Proxies for GitHub Copilot and JetBrains AI: How to Use AI Assistants from Restricted Regions

GitHub Copilot and JetBrains AI Assistant — two of the most popular tools for AI coding — are unavailable or unstable from Russia, Belarus, and several other countries. If you open your IDE and see a connection error instead of smart suggestions, this is not a bug on your computer; it is a geo-block. In this article, we will discuss how to bypass these restrictions via a proxy and regain full access to AI assistants.

Why GitHub Copilot and JetBrains AI are unavailable in your region

Since 2022, GitHub has imposed restrictions on the use of several paid services for users from Russia and Belarus. GitHub Copilot — a paid product based on OpenAI — was one of the first to fall under these restrictions. Formally, an account may exist, but the connection to Copilot servers is blocked at the IP address level: the system determines the country based on your IP and denies the connection.

JetBrains AI Assistant — an integrated AI tool in IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, and other JetBrains products — operates through JetBrains AI Service servers, which also use OpenAI and Anthropic models. After the sanctions were imposed, JetBrains restricted access to AI features for users from affected regions. When trying to activate the AI Assistant in the IDE, you see an error like Connection refused or Service unavailable in your region.

It is important to understand: the blocking works specifically at the IP address level. Neither your account, subscription, nor the tool itself is "broken." As soon as the connection is made through an IP from an allowed country, everything works as expected. This is where proxy servers come to the rescue.

In addition to complete blocking, there is also partial blocking: in some regions, Copilot is formally available but works with delays, connection drops, or periodically issues authentication errors. This can also be resolved through a proxy with an IP from a stable region — for example, Germany, the Netherlands, or the USA.

Which type of proxy is suitable for AI assistants

Not every proxy is equally suitable for working with GitHub Copilot and JetBrains AI. Let's examine the options from a developer's practical perspective.

Residential Proxies

Residential proxies are IP addresses of real home users from different countries. From the perspective of GitHub and JetBrains servers, such a request looks like an ordinary user from, for example, Germany or Poland. This is the most reliable option for bypassing geo-blocks: the likelihood that a specific residential IP will be blacklisted is minimal.

For working with AI assistants, residential proxies are well-suited, especially if you value stability and do not want to change settings periodically. The only nuance is speed: residential proxies are slightly slower than data center proxies, but for requests to Copilot (which do not require high bandwidth), this is not critical.

Data Center Proxies

Data center proxies are IP addresses of servers in cloud data centers. They are faster than residential proxies and are generally cheaper. They are also suitable for working with GitHub Copilot, but there is a risk: some ranges of data center IPs have already been blocked by GitHub as suspicious (especially popular subnets from AWS, GCP, Azure). If you choose data center proxies for this task, select IPs from less popular providers and be sure to check them before use.

Mobile Proxies

Mobile proxies use IPs from mobile operators (4G/5G). They have the highest level of trust from platforms — a single mobile IP can be used by hundreds of real users, so blocking it is not profitable. For GitHub Copilot, this is an excessive solution in terms of price, but if you already have mobile proxies for other tasks, they will also work perfectly.

Protocol: HTTP vs SOCKS5

GitHub Copilot and JetBrains IDE work via HTTPS. Both protocols — HTTP/HTTPS proxies and SOCKS5 — are suitable for them. However, SOCKS5 is preferred: it operates at a lower level and correctly proxies any traffic, including WebSocket connections, which Copilot uses to stream real-time suggestions. HTTP proxies sometimes incorrectly handle CONNECT tunnels, leading to disconnections.

Setting up a proxy for GitHub Copilot in VS Code and JetBrains IDE

GitHub Copilot is installed as an extension in both VS Code and JetBrains IDE. The proxy setup for it depends on which editor you are using. Let's examine both options in detail.

GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code

VS Code supports proxy configuration through the editor's system settings. Here’s a step-by-step process:

1. Open VS Code and go to File → Preferences → Settings (or press Ctrl+,).
2. In the search bar, type proxy.
3. Find the Http: Proxy setting and enter your proxy address in the format http://user:password@host:port or socks5://user:password@host:port.
4. Make sure the Http: Proxy Strict SSL setting is turned off — this will help avoid issues with SSL certificates through the proxy.
5. Restart VS Code.
6. Open any code file and check if Copilot suggestions appear. The Copilot icon in the bottom right corner should become active (not gray).

An alternative method is through the settings.json file. Open it via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P → "Open User Settings JSON") and add:

{
  "http.proxy": "socks5://user:password@proxy-host:port",
  "http.proxyStrictSSL": false,
  "http.proxySupport": "on"
}

After saving the file, VS Code will apply the settings without restarting. The "http.proxySupport": "on" setting ensures that all extensions, including Copilot, will use the specified proxy.

GitHub Copilot in JetBrains IDE (IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm)

In JetBrains IDE, the proxy is configured centrally and applies to all plugins, including GitHub Copilot:

1. Open File → Settings (Windows/Linux) or IntelliJ IDEA → Preferences (macOS).
2. Go to Appearance & Behavior → System Settings → HTTP Proxy.
3. Select Manual proxy configuration.
4. If using an HTTP/HTTPS proxy — select HTTP and enter the host and port. If SOCKS5 — select SOCKS and specify the SOCKS5 version.
5. Enter your username and password in the Proxy authentication fields.
6. Click Check connection — the IDE will check the availability of the proxy by trying to connect to https://github.com.
7. Click Apply → OK and restart the IDE.

Setting up a proxy for JetBrains AI Assistant

JetBrains AI Assistant is a separate product from Copilot, integrated directly into the JetBrains ecosystem. It uses its own JetBrains AI Service servers and requires an active JetBrains subscription (or is included in the All Products Pack). The proxy setup for it is slightly different from Copilot.

Step 1: Setting up the proxy at the IDE level

The proxy for JetBrains AI Assistant is configured through the same IDE system settings described above (Settings → HTTP Proxy). This is a single configuration point for all network requests in the IDE, including AI Assistant, plugin synchronization, updates, and license checks.

Step 2: Checking the connection to AI servers

After setting up the proxy, open any code file and invoke the AI Assistant via the right mouse button → AI Actions or through the sidebar. If the proxy is working correctly, you will see a chat interface and be able to send your first request. If you see the error AI Service is not available — check that the proxy server is providing an IP from an allowed region.

Step 3: Setting up via environment variables (for advanced users)

If you run multiple IDEs or want to apply the proxy globally for all JetBrains products, it is more convenient to use environment variables. Add them to your system variables or to your shell configuration file (.bashrc, .zshrc):

# For HTTP/HTTPS proxy
export HTTP_PROXY="http://user:password@proxy-host:port"
export HTTPS_PROXY="http://user:password@proxy-host:port"

# For SOCKS5 proxy
export ALL_PROXY="socks5://user:password@proxy-host:port"

# Exceptions (do not proxy local addresses)
export NO_PROXY="localhost,127.0.0.1,*.local"

On Windows, similar variables are set through System Properties → Environment Variables. After adding the variables, restart the IDE — it will automatically pick up the settings.

Setting up via the idea.properties file (fine-tuning)

In JetBrains IDE, there is a file idea.properties, through which you can set the proxy at the JVM level. You can find it through Help → Edit Custom Properties. Add the following lines:

# Proxy for JVM (applies to all network requests in the IDE)
-Dhttp.proxyHost=proxy-host
-Dhttp.proxyPort=port
-Dhttp.proxyUser=user
-Dhttp.proxyPassword=password
-Dhttps.proxyHost=proxy-host
-Dhttps.proxyPort=port

This method works even in cases where the standard HTTP Proxy settings in the IDE GUI are not applied correctly — for example, some versions of IntelliJ IDEA 2023-2024 have been noted to have bugs with applying SOCKS5 through the GUI.

System proxy vs proxy in IDE: what to choose

There are two fundamentally different approaches to setting up a proxy for working with AI assistants: configuring the proxy directly in the IDE or using a system proxy through which all computer traffic will go. Each approach has its pros and cons.

If you only need to unblock Copilot or JetBrains AI — it is sufficient to set up the proxy in the IDE itself. If you also work with git via the command line, doing git push to blocked repositories or using GitHub Actions — it is better to set up a system proxy or a proxy specifically for git:

# Setting up proxy for git (HTTP/HTTPS)
git config --global http.proxy http://user:password@proxy-host:port
git config --global https.proxy http://user:password@proxy-host:port

# Setting up proxy for git (SOCKS5)
git config --global http.proxy socks5://user:password@proxy-host:port

# Remove proxy for git (when not needed)
git config --global --unset http.proxy
git config --global --unset https.proxy

Common errors and how to fix them

Even with a properly configured proxy, problems can sometimes arise. Here are the most common errors and how to resolve them.

Error: Copilot does not authorize through the proxy

Symptom: the proxy is configured, the IDE sees the internet, but when trying to log into Copilot, the browser opens, you log into GitHub, but the IDE does not receive the token.

Reason: the Copilot authorization process uses a callback to localhost, and some proxies intercept this traffic as well. Solution: ensure that in the proxy settings, localhost and 127.0.0.1 are added to the exceptions (the "No proxy for" field).

Error: SSL certificate verification failed

Symptom: the IDE throws an error about an invalid SSL certificate when working through the proxy.

Reason: some proxy servers (especially corporate ones or those with traffic inspection features) replace SSL certificates. Solution: disable strict SSL verification in the IDE settings. In VS Code — the setting "http.proxyStrictSSL": false. In JetBrains — uncheck Check server certificate in the proxy settings. If you are using a proxy from a trusted provider, this issue is usually not present.

Error: Copilot suggestions appear with a significant delay

Symptom: Copilot works, but suggestions appear after 5-10 seconds instead of the usual 1-2 seconds.

Reason: high latency of the proxy server. This is typical for cheap or overloaded proxies. Solution: choose a proxy with a server in a geographically close region. If you are in Russia, a proxy with a server in Finland, Germany, or Poland will provide lower latency than a proxy with a server in the USA. Also, ensure that your proxy provider offers dedicated IPs, not shared ones — shared IPs have higher loads.

Error: JetBrains AI Assistant shows "Subscription required"

Symptom: the proxy is configured, the IDE connects to JetBrains servers, but the AI Assistant requires a subscription, even though it has already been paid.

Reason: the JetBrains licensing server checks the account and may not see the AI Assistant as part of your subscription if the account was registered before the AI Assistant became part of the JetBrains All Products Pack. Solution: log in to account.jetbrains.com through a browser with the same proxy and check that the AI Assistant is activated in your account. Sometimes, it may be necessary to explicitly add the product through the account interface.

Error: the proxy works in the browser but not in the IDE

This is a common situation: you checked the proxy in the browser — everything works, but the IDE still throws a connection error.

Reason: the IDE and the browser are different applications with different network settings. The browser automatically uses the system proxy, while the IDE requires explicit configuration. Ensure that the proxy is specified in the IDE settings, not just in the OS system settings (although JetBrains IDE can read the system proxy, it does not always do so correctly).

Comparison of proxy types for developers

To help choose the optimal type of proxy for specific developer tasks, we have compiled a comparative table. It considers not only GitHub Copilot and JetBrains AI but also related tasks: working with npm/pip repositories, Docker Hub, access to documentation on blocked resources.

For most developers, the optimal choice is residential proxies: they provide reliable bypassing of GitHub and JetBrains geo-blocks, have a high level of trust, and are suitable for the entire spectrum of developer tasks. Data center proxies are a good option if you are downloading many packages or Docker images and speed is important, but they should be chosen carefully for GitHub Copilot.

Important: use a static IP, not a rotating one

For working with GitHub Copilot and JetBrains AI, it is critically important to use a static (sticky) proxy, not a rotating one. Rotating proxies change IPs with each new request — this is great for scraping but catastrophic for AI assistants: GitHub sees that one account is connecting from hundreds of different IPs and may temporarily block the account as suspicious. Choose proxies that allow for fixing one IP for a long period (sticky sessions for 24+ hours).

Conclusion

GitHub Copilot and JetBrains AI Assistant are powerful tools that genuinely accelerate development. Geo-blocks should not deprive you of access to them. A properly configured proxy completely resolves the issue: the AI assistant starts working normally, without loss of functionality and with a normal response speed.

The main takeaways from the article: use the SOCKS5 protocol for better compatibility, configure the proxy directly in the IDE (do not rely on the system proxy), choose a static IP with session fixation rather than a rotating one, and select servers in geographically close regions of the EU for minimal latency.

If you want stable access to GitHub Copilot and JetBrains AI without periodic disconnections and the need to constantly change settings, we recommend considering residential proxies — they provide a high level of trust from GitHub and JetBrains servers and work reliably in the long term.