[BUG] Repeated "Image couldn't be processed" API errors consuming usage limit in Claude Code

Same error here but it says:

API Error: an image in the conversation could not be processed and was removed. Re-read the file with a different approach if you still need it.

keeps repeating through the VS Code Extension on Opus 4.8

+1

Was happening today. Burned through my 5 hour within 2 prompts..

Also happened to me in Claude for VS Code, I wiped my 5 hours out in an hour flat somehow.

yes same with me

just one prompt with claude this and my limit got reached

Same with me, got multiple similar error and wiped my 5 hours that was just reset. I was on max 5x plan.

Same here, usage went in 2 mins after one prompt after resetting, on the pro licence also.

I'm getting the same error here:

"API Error: an image in the conversation could not be processed and was removed. Re-read the file with a different approach if you still need it."

The issue also consumed my MAax plan usage in less than 5 minutes. I NEED MY USAGE RESTORED !!!!

Because of this error, I couldn't finish my project on time and now I have to wait 5 hours before I can continue.

+1
@ThariqS

<img width="1214" height="829" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/efceefb1-4f72-4e02-9919-4eda7a08727c" />

Same here:

API Error: an image in the conversation could not be processed and was removed. Re-read the file with a different approach if you still need it.

API Error: Server is temporarily limiting requests (not your usage limit) · Rate limited

+1. It's been happening since yesterday continuously. It's unusable!

I’ve encountered the same issue. Has any solution been found yet? Is everyone still experiencing this problem?

Damn Claude. Give me my tokens back!

Just hit this issue, drained a pro 5× in a few prompts.

terrible. I also have this bug. And tokens used very fast (less than half min use all 5 hour) even I am the 5X user.

same error "API Error: an image in the conversation could not be processed and was removed. Re-read the file with a different approach if you still need it.". The tokens had used do fast that even the request to compact the context was non finished.
Opus 4.7.

Anyone form the Anthropic team are working on this ?

Same issue, one prompt with the error: "API Error: an image in the conversation could not be processed and was removed. Double press esc to edit your message, or re-read the file if you still need it.
API Error: Server is temporarily limiting requests (not your usage limit) · Rate limited"

Used all my 5 hour usage. Absurd

very annoying...

I think the error is with QR code images

This bug is super annoying and drains the 5 hour limit tokens in a few prompts

<img width="981" height="332" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b766b7bc-1cc9-4e44-8de0-222e1ea0b744" />

Wasted my whole 5 hour window

<img width="521" height="1264" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/cdcf5f49-3f45-4233-8b8a-8e78aff319c9" />

Since today i have the same problem, 5 hour session limit is reached in minutes.

I have the same problem, 5 hour session limit is reached in minutes.

<img width="641" height="421" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d741c8fe-3bff-4f08-bcc1-de691e8fc2ef" />

It's still happening (Claude Code v2.1.195, MacOS). It burnt about 50% of my 5h window (8% of weekly limits) of Max 5x within 5 minutes

This was happening to me. I compacted the window and it stopped. Seemed it was reprocessing image heavy window on each turn. compact solved and didn't repeat.

It is eating up my limits quick I guess im going to compact it

HOW exactly do we fix this.

Confirming this on Claude Code Version: 2.1.170 / OS: Windows 11.

The usage-burn impact is severe enough that I want to add hard numbers, because I think they understate how bad the loop is.

Impact: This consumed ~32% of my 5-hour usage window in about 3 minutes. The error isn't a one-time failure you dismiss — it recurs on every subsequent turn, and each turn re-sends the full conversation context (including the un-removed image) and gets billed for it. So a single bad image effectively taxes you for a runaway retry loop you can't see or stop.

Trigger: capturing a screenshot of a document (a PDF form) for analysis — the image was evidently too large or malformed to process.

The two things that make this a design bug, not just an error:

1. The message says the image "was removed" — it isn't. It's dropped from the current turn's processing but stays in conversation history, which is the entire reason it recurs. Every following request re-sends it, re-fails, and re-bills. The message describes an action the system didn't actually perform.

1. There's no circuit-breaker. After N identical image-processing failures, nothing throttles, evicts the image, or halts. It just loops and keeps consuming the usage window. A simple "we've failed on this same image 3× — stopping and evicting it" would prevent the entire problem.

Also: the suggested remedy "re-read the file if you still need it" is actively harmful when the file is the bad image — it re-injects the exact payload that's breaking the session.

Workaround (confirmed): the only recovery was to let in-flight work finish, manually write a continuation prompt to preserve state, then /clear the session. That's a painful manual rescue while being billed for the loop the whole time.

Related Issue: This is the same failure signature as #66815 (reported ~60% of usage burned across 19 consecutive retries, each re-sending the full context) - that issue was closed as not planned, but the token-burn impact is real and reproducible, so I'd push back on that disposition. At minimum this needs a retry cap / circuit-breaker and a corrected error message.

Still happening so many months later. I'm surprised such a bug continues to exist in a polished product.

Can confirm this is happening to me today.

Claude 1.37937.3 (28dcf5) // macOS Version 26.6.2