diff --git a/extensions/copilot/src/extension/conversation/vscode-node/conversationFeature.ts b/extensions/copilot/src/extension/conversation/vscode-node/conversationFeature.ts
index ce5e7b4585c..fec26d169af 100644
--- a/extensions/copilot/src/extension/conversation/vscode-node/conversationFeature.ts
+++ b/extensions/copilot/src/extension/conversation/vscode-node/conversationFeature.ts
@@ -162,6 +162,13 @@ export class ConversationFeature implements IExtensionContribution {
 			return;
 		} else {
 			this._searchProviderRegistered = true;
+
+			// Don't register for no auth user
+			if (this.authenticationService.copilotToken?.isNoAuthUser) {
+				this.logService.debug('ConversationFeature: Skipping search provider registration - no GitHub session available');
+				return;
+			}
+
 			return vscode.workspace.registerAITextSearchProvider('file', this.instantiationService.createInstance(SemanticSearchTextSearchProvider));
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/extensions/copilot/src/extension/prompts/node/panel/workspace/workspaceContext.tsx b/extensions/copilot/src/extension/prompts/node/panel/workspace/workspaceContext.tsx
index d026e6a1657..7040a6f8b9d 100644
--- a/extensions/copilot/src/extension/prompts/node/panel/workspace/workspaceContext.tsx
+++ b/extensions/copilot/src/extension/prompts/node/panel/workspace/workspaceContext.tsx
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { IPromptPathRepresentationService } from '../../../../../platform/prompt
 import { ITelemetryService } from '../../../../../platform/telemetry/common/telemetry';
 import { getWorkspaceFileDisplayPath, IWorkspaceService } from '../../../../../platform/workspace/common/workspaceService';
 import { KeywordItem, ResolvedWorkspaceChunkQuery, WorkspaceChunkQuery } from '../../../../../platform/workspaceChunkSearch/common/workspaceChunkSearch';
+import { LocalEmbeddingsIndexStatus } from '../../../../../platform/workspaceChunkSearch/node/embeddingsChunkSearch';
 import { IWorkspaceChunkSearchService, WorkspaceChunkSearchResult } from '../../../../../platform/workspaceChunkSearch/node/workspaceChunkSearchService';
 import { GlobIncludeOptions } from '../../../../../util/common/glob';
 import { createFencedCodeBlock, getLanguageId } from '../../../../../util/common/markdown';
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ export const MAX_CHUNK_TOKEN_COUNT = 32_000;
 export const MAX_TOOL_CHUNK_TOKEN_COUNT = 20_000;
 
 type WorkspaceChunksState = {
-	readonly result: WorkspaceChunkSearchResult;
+	readonly result?: WorkspaceChunkSearchResult;
 };
 
 export interface ChunksToolProps extends BasePromptElementProps {
@@ -73,6 +74,11 @@ export class WorkspaceChunks extends PromptElement<ChunksToolProps, WorkspaceChu
 	}
 
 	override async prepare(sizing: PromptSizing, progress: vscode.Progress<vscode.ChatResponsePart> | undefined, token = CancellationToken.None): Promise<WorkspaceChunksState> {
+		const indexState = await this.workspaceChunkSearch.getIndexState();
+		if (indexState.localIndexState.status === LocalEmbeddingsIndexStatus.Disabled && indexState.remoteIndexState.status === 'disabled') {
+			return {};
+		}
+
 		const searchResult = await logExecTime(this.logService, 'workspaceContext.perf.prepareWorkspaceChunks', () => {
 			return raceCancellationError(
 				this.workspaceChunkSearch.searchFileChunks({
@@ -115,6 +121,10 @@ export class WorkspaceChunks extends PromptElement<ChunksToolProps, WorkspaceChu
 	}
 
 	override render(state: WorkspaceChunksState, sizing: PromptSizing): PromptPiece<any, any> | undefined {
+		if (state.result === undefined) {
+			return <TextChunk>The workspace index is not available at this time.</TextChunk>;
+		}
+
 		return <WorkspaceChunkList
 			result={state.result}
 			referencesOut={this.props.referencesOut}
diff --git a/extensions/copilot/src/extension/workspaceChunkSearch/vscode-node/workspaceIndexingStatus.ts b/extensions/copilot/src/extension/workspaceChunkSearch/vscode-node/workspaceIndexingStatus.ts
index e41f14e50a1..86f0a00e44c 100644
--- a/extensions/copilot/src/extension/workspaceChunkSearch/vscode-node/workspaceIndexingStatus.ts
+++ b/extensions/copilot/src/extension/workspaceChunkSearch/vscode-node/workspaceIndexingStatus.ts
@@ -272,6 +272,9 @@ export class ChatStatusWorkspaceIndexingStatus extends Disposable {
 					},
 				};
 
+			case LocalEmbeddingsIndexStatus.Disabled:
+				return undefined;
+
 			case LocalEmbeddingsIndexStatus.TooManyFilesForAnyIndexing:
 			default:
 				return {
diff --git a/extensions/copilot/src/platform/workspaceChunkSearch/node/embeddingsChunkSearch.ts b/extensions/copilot/src/platform/workspaceChunkSearch/node/embeddingsChunkSearch.ts
index 7d5ee2bb636..477c1ef10c7 100644
--- a/extensions/copilot/src/platform/workspaceChunkSearch/node/embeddingsChunkSearch.ts
+++ b/extensions/copilot/src/platform/workspaceChunkSearch/node/embeddingsChunkSearch.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import { WorkspaceChunkEmbeddingsIndex, WorkspaceChunkEmbeddingsIndexState } fro
 import { IWorkspaceFileIndex } from './workspaceFileIndex';
 
 export enum LocalEmbeddingsIndexStatus {
+	Disabled = 'disabled',
 	Unknown = 'unknown',
 
 	UpdatingIndex = 'updatingIndex',
diff --git a/extensions/copilot/src/platform/workspaceChunkSearch/node/workspaceChunkSearchService.ts b/extensions/copilot/src/platform/workspaceChunkSearch/node/workspaceChunkSearchService.ts
index b29a3b9991e..145ccae34c4 100644
--- a/extensions/copilot/src/platform/workspaceChunkSearch/node/workspaceChunkSearchService.ts
+++ b/extensions/copilot/src/platform/workspaceChunkSearch/node/workspaceChunkSearchService.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import { Disposable, IDisposable } from '../../../util/vs/base/common/lifecycle'
 import { StopWatch } from '../../../util/vs/base/common/stopwatch';
 import { IInstantiationService } from '../../../util/vs/platform/instantiation/common/instantiation';
 import { ChatResponseProgressPart2 } from '../../../vscodeTypes';
+import { IAuthenticationService } from '../../authentication/common/authentication';
 import { IAuthenticationChatUpgradeService } from '../../authentication/common/authenticationUpgrade';
 import { FileChunk, FileChunkAndScore } from '../../chunking/common/chunk';
 import { MAX_CHUNK_SIZE_TOKENS } from '../../chunking/node/naiveChunker';
@@ -118,6 +119,7 @@ export class WorkspaceChunkSearchService extends Disposable implements IWorkspac
 
 	constructor(
 		@IInstantiationService private readonly _instantiationService: IInstantiationService,
+		@IAuthenticationService private readonly _authenticationService: IAuthenticationService,
 		@ILogService private readonly _logService: ILogService,
 	) {
 		super();
@@ -128,6 +130,10 @@ export class WorkspaceChunkSearchService extends Disposable implements IWorkspac
 	}
 
 	private async tryInit(silent: boolean): Promise<WorkspaceChunkSearchServiceImpl | undefined> {
+		if (!this._authenticationService.copilotToken || this._authenticationService.copilotToken.isNoAuthUser) {
+			return undefined;
+		}
+
 		if (this._impl) {
 			return this._impl;
 		}
@@ -161,7 +167,7 @@ export class WorkspaceChunkSearchService extends Disposable implements IWorkspac
 					repos: [],
 				},
 				localIndexState: {
-					status: LocalEmbeddingsIndexStatus.Unknown,
+					status: !this._authenticationService.copilotToken || this._authenticationService.copilotToken.isNoAuthUser ? LocalEmbeddingsIndexStatus.Disabled : LocalEmbeddingsIndexStatus.Unknown,
 					getState: async () => undefined,
 				}
 			};