Skip to content

Codex CLI recommends gpt-5.4, then fails with 'Selected model is at capacity' despite available quota #17014

Closed as not planned

Description

@debugger-net

Codex CLI GPT-5.4 Capacity Incident Report

Date: 2026-04-07
Reporter context: ChatGPT-authenticated Codex CLI user

Summary

The user was running Codex CLI with gpt-5.4 after Codex surfaced an upgrade path from
gpt-5.3-codex to gpt-5.4. Despite the user's report that 5-hour and weekly Codex
quota remained largely available, a turn failed with:

Selected model is at capacity. Please try a different model.

This appears to be a model-capacity/admission failure rather than quota exhaustion.

Local evidence

  • CLI version: codex-cli 0.118.0
  • Auth mode: Logged in using ChatGPT
  • Project config model: gpt-5.4
  • Global Codex host config model: gpt-5.4
  • Upgrade notice persisted locally:
    • ~/.codex-host/config.toml contains:
      • [notice.model_migrations]
      • "gpt-5.3-codex" = "gpt-5.4"
    • ~/.codex-host/models_cache.json contains upgrade text:
      • Introducing GPT-5.4
      • You can always keep using GPT-5.3-Codex if you prefer.
  • Capacity error log:
    • ~/.codex-host/log/codex-tui.log
    • Timestamp: 2026-04-07T13:41:04.538491Z
    • Message: Turn error: Selected model is at capacity. Please try a different model.

Reproduction notes

  • A later minimal request using the same ChatGPT-authenticated Codex CLI and the same
    gpt-5.4 model succeeded.
  • A minimal request using gpt-5.3-codex also succeeded.
  • This suggests a transient gpt-5.4 capacity/admission problem, not a persistent
    account-wide quota exhaustion.

Why this is problematic

  • The product encouraged migration from gpt-5.3-codex to gpt-5.4.
  • The user is on a paid tier and reported substantial remaining quota.
  • The failure mode did not explain whether this was:
    • a quota problem,
    • an abuse/security restriction,
    • a temporary model-capacity shortage, or
    • a workspace/account entitlement mismatch.
  • Public documentation does not disclose the model-capacity priority order for Pro,
    Business, Enterprise, or Edu users in Codex CLI.

Requested clarifications from OpenAI

  1. For this incident, was the failure caused by:
    • temporary model capacity,
    • an entitlement routing issue,
    • an abuse guardrail,
    • account security review, or
    • another internal policy?
  2. Which entitlement path was actually applied to this local Codex CLI session?
    • personal Pro
    • Business workspace
    • Enterprise/Edu workspace
    • some other ChatGPT-linked path
  3. If this was capacity-related, what priority policy applied?
  4. Why was a user with available quota shown a model-capacity failure instead of a more
    explicit explanation?
  5. If gpt-5.4 is promoted as the preferred upgrade from gpt-5.3-codex, what
    reliability expectation should users have in Codex CLI?

Public documentation reviewed

Constraints encountered while attempting submission

  • The official support path exposed in the Help Center is the Chat now widget or
    phone support.
  • From this terminal environment, the authenticated Help Center chat widget could not be
    programmatically opened and submitted end-to-end.

Activity

  1. added
    bugSomething isn't working
    CLIIssues related to the Codex CLI
    rate-limitsIssues related to rate limits, quotas, and token usage reporting
    on Apr 7, 2026
  2. removed
    rate-limitsIssues related to rate limits, quotas, and token usage reporting
    CLIIssues related to the Codex CLI
    on Apr 7, 2026
  3. etraut-openai commented on Apr 7, 2026

    @etraut-openai
    Contributor

    This isn't a rate limiting message — that is, it's not specific to your account. This message indicates that we are out of capacity on this model.

  4. jaapfrank commented on Apr 8, 2026

    @jaapfrank

    This isn't a rate limiting message — that is, it's not specific to your account. This message indicates that we are out of capacity on this model.

    But instead cutting off running commands. Isnt it better to deny new requests?

  5. Mahkhmood9 commented on Apr 8, 2026

    @Mahkhmood9

    I recomend using -fast

  6. rgerhards commented on Apr 9, 2026

    @rgerhards

    what about enqueuing the request in this case? This message break CLI workflows, among others.

  7. vitas commented on Apr 14, 2026

    @vitas

    This isn't a rate limiting message — that is, it's not specific to your account. This message indicates that we are out of capacity on this model.

    nice. upgraded to PRo and got it today few times. What is a solution for the customers? it has to retry, i do not want to do manual continue promts or having loose the context.

  8. derwaldgeist commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @derwaldgeist

    Ran into this, too. That's disappointing.

  9. Yorikkk111 commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @Yorikkk111

    I also encountered this on Tarfia Plus, I don't feel like buying it anymore

  10. 2578568823 commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @2578568823

    +1 同样出现这个问题 工作高峰期 已切codex 5.3

  11. bightWit commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @bightWit

    me, too

  12. 7 remaining items

  13. Foca-A commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @Foca-A

    Also getting this error on Codex version 5.4 Windows:
    Selected model is at capacity. Please try a different model.

  14. savinmikhail commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @savinmikhail

    +1

  15. Gaarahan commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @Gaarahan

    Top-tier service... if you’re looking for a masterclass in how to ignore paying customers

  16. KonEllin commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @KonEllin

    Charging Money for a service - makes YOU responsible to fullfill the contract with your customer. Get your shit together.

  17. abetchi commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @abetchi

    I had the same problem temporarily, but it’s working now.

  18. Nickayz commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @Nickayz

    Interesting. Same here. What is it with today? Can't imagine gaining 10k more users over night.. A server issue? It's the same for me even when going back to 5.3.

  19. MrShtein commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @MrShtein

    +1

  20. RedX-Soft commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @RedX-Soft

    same issue, when will these ai's run in our own devices? Or are we gonna have these same issues over and over again?

  21. lujiaosama commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @lujiaosama

    It's been happening frequently over the past hour, and what's frustrating is getting interrupted in the middle of a task. Honestly, it might be easier to accept if it just didn't work from the start.

  22. dsx1986 commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @dsx1986

    +1

  23. cndycc commented on Apr 23, 2026

    @cndycc

    Same here. First time this popped up. Pro@5x, 5h 91%, Weekly 69%

    The suggestion to switch to a different (lower) model is not acceptable while working on a task and risk quality degradation. This means we have to compensate for the degradation later, burning more tokens and time.

  24. VictorLee2077 commented on May 6, 2026

    @VictorLee2077

    Image ,截止到2026年5月6日,该问题依旧存在

  25. miaoxiannv commented on May 6, 2026

    @miaoxiannv

    Image ,截止到2026年5月6日,该问题依旧存在

    貌似开启fast就不会出现这个问题

  26. VLlinking commented on May 12, 2026

    @VLlinking

    same issue in gpt-5.5 today

  27. locked as resolved and limited conversation to collaborators on May 12, 2026
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    bugSomething isn't working

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

      Milestone

      No milestone

      Relationships

      None yet

      Development

      No branches or pull requests

      Issue actions