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Free-tier models intermittently fail with "OpenCode's free tier can only be used from within OpenCode" when using the official desktop app #56543
Description
Description
Description
While using the official OpenCode desktop app on Windows, requests to the free models intermittently fail with:
AI_APICallError: OpenCode's free tier can only be used from within OpenCode. Download it at https://opencode.ai and keep building.
I am using OpenCode itself (the official desktop app), not a custom client, script, or third-party tool, so this message should not be triggered. The error is intermittent: the same models respond successfully in the same sessions before and after the failures.
Environment
- OS: Windows (PowerShell shell)
- Client: official OpenCode desktop app
- Versions seen in the logs on the day of the issue (several instances were running at different times): 1.18.28, 1.19.1, 1.19.3, 2.0.32
- Provider:
opencode(free models)
Affected models (all free models I used)
| Model | Failures |
|---|---|
| glm-5.3-flash-free | 16 |
| deepseek-v4.1-flash-free | 12 |
| space-bunny-free | 4 |
| nemotron-3.5-super-vl-free | 2 |
Total: 77 log lines containing this error (34 of them are stream error entries).
Timing
- All occurrences are on 2026-10-17, between 07:26 UTC and 20:22 UTC, in several clusters (about 07:00–10:00 and 15:00–20:00 UTC).
- Seen across 12 different app runs and on all four versions listed above, so it does not look tied to a specific build.
- Also seen with
agent=compaction, so it is not limited to the main chat agent.
Steps to reproduce
Not deterministic. I just use the free models in the desktop app, and after some time requests start failing with the error above. Retrying later sometimes works again.
Plugins
No response
OpenCode version
1.18.28, 1.19.1, 1.19.3, 2.0.32
Steps to reproduce
No response
Screenshot and/or share link
Operating System
No response
Terminal
No response
Activity
opencode-agent commentedon Oct 17, 2026
Thanks for the detailed report and the failure counts, @mohshi63-afk! I think this is a duplicate of #56324. It's the same error with the free
opencode/*models (DeepSeek V4.1 Flash Free, Space Bunny Free, GLM 5.3 Flash Free…) in official OpenCode clients on v2.0.32, and it started on 2026-10-17. Others there see it on Windows Desktop, Linux and the TUI, whether signed in or not.Possible duplicates and closely related issues, ordered by likelihood:
Your timing data (clusters around 07:00–10:00 and 15:00–20:00 UTC, intermittent, also with
agent=compaction) could help. Please consider adding it to #56324.The bot will close this issue as a duplicate in 1 day unless you reply explaining how your problem is different.
Enrique-ZA commentedon Oct 17, 2026
Same issue. I am on v1.19.3. Kubuntu
Enrique-ZA commentedon Oct 17, 2026
that doesn't help me when everyone is having the same issues. I tested with claude and it's not the local config. We ran --pure cleared my config etc. There is an issue on your end
opencode-agent commentedon Oct 18, 2026
We didn't hear back in the past day about how this differs from #56324, so I'm closing this as a duplicate. The free-tier error on v2.0.32 is being tracked there. Please follow #56324 for updates, and consider adding your timing details there (the clusters around 07:00–10:00 and 15:00–20:00 UTC, and the failures with
agent=compaction). If your problem turns out to be different, reply here and we can reopen this.