How to Fix AI Suggestions Not Appearing in VS Code

When an AI assistant goes quiet, the cause is usually one of a handful of easy-to-check things: a sign-in that expired, a setting toggled off, a network block, or a quota you have hit. This guide is a checklist that works for Copilot, Continue, and Cline so you can find the problem quickly instead of reinstalling everything.

What you need

• VS Code with at least one AI extension installed
• Access to the account or API key the extension uses
• About 6 minutes

Step 1: Check the status bar and sign-in

Look at the bottom status bar. A Copilot icon with a slash means it is disabled or signed out. Click it, and if it asks you to sign in, do so. For Continue and Cline, open their panel and confirm a model is selected and a key is present, because expired keys silently stop responses.

Step 2: Confirm the feature is enabled for this file

Suggestions can be disabled for a specific language. Open your settings and check the enable map. If the current file type is set to false, that is why nothing appears. Set it to true and the suggestions return.

{
  "editor.inlineSuggest.enabled": true,
  "github.copilot.enable": {
    "*": true,
    "yaml": true
  }
}

Step 3: Check the network and the output log

These tools call a server, so a proxy, VPN, or firewall can block them. Open the Output panel, pick the extension's channel from the dropdown, and read the recent lines. Authentication and connection errors show up here in plain language.

Step 4: Check quota, then reload

On a free or metered plan you can run out of completions or hit an API spend limit. Check your plan usage in the provider console. If everything looks correct but it still fails, run Developer: Reload Window from the Command Palette, which restarts the extensions cleanly.

Result

By checking sign-in, per-language settings, the inline suggest toggle, the output log, and your quota, you can find why an assistant stopped responding and fix it without a reinstall. In most cases the suggestions come back as soon as you re-sign in or re-enable the right setting.