Repository access issue

[samdev652]

Hi everyone,

Hi guys, why am I getting this error when I try accessing certain programs in the Github education platform

Repository Access Issue
You no longer have access to your assignment repository. Contact your teacher for support

[bibhupradhanofficial]

This error typically occurs in GitHub Classroom when the automated process for creating or granting access to your assignment repository fails or enters a "bad state".

Primary Causes

• Invalid Invitations: A common glitch causes the initial repository invitation to become invalid immediately after it is accepted, leaving you with a "pending" status that never resolves.
• OAuth Permission Issues: Your GitHub account may not have authorized the GitHub Classroom application with the correct permissions, or those permissions have become corrupted.
• Organization Permissions: If the classroom's GitHub organization has "Base permissions" set to "No permission" for members, you may lose access to your own repository once you are added to the organization.
• Duplicate Repository Names: If a repository with the exact same name already exists from a previous attempt, the system may block the creation of the new one.

Recommended Solutions

1. Contact Your Teacher (Recommended First Step)
   Since the error explicitly directs you to your teacher, they have the administrative power to fix this quickly. You should ask them to:

• Manually re-invite you: They can go to the specific repository's Settings > Collaborators and teams, delete any existing "pending invitation" for you, and manually add your GitHub username with Write access.
• Delete and re-accept: They can delete the failed repository in the organization, allowing you to click the assignment link again to start a fresh creation process.

2. Troubleshooting on Your End
   If you want to try fixing it yourself before contacting them:

• Revoke and Re-authorize:
  1. Go to your GitHub Settings > Applications > Authorized OAuth Apps.
  2. Find GitHub Classroom and click Revoke access.
  3. Clear your browser's cache and cookies.
  4. Click the original assignment link provided by your teacher again to re-authorize and re-accept the assignment.
• Check the Dashboard: Log in to the GitHub Classroom dashboard directly to see if the assignment appears there with a "ready" status.
• Incognito Mode: Try accepting the assignment link in an incognito/private browser window to rule out extension or cache conflicts.

[kingma-sbw]

This is not a thing a teacher can solve. This is a problem that only the classroom team from github can remedy.

What seems to work is have the students:

1. Go to their github home
2. click Settings (top right) and select Organisation
3. Than have them click the Accept button on the assignment

[H41s3]

Ah, that one’s pretty straightforward—GitHub isn’t being dramatic, it’s just enforcing permissions. That message pops up when your account no longer has access to that repository, usually because:

The assignment deadline passed and the teacher revoked access.

The repository got archived or deleted by the course admin.

You accidentally used a different GitHub account than the one linked to the course.

Quick fix: reach out to your teacher or course admin and ask them to restore your access. No amount of refreshing or incantations in the terminal is gonna fix it—you need the permissions switched back.

Think of it as GitHub politely saying: “Not your sandbox anymore, buddy.” 😅

[debug-loop]

This usually happens when GitHub Classroom loses or revokes your repo permissions, not because anything is broken on your machine.

Here are the most common reasons:

• The assignment deadline passed and access was automatically removed
• The repo was deleted or archived by the teacher
• You accepted the assignment using a different GitHub account
• The Classroom app didn’t finish setting up your repo properly
• Your org permissions were set to “No access”

What to do:

Ask your teacher to re-invite you to the assignment repo (Settings → Collaborators)

If that doesn’t work, have them delete the failed repo and resend the assignment link

On your side, revoke “GitHub Classroom” under GitHub Settings → Applications

Re-open the assignment link in an incognito window and accept again

Double-check you’re logged into the correct GitHub account

If none of that works, only the course admin can fix it since it’s a permissions issue on the org side.

[mauryadevesh]

i think this error shows up when the github classroom that i think u use make some changes in the repo's perms. i guess it's because ur repo didnt finish setting up or ur access is missing for that classroom. go to ur github acc settings -> organizations and check if u have a pending classrooom invite. or maybe just reclick ur classroom link. if none of this works then i htink ur professor or the github support has to step in and restore ur access

[kingma-sbw]

no, it is a bug due to latency in the back processing of github.

[kingma-sbw]

Go through these steps:

1. have students goto their gihtub hom
2. select settings / organisations
3. select accept for the classroom assignment

a video https://office.kingma.ch/s/5WxeNMf2EJxfay4

[petrvecera]

I created classes for the summer semester and all the students are getting this issue WTF, it worked just few months ago.

[anshG2003]

This error is a common headache in GitHub Classroom, often caused by a "handshake" failure between the classroom's automation and your account permissions. It doesn't usually mean you've done anything wrong—it's more of a technical glitch.

Here are the steps to fix this, starting with the ones you can do yourself.

1. The "Organization Handshake" Fix
   Sometimes your account creates the repository but fails to join the organization as a collaborator.

Go to your GitHub Home.

Click your profile picture (top right) and go to Settings.

In the left sidebar, select Organizations.

Look for the organization name used for your class (e.g., CourseName-2026). If there is a pending invitation, click Accept. Often, once you accept the org invite, the "Access Issue" on the assignment page disappears.

2. Revoke and Re-authorize (The "Refresh" Method)
   If the connection is "stuck," you can force GitHub Classroom to ask for permission again:

Go to your GitHub Settings > Applications > Authorized OAuth Apps.

Find GitHub Classroom and click Revoke.

Open your teacher’s original assignment invitation link in an Incognito/Private window.

Log in and re-authorize the app. This often clears "bad states" where the repository was created but permissions weren't applied.

3. Check for the "Invisible" Repository
   Occasionally, the assignment page says you don't have access, but the repository actually exists.

Check your email for a "You've been invited to..." message from GitHub and click the link inside.

Alternatively, go directly to the class organization on GitHub and search for a repository with your username in it (e.g., assignment-name-yourusername).

If those don't work (Teacher Support)
If the steps above fail, the repository might be in a "zombie" state (created but broken). You will need to ask your teacher to:

Delete the failed repository in the GitHub Organization.

Remove your name from that specific assignment's roster in the GitHub Classroom dashboard.

Have you click the invitation link again to start the process from scratch.

Note: If you are working in a group, ensure you haven't been removed from the team by a teammate or that the deadline hasn't passed, as some teachers set repositories to automatically lock after the due date.

[kingma-sbw]

The thing is this. My students are new to Git and Github. They are already and understandably overwhelmed by the sheer new things of both git and GitHub they are confronted with. I'm loosing faith of about 30% my students in GitHub and git in general.

This is of course just a glitch but as my old teacher said: "there is no second change for a first impression." The first impression that GitHub on my students makes is that GitHub is buggy, git is buggy and this will not help them to keep their code in a trusted environment. And frankly, neither to I.

This should be priority of the copilot agents employed at the Microsoft education team IMHO.

[abotorab-ai]

👍🏿

[kingma-sbw]

Btw. just now I did a test,

1. Create a new classroom
2. Create a roster with me in it
3. Create an assignment and copy the link
4. Open the assignment in my github test account in another browser
5. Accept the assignment

[petrvecera]

Exactly, I have 90 students in the class, this is last semester before their graduation so we have just 8 labs and I already wasted 1 lab manually assigning them work so that we can work.

I could have gone with internal school system but the reason I choose GitHub classroom is because I want to prepare them for real life where there is 50% chance they will be using GitHub although with the quality of services Microsoft is showing lately, I should probably go with Gitlab. 🤔