### Preflight Checklist - [x] I have searched [existing issues](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20state%3Aopen%20label%3Abug) and this hasn't been reported yet - [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs) - [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code ### What's Wrong? The Claude Code VS Code extension refuses to run Claude Fable 5, showing the banner "Fable 5 requires usage credits — Fable 5 runs on usage credits, bille

[BUG] VS Code extension blocks Fable 5 with "requires usage credits" while account has 20% of weekly Fable allowance remaining (Max plan)

Status Open

Reported on v2.1.179

Maintainer reply None cached

Activity 18 comments · opened Jul 20, 2026

Preflight Checklist

[x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
[x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
[x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

The Claude Code VS Code extension refuses to run Claude Fable 5, showing the banner
"Fable 5 requires usage credits — Fable 5 runs on usage credits, billed separately
from your plan. You don't have usage credits yet."

However, my account is on a Claude Max plan, and both the extension's own
Account & Usage panel and the claude.ai web interface show only 80% of the
weekly Fable 5 allowance used, with the reset scheduled for Jul 21 at 1:00 PM.
The web interface serves Fable 5 normally on the same account at the same time —
only the VS Code extension blocks it.

This started immediately after the July 19, 2026 promo-to-plan transition for
Fable 5. Earlier the same day, the extension's Account & Usage panel briefly
showed my plan as "Claude pro" before later showing "Claude max" — so the
extension may be holding stale entitlement data from before the transition.

Already tried, with no change:

Developer: Reload Window and a full VS Code restart
Starting a fresh session with a small context (/clear)

Expected behavior: with remaining weekly Fable allowance on a Max plan, the
extension should serve Fable 5 the same way claude.ai does, and only prompt
for usage credits once the included allowance is actually exhausted.

What Should Happen?

Let me use Fable without problems

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Be on a Claude Max plan with weekly Fable 5 allowance partially used but not

exhausted (in my case: 80% used, ~20% remaining, confirmed both in the
extension's Account & Usage panel and in the claude.ai web interface, with
reset shown as Jul 21 at 1:00 PM).

Open the Claude Code VS Code extension, signed in to that same account

(Auth method: Claude AI).

Switch the session model to claude-fable-5.
Send any message (e.g. "what do we need to fix next?").
The request is blocked with the banner: "Fable 5 requires usage credits —

Fable 5 runs on usage credits, billed separately from your plan. You don't
have usage credits yet."

Meanwhile, on claude.ai in the browser, the same account runs Fable 5

normally at the same moment.

Also tried, with no change:

Developer: Reload Window and a full VS Code restart
A fresh session with small context (/clear)

Note: this began right after the July 19, 2026 Fable promo-to-plan transition.
Earlier that day the extension's Account & Usage panel briefly showed the plan
as "Claude pro" before correctly showing "Claude max", so the extension may be
using stale entitlement data.

Claude Model

Other

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.179

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

View original on GitHub ↗

11 Comments

github-actions[bot] · 1 month ago

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
To prevent auto-closure, add a comment or 👎 this comment

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

sculptorsir · 1 month ago

Same issue on Max plan in the VS Code extension. Restarting and reinstalling did not help.

Andy520-liu · 1 month ago

Same issue

sculptorsir · 1 month ago

Relogging into the Claude Code VS Code extension fixed the issue for me.

Restarting VS Code and reinstalling the extension did not help, but logging out of the account inside the extension and then logging back in resolved it. Fable 5 is now working normally.

MatusMahut · 1 month ago

Same, logout and login worked.

paulcik · 1 month ago

Same account, two Macs, only one affected - clean repro suggesting this is the host-auth path, not entitlements.

Setup: Team Premium seat, org on claude.ai. Extension 2.1.216 / CLI 2.1.216 on macOS (Darwin 25.5.0).

Terminal CLI (Keychain auth): /status shows "Login method: Claude Team account", Fable 5 works.
VS Code panel, same machine, same Keychain credential: /status shows "Auth method: Anthropic Console" with "Plan limits aren't available for this login method", and selecting Fable 5 triggers the "Fable 5 requires usage credits" dialog.
The extension spawns the CLI with CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN set (host-auth path; this install has tengu_vscode_cc_auth: true in cached experiment gates). Passing the same Keychain access token via CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN to a manual claude -p ... --model claude-fable-5 succeeds - the API accepts the token for Fable, so only the panel's auth labeling/entitlement gating is wrong.
Second Mac, same account, extension not enrolled in the flag: panel works correctly.
Sign-out/re-login, extension reinstall, and browser logouts do not help. Manually setting the cached gate to false in state.vscdb is reverted by server flag sync on next launch.

Happy to provide more diagnostics if useful.

danmt · 1 month ago

same issue, only happens when using an OAUTH Token. using the basic /login flow just works.

linus-pfoch · 1 month ago

same issue, still

ryoyaguchi-lab · 1 month ago

Also hitting this on Claude Team (Premium seat), where Fable 5 is supposed to be included in the plan since the 2026-07-20 Max/Team Premium rollout.

Same symptom: in the Claude Code VS Code extension, selecting Fable 5 and sending any prompt pops _"Fable 5 requires usage credits — Fable 5 runs on usage credits, billed separately from your plan. You don't have usage credits yet"_ and forces a downgrade to the default model (Opus 4.8).

Why this is clearly an entitlement-recognition bug, not correct billing:

/usage (Account & Usage) shows a "Weekly Fable" plan meter at 0% — i.e. the plan includes Fable — while /model labels Fable "Requires usage credits". Same /model vs /usage contradiction as #79412.
Fable 5 works normally on claude.ai (web) with the exact same login, so the account has Fable entitlement; only Claude Code fails to recognize it.
After each blocked attempt, Weekly Fable stays at 0% while the general Weekly bucket is consumed — everything is forced onto Opus.
It affects multiple seats in our organization, including the workspace admin — so it is not an individual seat/entitlement issue.

Environment: VS Code extension v2.1.218, Windows 10 (10.0.19045), Claude subscription login (not an API key), plan = Team Premium, model = claude-fable-5 (also tried the claude-fable-5[1m] alias).

Tried, no effect: log out / log back in, Developer: Reload Window, full VS Code restart, /clear, selecting Fable without the [1m] alias.

Likely the same root cause as #79412 and #79337.

zouaouitarek111-cpu · 1 month ago

I had the same issue. After logging out and back in, it started working with the new sessions/chats, but with the old ones, it kept giving me the same error. So, try starting a new chat if you try this method.

gs112145 · 1 month ago

Confirming this on the CLI — and it reproduces with a clean settings.json
(no claude-fable-5[1m] saved model).

Environment

Plan: Claude Max (subscription auth, not API key)
Claude Code: 2.1.220 (claude --version) — also the latest published on npm
OS: Linux (WSL2)

Symptom. /model fable refuses to switch and silently stays on Opus 4.8:

Switch to Fable 5? Fable 5 runs on usage credits, purchased separately from your plan. You don't have usage credits yet. 1. Set up usage credits on claude.ai ❯ 2. No, keep my current model

Re-running just prints Kept model as Opus 4.8.

Why this is the entitlement-probe bug, not a real limit:

/usage shows a dedicated "Current week (Fable): 11% used" bar — the Max Fable

allowance is present and 89% free, nowhere near exhausted.

/usage also shows Fable already ran this week:

claude-fable-5: 112 input, 18.6k output, 535.9k cache read (~$2.78 notional).
So the account demonstrably HAS the Fable entitlement, yet the switch is refused.

Usage credits are OFF, and per the "Claude Fable 5 on your plan" help article

they should not be required — Max includes up to 50% of weekly limits on Fable at
no extra cost.

My ~/.claude/settings.json has "model": "claude-opus-4-8" — there is no

claude-fable-5[1m] saved model. So this reproduces without the [1m]
saved-model config from the original report, which points at the faulty [1m]
quota probe firing even on a plain /model fable switch (cf. #67650).

Net: a Max user with a live Fable entitlement and 89% weekly allowance remaining is
told they "need usage credits." Happy to attach full /usage / /status output.

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