When attempting to load a Zenhub Workspace you may encounter the following error message:



IMPORTANT - Start with these general troubleshooting steps to resolve the issue—particularly checking your GitHub permissions, and ensuring no other extensions are interfering, such as adblockers. These are the most common culprits of this error! If you’re still experiencing issues, there are a few other steps that can be taken below. 



In this article

1. Check that your GitHub organization has enabled third-party access.

2. Reconnect to your VPN (only for users accessing ZenHub via a VPN).

3. Check that the rate limit has not been exceeded (400 Bad Request error).



1. Check that your GitHub organization has enabled third-party access.

Your GitHub organization must have enabled third-party access in order for applications, like Zenhub, to be able to view repositories. If access has not been provided, or someone from your organization has revoked it, you will see this error. You can check that third-party access has been enabled in your Github account settings. 


a. Go to your GitHub settings (direct link) and click on Applications.

b. Navigate to the Authorized OAuth Apps tab.

c. You’ll see a list of all the applications with access to your account. Click on Zenhub.

d. A green checkmark next to your organization means access has been granted, and a red X means it has not. Only a GitHub organization admin can provide access—see more information on how to enable it here. 


Please note: if access has recently been enabled, these changes may take up to 3 hours due to GitHub permission caching. Read more about how to force a permission check here. 





2. Issues with connectivity and VPNing into your network

If you are using Zenhub Enterprise, or are accessing Zenhub through a VPN, try checking these three things to clear the error:

  • Reconnecting to your VPN connection. Sometimes you’ll see this error if there is a slow or weak connection.
  • Check with your IT team to ensure you have a valid SSL certificate installed in your browser. Some organizations require an org-specific certificate to be installed into a certified browser version officially supported through the organization.
  • Confirm with your IT team that any firewall in place isn’t blocking WebSockets from connecting. The Board requires WebSockets to keep information updated in real-time. Some VPN firewalls prevent WebSockets from passing.


3. Rate limit exceeded / 400 (Bad Request error)

A 400 (Bad Request) error means you’ve gone over the number of interactions that GitHub allows each user to perform across all integrated services (GitHub limits requests to 5000 per hour, across all your apps). These limits protect teams against abuse on the infrastructure of GitHub.


To check if you’ve exceeded the rate limit, open your web browser’s Console tab (instructions here) and look for errors containing: 'API rate limit exceeded for XXXXXX.'{"message":"Error response from GitHub API"}


Hitting a rate limit error means that Zenhub might experience some delays loading until the hour resets. A rate limit error can be triggered by multiple things:

  • Having a significant amount of information in your Board: for example, 50+ repos connected, hundreds of Epics, with thousands of Issues open. If this is the case and you are attempting to load the Velocity chart more than a few times within the same hour, it can trigger a rate limit error as the Velocity calls upon a large set of data to load.
  • You have a custom script running on any of your GitHub-integrated systems that is using the GitHub API heavily.
  • You have a significant number of GitHub-integrated systems that are each running and making a lot of calls to GitHub.

If you’re experiencing this error consistently, check if you have any GitHub-integrated apps you can disconnect, custom scripts that might not be operating effectively, or get in touch with us to have a chat about how to structure your Zenhub data.


Still having trouble? Get in touch

If you’ve tried the steps above and are still experiencing the issue, contact our support team at support@zenhub.com. To help us resolve your inquiry as quickly as possible, please provide the following information:

  • Your web browser (Chrome or Firefox).
  • Are you using the extension or web app?
  • Is this an isolated issue, or are others in your GitHub organization experiencing it (if applicable)?
  • Have your GitHub permissions recently changed? Note: you made need to confirm this with your GitHub administrator.