Intel / article

GitHub Models is now retired

Source: simonwillison.net
Date: Published Aug 9, 2026

Terms in this piece · Glossary

LLM — A large language model — the neural network behind tools like Claude and ChatGPT, trained on huge amounts of text to predict what comes next.
token — The chunk of text a model reads and writes in — roughly three-quarters of a word — and the unit AI usage is billed in.

Why it matters

Any Continuous AI workflow calling GitHub Models is now broken; this names the error, the cause, and the migration path.

Key quotes

“GitHub didn't share the reason behind the shutdown, but my bet is that it fits the pattern where coding agent patterns made it prohibitively expensive to offer free or subsidized tokens.”
Simon Willison

“GitHub provided a model playground tool and a unified API across a bunch of different LLM providers, with the biggest benefit being that code running in GitHub Actions could use the GitHub API key already present in that environment to execute prompts.”
Simon Willison

“I swapped GitHub Models out for an OpenAI API key with a monthly spending limit, and I'm now generating my summaries using GPT-5.6 Luna.”
Simon Willison

Read the source simonwillison.net