Repeated GitHub authentication failures in Pull Requests tool window

Problem

Users may experience repeated prompts to authenticate with GitHub via personal access token (PAT) when accessing pull requests. This is despite having a valid PAT stored via the "In Keepass" option.

The following error message is shown in the UI:

Stacktrace excerpt from the idea.log file:

2025-07-23 15:35:26,122 [ 124799]   INFO - #o.j.p.g.e.GHSilentHttpAuthDataProvider - Cannot load details for github.com/<username> 
org.jetbrains.plugins.github.exceptions.GithubAuthenticationException: Request response: Bad credentials. 
at org.jetbrains.plugins.github.api.GithubApiRequestExecutor$Base.checkResponseCode(GithubApiRequestExecutor.kt:185) 
at org.jetbrains.plugins.github.api.GithubApiRequestExecutor$Base.execute$lambda$1(GithubApiRequestExecutor.kt:116) 
at com.intellij.util.io.HttpRequests.doProcess(HttpRequests.java:529) 
at com.intellij.util.io.HttpRequests.process(HttpRequests.java:511) 
at com.intellij.util.io.HttpRequests$RequestBuilderImpl.connect(HttpRequests.java:340) 
at org.jetbrains.plugins.github.api.GithubApiRequestExecutor$Base.execute(GithubApiRequestExecutor.kt:99) 
at org.jetbrains.plugins.github.api.GithubApiRequestExecutor$WithTokenAuth.execute(GithubApiRequestExecutor.kt:71) 
at org.jetbrains.plugins.github.api.GithubApiRequestExecutorKt$executeSuspend$2.invokeSuspend$lambda$0(GithubApiRequestExecutor.kt:309) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.CoroutinesKt.jobToIndicator$lambda$5(coroutines.kt:451) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.ProgressManager.lambda$runProcess$0(ProgressManager.java:98) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.lambda$runProcess$1(CoreProgressManager.java:229) 
at com.intellij.platform.diagnostic.telemetry.helpers.TraceKt.use(trace.kt:43) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.lambda$runProcess$2(CoreProgressManager.java:228) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.lambda$executeProcessUnderProgress$14(CoreProgressManager.java:680) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.registerIndicatorAndRun(CoreProgressManager.java:755) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.computeUnderProgress(CoreProgressManager.java:711) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.executeProcessUnderProgress(CoreProgressManager.java:679) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.ProgressManagerImpl.executeProcessUnderProgress(ProgressManagerImpl.java:77) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.impl.CoreProgressManager.runProcess(CoreProgressManager.java:209) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.ProgressManager.runProcess(ProgressManager.java:98) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.CoroutinesKt.jobToIndicator(coroutines.kt:439) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.CoroutinesKt.contextToIndicator(coroutines.kt:431) 
at com.intellij.openapi.progress.CoroutinesKt.coroutineToIndicator(coroutines.kt:375) 
at org.jetbrains.plugins.github.api.GithubApiRequestExecutorKt$executeSuspend$2.invokeSuspend(GithubApiRequestExecutor.kt:307) 
at kotlin.coroutines.jvm.internal.BaseContinuationImpl.resumeWith(ContinuationImpl.kt:33) 
at kotlinx.coroutines.DispatchedTask.run(DispatchedTask.kt:104) 
at kotlinx.coroutines.internal.SoftLimitedDispatcher$Worker.run(SoftLimitedDispatcher.kt:125) 
at kotlinx.coroutines.scheduling.TaskImpl.run(Tasks.kt:99) 
at kotlinx.coroutines.scheduling.CoroutineScheduler.runSafely(CoroutineScheduler.kt:608) 
at kotlinx.coroutines.scheduling.CoroutineScheduler$Worker.executeTask(CoroutineScheduler.kt:873) 
at kotlinx.coroutines.scheduling.CoroutineScheduler$Worker.runWorker(CoroutineScheduler.kt:763) 
at kotlinx.coroutines.scheduling.CoroutineScheduler$Worker.run(CoroutineScheduler.kt:750)

Cause

The issue can stem from incorrectly set permissions on the GitHub PAT, or the method of authentication not aligning with required actions such as accessing private repositories or organization data.

Resolution

To resolve repeated authentication prompts in Rider:

1. Verify Token Permissions: Ensure the GitHub PAT being used includes at least the following scopes:

   • repo (for repository access)
   • gist (for creating or managing GitHub Gists)
   • read:org (for accessing organization details within GitHub).

2. Configure Authentication Method: If possible, prefer using the OAuth authentication method available directly from Rider settings.

   • Navigate to Settings | Version Control | GitHub.
   • Add account and select Login via GitHub.. for OAuth authentication.