Multiple organizations offering copilot license

[shnigi]

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I don't think there is currently any way to select the "active" organization for copilot. I have a problem that I am part of two organizations both offering copilot license. The one I first activated has taken over in the settings. But I don't know how policies are distributed, are they merged from both organizations since there is a small disclaimer that "this feature is disabled on my main org and in other orgs I am part of" or is the active one the one who rules? Why there isn't a dropdown to select the active organization for copilot? Currently I see two options: 1. create separate github accounts for copilot use (which is against github policies) 2. Leave the ruling organization (which I don't want to do). So is there going to be a dropdown to select active organization for copilot license or are the policies merged with the strictest one winning? I see there are similar issues with personal copilot licenses + org licenses that it is not possible to select the active one.

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[williamhnyohei]

Hello @shnigi,
It’s a common question, but GitHub currently doesn’t provide a way to choose a specific Copilot license if you belong to multiple organizations (or if you also have a personal license). Typically, Copilot will just recognize that you have a valid license and enable the features. There’s no UI or setting to pick which org’s license is “active,” nor is there an official policy about merging licenses.

If you need a specific setup—like preferring one org’s license or pausing your personal subscription—your best bet is to contact GitHub Support. They can check how your account is being recognized and confirm if there’s a workaround. Otherwise, the system simply detects that you’re licensed, without letting you manually select the source of that license.

[shnigi]

The only thing I worry about is that if these organizations have different policies regarding copilot.

For example organization 1. Offers all preview models and the org 2 doesn't. This might cause a problem if the organization policy doesn't allow using the newest model (no idea if there is any harm doing this).

Also I don't know if the preferences like: "match public code" can differ? If org 1 disabled it and org 2 enabled, which one it will be? Enabled or disabled or does it come from the active org which will be winning the fight? Or do they compare policies and take the "stricter" rules out of it 🤔 meaning: match public code would be disabled if other org allows it and the other doesn't.

[williamhnyohei]

Well in this case, I suggest contacting GitHub Support because we cannot see which organization's license will be chosen, and if they have different restrictions, you might lose some new featured models. GitHub Support can review your account setup, clarify which license is being applied, and provide guidance on any potential workarounds.

https://support.github.com/

[quii]

Pardon my ignorance but if you have two licenses which have limited budget for premium requests how does Github figure out which license to deduct from? This must be figured out somehow?

[CenaAshoori]

@williamhnyohei If we have two org licences, would their premium requests merge?

[MoazAlkharfan]

This seems like it should be manually controlled, otherwise it's impossible to work on the same account with multiple organizations.
Being able to select and switch the organization for the copilot is something that will be very needed if I'm doing work on multiple organizations so as not to use a different organization resources if I'm working on another.

[BigBlockStudios]

I am having this exact problem, requests on an organization are all used up and now I have no way of switching to and using my personal access - I can't actually use my personal license on my own projects.

I'm now paying for licensing that I cannot use!!!

[JinsengIT]

I have a related issue. Our enterprise allocates GitHub Copilot licenses through org A, but we need to have a subset of users with different GitHub Copilot policies. My hope was to add the user to the second, less restrictive, org B and have the overall policies be less restrictive. We don't see a way to change org context to get the less restrictive policies. Due to cost concerns, I was hoping the license allocation can stay with org A, and have the policy come from org B. If I give a second license through org B in the enterprise, will that make the policies work as desired? And will I only be charged once, or charged twice?

[BigBlockStudios]

I got the definitive answer from github support - you can only have one copilot license per github account - you want multiple copilot licenses you need multiple github accounts. Can't do anything about an organization enabling copilot on your account if you belong to multiple orgs. :(

[shnigi]

I got the definitive answer from github support - you can only have one copilot license per github account - you want multiple copilot licenses you need multiple github accounts. Can't do anything about an organization enabling copilot on your account if you belong to multiple orgs. :(

But Github policy doesn't allow to have multiple personal accounts? "One person or legal entity may maintain no more than one free Account" The problem for me is that I do consulting, I have one account and multiple organizations. It would simplify things 100% if we could just select which org license to use while working. Or somehow configure it. Otherwise I need to break Github policy and create multiple accounts

[jsnape]

One person or legal entity may maintain no more than one free Account

AFAIK this is a free account, not a paid account. However it won't let you create new accounts with the same email address so I can't create client specific accounts from my single work address.

[Cli4d]

Hi there

I have followed the conversation and seem not to see any resolution or solution for this apart from contacting support. FOr my case I have the GitHub Student Pack offer for GitHub Copilot and also belong to an organization having GitHub copilot. The otganization have limits they have placed, especially on the models that can be used and I do not have ability to add more models for the AI agents. However I believe on the GitHub student pack offer I have this freedom to do so.

Problem is GitHub is only recognising the oganizations's copilot license rather than the GitHub Student Pack offering

[jaeko44]

Crazy that this hasn't been solved

[pboushy]

I submitted https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/189161 to make a super clear post asking for this feature to be added cause the existing posts I found all appear to be questions.
Please upvote if you want this feature.

[hades200082]

Ditto: Ditto: https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/188809