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OpenCode Desktop 1.19.4: Zen free models fail while CLI 1.19.4 works with the same account #59003
Description
Description
OpenCode Desktop 1.19.4: Zen free models fail while CLI 1.19.4 works with the same account
Summary
On Windows, OpenCode Desktop 1.19.4 cannot use any OpenCode Zen free model (opencode/*-free, e.g. beam-free, big-pickle, deepseek-v4.1-flash-free). Every request fails with a free-usage/eligibility error ("Free usage exceeded" / "Free usage limit reached. Subscribe to OpenCode Go", or, in some reports, "OpenCode's free tier can only be used from within OpenCode"). The same account, same model, and same credentials work consistently in the OpenCode CLI 1.19.4 on the same machine at the same time. The problem appeared after upgrading to 1.19.4 and persists after reinstall and cache cleanup. Re-logging in and adding an API key do not help.
Environment
- OS: Windows 11 Pro (10.0.26100)
- OpenCode Desktop: 1.19.4 (NSIS installer,
latestchannel; auto-updater reports up-to-date) - OpenCode CLI: 1.19.4 (npm global install,
latestchannel) — works - Auth: shared credential store
~/.local/share/opencode/auth.json(provideropencode); no separate Desktop credential store found - Config: default
~/.config/opencode/opencode.jsonc({"$schema":"https://opencode.ai/config.json"}); no customopencodeprovider base URL - Plugins: none configured
Steps to reproduce
- Launch OpenCode Desktop 1.19.4.
- Open or create a session.
- Select any model labeled "Free" (e.g.
opencode/beam-freeoropencode/big-pickle). - Send a message.
- The request fails within ~1s with a free-usage/eligibility error.
- (Control) Run the same model from the CLI on the same machine:
opencode run --model opencode/beam-free "ok"→ succeeds repeatedly.
Expected behavior
Free Zen models should work in Desktop exactly as they do in the CLI with the same account and credentials. If a quota were truly exhausted, the CLI would fail at the same time (it does not).
Actual behavior
- Every Desktop request to
opencode/*free models fails with the free-usage/eligibility upsell. - Desktop shows a persistent "Free usage exceeded" banner that regenerates on every app launch (no persisted banner state found in Desktop storage; it is re-triggered by the failed session-resume request).
- CLI requests with the identical model and credential succeed in the same time window.
Troubleshooting already attempted
- Restarted Desktop and killed all OpenCode processes via Task Manager.
- Created new sessions and tried several different free models.
- Checked for updates (Desktop reports 1.19.4 as latest).
- Uninstalled Desktop, cleaned cache (
%APPDATA%\ai.opencode.desktop,%LOCALAPPDATA%\...), reinstalled — same result. - Re-logged in and added an API key — no change.
Evidence / diagnostics
- Desktop sidecar log location:
%USERPROFILE%\.local\share\opencode\log\opencode.log(shared with CLI). Desktop failures appear as:
stream error ... AI_APICallError: Free usage limit reached. Free models work in OpenCode (https://opencode.ai); subscribe to OpenCode Go to keep going: https://opencode.ai/go
within ~500 ms of the request, while adjacent CLI calls with the same model succeed. This wording indicates a client-eligibility rejection (free tier only for OpenCode clients), not an account quota. - Desktop app log:
%APPDATA%\ai.opencode.desktop\logs\<timestamp>\main.log— app starts normally, sidecar spawns athttp://127.0.0.1:<port>, server ready; no crash. - No separate Desktop credential store exists; Desktop and CLI share
auth.json.
Suspected cause
Because the CLI succeeds with the same account, model, and credential in the same minute, this is not an account-level quota. It appears Desktop 1.19.4 is not being recognized as an eligible OpenCode client for the Zen free tier, or free-model IDs are being mapped/resolved differently in the Desktop path. Possible contributing factors observed in related reports:
- Client eligibility header / user agent sent by the Desktop sidecar differs from the CLI.
- Free-tier requests depend on request/context size; long/resumed sessions are rejected while fresh small sessions succeed.
- Custom
opencodeprovider base URLs or tool-denying agents can trigger the "only be used from within OpenCode" variant (not present in this config, but worth verifying).
Request
- Make Desktop 1.19.4 use the same free-tier eligibility path as the CLI.
- Surface the real backend error (client eligibility / quota) instead of the generic upsell when a free request is rejected.
- v1 Desktop is still officially supported and stable; please treat this as a regression in 1.19.4 rather than "migrate to v2". Many plugins/workflows depend on v1.
- If a v1 fix is not possible, document it explicitly and provide the exact client identifier/header that v1 Desktop should send.
Related issues
- desktop: free models report 'Free usage limit reached' while CLI v2 succeeds with same account #58835 — desktop reports "Free usage limit reached" while v2 CLI works with same account (closest A/B reproduction)
- Free Usage Exceeded on all free models in OpenCode Desktop 1.19.4. #58781, Free usage limit across all free models with increasing retry countdown #58842, All OpenCode Zen free models blocked for three days — HTTP 429 on Windows #58900, OpenCode Desktop shows “Free usage exceeded” and keeps retrying #58962 — all free models blocked in Desktop 1.19.4
- Error from provider (Console): OpenCode's free tier can only be used from within OpenCode #50366 — "OpenCode's free tier can only be used from within OpenCode" in official clients
- free tier: FreeUsageLimitError depends on request size — long sessions always fail while new sessions succeed #58751 — free-tier error depends on request/context size
Additional context
- Onset: ~2026-10-21 with "Endpoint is unavailable" on some free models, then "Free usage limit reached" from ~2026-10-23 (suggests a server-side migration changed how v1-era clients are treated).
- No newer Desktop build is available to test: auto-updater reports 1.19.4 as latest.
- Workaround currently used: fall back to the CLI.
Plugins
No response
OpenCode version
No response
Steps to reproduce
No response
Screenshot
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Operating System
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Terminal
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Activity
opencode-agent commentedon Oct 25, 2026
Thanks for the thorough write-up and the CLI comparison, @AbuYusof.
I think this is a duplicate of #58835. It reports the same problem: on Windows, Desktop 1.19.4 fails every Zen free model with
Free usage limit reached, and the "Free usage exceeded" banner comes back on every launch, while the CLI works on the same machine with the sameauth.json.These issues are ordered from most to least likely to cover what you're seeing:
One thing worth checking, from #58835 and #58751:
opencode runstarts a new, small session, while Desktop was resuming an existing session with a large context. Try a brand-new session in Desktop, or resume the same session from the CLI withopencode run --session <id> ..., to see whether the difference is session size rather than the client.Desktop 1.19.4 is OpenCode v1, which only gets fixes for critical bugs (data loss, security problems, or breakage with no workaround). Because the CLI works for you, a v1 fix for this is unlikely. v2 (
@opencode/cli, which also has a Desktop app) is where active work happens.The bot will close this issue as a duplicate in 1 day unless you reply explaining how your problem is different from #58835.
opencode-agent commentedon Oct 26, 2026
Closing this as a duplicate of #58835, since we haven't heard back on how this differs. That issue covers the same problem: Desktop 1.19.4 rejects Zen free models with
Free usage limit reachedwhile the CLI works with the same account. Please follow #58835 and #58751 for updates. #58751 covers the session/context-size angle.If you find this is a different problem (for example, a brand-new Desktop session still fails while the CLI succeeds when resuming the same session), please reply here with those details and we can take another look. Thanks again for the detailed report, @AbuYusof.
kpibotadmin commentedon Oct 27, 2026
Hello OpenCode Support,
I am using OpenCode Desktop 1.19.4 on macOS Monterey 12.7.6 on an older MacBook Pro. i7 w 16GB RAM no gpu.
When I try to use free models, I receive this message:
“This version of OpenCode Desktop no longer supports free models. Update to the latest version at https://opencode.ai/download to keep using them.”
I have already downloaded and installed the latest available version. I also checked the official repository, where 1.19.4 is listed as the latest release, and verified that npx -y opencode-ai@latest --version also returns 1.19.4.
The application keeps telling me to update, but no newer version is available through the official download page.
Free models are the main reason I use OpenCode.
I just can use the desktop version. No TUI or CLI because of my old hardware.
Could you please clarify whether free models are still supported in Desktop 1.19.4 on macOS Monterey and provide a working solution?
Thank you!
RicardoMiles commentedon Oct 28, 2026
I hit a similar Desktop/CLI split on macOS: both were 1.19.4, the desktop updater reported it was current, and BigPickle failed in Desktop while the shell CLI still worked.
I was able to keep the v1 GUI by running the official 1.19.4 CLI as an independent, password-protected loopback server (
opencode serve), then connecting Desktop through Settings → Servers → Add server. BigPickle completed requests through that GUI connection, including with the CLI running as a background service. This uses the normal external-server flow; it does not patch the app or rewrite client/user-agent headers.I documented the working setup and published a macOS helper:
Windows support has not been implemented or tested. This issue's Windows reproduction is therefore still unverified with this approach. The completed GUI inference was on one arm64 Mac.
This remains a local workaround, not restored upstream v1 support or a guarantee against future provider-policy changes.