SASVA Extension Stuck "Reconnecting" After VPN or Network Switch
Problem
When a laptop switches networks while a SASVA chat session is active — for example moving from office Wi-Fi to a VPN, or from VPN back to a home/public network — the SASVA chat panel shows a persistent "Reconnecting..." or "Connecting to server..." status that never resolves, even after the new network connection is fully up and other internet traffic (browser, Slack, Teams) works normally.
Symptoms
- Chat input is disabled or the send button stays greyed out after a network/VPN change.
- Status bar or chat header shows "Reconnecting" indefinitely, with no timeout or retry message.
- Other applications on the same machine reconnect to the internet normally within seconds.
- Reloading the VS Code window "fixes" it temporarily, but the same behavior repeats on the next network switch.
Root Cause
SASVA's underlying WebSocket/streaming connection to the SASVA backend does not automatically detect a change in the underlying network interface. When the OS switches the active network route (Wi-Fi to VPN, or VPN drop/re-establish), the original socket is left in a half-open state — the client believes it is still "connecting" on the old route rather than tearing down and re-negotiating a new connection on the new route.
This is distinct from a full network outage: this issue specifically occurs during a network interface change or route change while connectivity is technically available (e.g., VPN client reassigns a new virtual adapter/IP). A genuine loss-of-connectivity event is covered separately in "SASVA Chat History Loss on Network Reconnection"; this article covers the "stuck reconnecting with working network" scenario specifically.
Resolution/Workaround
Immediate fix
- Reload the VS Code window: Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+P (macOS) then select "Developer: Reload Window".
- Confirm the SASVA status indicator changes from "Reconnecting" to "Connected" within 10-15 seconds after reload.
- If it remains stuck, fully close VS Code, confirm the new network/VPN connection is stable (test with a browser), then reopen VS Code.
If the issue is frequent
- Connect to VPN (or switch networks) before opening VS Code and starting a SASVA chat session, rather than switching networks mid-session.
- Avoid suspending/resuming the laptop (sleep/wake) while a SASVA chat request is in flight — finish or cancel the current response first.
- If your organization's VPN client assigns a new virtual adapter on every connect (common with split-tunnel VPNs), expect to reload the VS Code window once per network transition as a standard step, not an error condition.
Escalation
If "Reconnecting" persists for more than 2-3 minutes after a window reload with confirmed working internet, capture the SASVA output log (View then Output, select "SASVA" from the dropdown) covering the time of the network switch, and send it to sasva_support_in@persistent.com along with the approximate timestamp of the network change.
Note: This is a known client-side reconnection-detection gap being tracked for a future SASVA extension release. Until then, a window reload after any network/VPN change is the reliable workaround.
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