6 or 4.7 missing from Copilot

GitHub retires older models on a schedule, and several Claude models have gone in the past five weeks. Its retirement history lists:

If a model you used every day vanished in early September or on October 2, this is almost certainly why, and switching back isn’t possible. The newest replacements are Claude Opus 5.5 (Pro+ and up) and Claude Sonnet 5.5, which is on every paid plan. Copilot may have quietly moved your chat to Auto when the old model went, so open the picker and choose the new one.

Claude not available in Copilot at work (Business or Enterprise)

On a company plan, the models you see are decided by your organisation or enterprise owner, not by you. GitHub says owners can enable or disable each model for people with a Business or Enterprise seat, and new models follow a “default availability” policy unless someone sets them by hand.

Claude Fable 5 and Fable 5.1 are a special case. GitHub lists them as disabled by default for every company, whatever its default policy, because they aren’t covered by GitHub’s data retention agreement: when Fable is used, Anthropic keeps prompts and outputs by default to run its safety classifiers. Companies can ask their GitHub account team for a zero data retention exemption, which runs until the end of 2026, but GitHub says an admin still has to switch each Fable model on afterwards. Other Claude models, including Opus 5.5, stay under zero data retention.

If Claude is missing on a work account, the fix is to ask whoever manages Copilot for your organisation to enable it in the organisation’s or enterprise’s Copilot model settings.

Claude not showing in VS Code, JetBrains or Xcode

Some Claude models depend on the app you use and its version. In GitHub’s per-client table, every current Claude model works on GitHub.com, Copilot CLI, VS Code, Visual Studio, Eclipse, Xcode and JetBrains IDEs, with two exceptions: Claude Sonnet 4.6 isn’t offered in Eclipse, Xcode or JetBrains, and Claude Opus 4.8 fast mode isn’t on GitHub.com. GitHub also lists minimum versions, such as VS Code 1.128.0 for Claude Opus 5 and 1.124 for Sonnet 5 and Fable 5, and Visual Studio 17.14.6 for Opus 5.5.

If your plan includes the model and you still can’t see it, work through these steps:

1. Update your editor and the GitHub Copilot extension or plugin to the latest version.
2. Check the picker isn’t on Auto. Open the model list and look for Claude by name.
3. Sign out and back in. In VS Code, sign out of GitHub from the Accounts menu, run “Developer: Reload Window” from the Command Palette and sign in again. Users on GitHub’s community forum report this clears a stale permissions cache that greys models out after a plan change.
4. Check GitHub’s status page. GitHub says that if models from more than one company are missing at once, look at githubstatus.com or contact GitHub Support.

Copilot says “model not available” or “requested model not available for session”

GitHub doesn’t publish a separate explanation for these messages, but they point to the same causes covered above. Check them in this order:

1. Retired model. If the chat was started with Claude Opus 4.7, Opus 4.6 or Sonnet 4.5, the model no longer exists in Copilot. Start a new chat and pick a current model.
2. Not in your plan. Opus and Fable need Pro+ or higher, and Free and Student only get Auto.
3. Turned off by your organisation. On a Business or Enterprise seat, ask your admin.
4. Old editor or extension. Update, then sign out and back in so Copilot fetches your current model list.

Claude not available in Cursor

Cursor does offer Claude, but not on every plan. Its models and pricing page lists Claude Sonnet 5.5, Claude Opus 5.5 and Claude Fable 5.1 in its “Other Models” pool, charged at each model’s API price. Older Claude models aren’t on the list.

Cursor’s Start plan, its cheaper plan for developers in India, only covers the “Cursor Models” pool (Grok 4.7, 4.6, 4.5 and Composer 2.5), and Cursor says it doesn’t include the Other Models pool, so Claude won’t appear there. Upgrading to Pro fixes it.

The other route is your own key. Cursor’s API keys page says you can paste an Anthropic API key into Cursor Settings, then Models, and use “all Claude models available through the Anthropic API”, with Anthropic billing you directly. On individual plans those requests don’t count against your Cursor allowance. Note that this is an Anthropic API key from Anthropic’s developer console, not a Claude Pro or Max subscription, which Cursor doesn’t offer a way to sign in with. If you’d rather pay for Claude directly, Claude Code uses your Claude plan instead.

Last checked: October 4, 2026, against GitHub’s Copilot documentation and Cursor’s model and API key pages.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Claude Opus not available in GitHub Copilot Pro?

Copilot Pro ($10 a month) doesn’t include Claude Opus 4.8, Opus 5, Opus 5.5, Fable 5 or Fable 5.1. GitHub’s plan table lists them for Copilot Pro+, Max, Business and Enterprise only. Pro gets Claude Haiku 4.5, Sonnet 5 and Sonnet 5.5.

Why did Claude Opus 4.6 disappear from GitHub Copilot?

GitHub retired Claude Opus 4.5, Opus 4.6 and Sonnet 4.5 on September 1, 2026, and Claude Opus 4.7 on October 2, 2026. Its suggested replacement is the latest Claude Opus model, which is Opus 5.5.

Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 still in GitHub Copilot?

Only for people on an annual Copilot Pro or Pro+ plan. GitHub retired it on September 1, 2026 for everyone else, including monthly subscribers. It also isn’t offered in Eclipse, Xcode or JetBrains IDEs.

Can Copilot Free or Copilot Student use Claude?

Not by choosing it. GitHub says Copilot Free and Copilot Student only have access to models through Auto, which picks the model for you.

Why can’t I see Claude Fable 5.1 in Copilot at work?

Fable 5 and Fable 5.1 are switched off by default on Copilot Business and Enterprise, whatever the company’s default model policy, because Anthropic keeps prompts and outputs for safety checks. An organisation or enterprise owner has to enable them.

How do I fix Claude not showing in VS Code Copilot?

Check your plan includes the model, update VS Code and the Copilot extension, then sign out of GitHub in VS Code, reload the window and sign back in so it fetches your current permissions. On a work account, ask your admin whether Claude is enabled.

Why is Claude not available in Cursor?

Most often because you are on Cursor’s Start plan for India, which doesn’t include third-party models such as Claude. Pro, Pro Plus and Ultra include Claude Sonnet 5.5, Opus 5.5 and Fable 5.1, or you can add your own Anthropic API key.

Can I use my Claude Pro or Max subscription in Copilot or Cursor?

Neither tool offers a way to sign in with a Claude subscription. Copilot bills Claude through your Copilot plan, and Cursor through its own usage pools or your own Anthropic API key.

Does Claude availability in Copilot depend on my country?

GitHub’s documentation ties access to your plan, the app you use and your organisation’s settings, and lists no country limits for Claude. Prices are in US dollars everywhere.

Sources: GitHub Docs: Supported AI models in GitHub Copilot, GitHub Docs: Configuring access to AI models, GitHub Docs: Plans for GitHub Copilot, GitHub Docs: Auto model selection, Cursor Docs: Models and pricing, Cursor Docs: API keys.