GitHub Copilot Can Force Managed Settings Refresh and Fail Closed on Stale Policy
GitHub updated Copilot enterprise managed settings on October 13, 2026. A new forceRemoteSettingsRefresh option can require Copilot CLI, Visual Studio Code, and the GitHub Copilot app to retrieve current server-managed policy at startup instead of relying on a cached response. When the setting is active and a client cannot confirm current policy, it fails closed rather than running under stale or unverified rules. GitHub also began enforcing minimum supported client versions for governance-sensitive keys, starting with sandbox. This article explains the user-visible impact and a safe rollout plan: inventory client versions, define the source of truth, test startup with and without network access, stage the change, document the blocked-user message, preserve emergency support, and verify that policy and sandbox behavior match the intended guardrails.

