Claude Code (VS Code extension) prompts for usage credits on Fable 5 despite Max plan showing full entitlement

[JdthLON]

Preflight Checklist

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

What's Wrong?

What's Wrong?

On a Max plan, the Claude Code VS Code extension prompts to use usage credits when selecting/using Fable 5, even though claude.ai (browser) shows my full weekly usage limits and Fable 5 allowance untouched, with plenty of headroom remaining.

This started around 19–20 July 2026, coinciding with the end of the 50%-of-weekly-limit Fable 5 promotion and the switch to Fable 5 being "a standard part of the plan" for Max/Team Premium.

Environment

Extension: Claude Code for VS Code (Anthropic), Identifier anthropic.claude-code
Version: 2.1.215 (last updated ~18 hours before this occurred)
Plan: Max
OS: Windows

Steps Taken to Troubleshoot

Ran claude update — no effect (claude not on PATH in this environment)
Confirmed extension is on latest version via Extensions panel (2.1.215, Auto Update enabled)
Uninstalled and reinstalled the extension completely
Manually deleted stored credentials at %USERPROFILE%.claude (credentials file)
Reopened VS Code and re-authenticated from scratch via the Claude Code panel

Expected Behaviour
Claude Code should draw on the same Max-plan Fable 5 entitlement as claude.ai, and only prompt for usage credits once that entitlement is actually exhausted.

Actual Behaviour
Claude Code continues to prompt for usage credits for Fable 5 immediately, regardless of the fresh reinstall, credential wipe, and re-authentication — while claude.ai (browser) shows full Fable 5 allowance still available on the same account.

Additional Notes
This looks like an entitlement-sync issue between Claude Code and claude.ai rather than a client-side/version issue, since all local troubleshooting steps have been exhausted.

What Should Happen?

see above

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

see above

Claude Model

Other

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

latest as of 20th July 13:00 Central European Time

Platform

Other

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

No response

[Lajous-Harold]

Using Switch account and logging back in did the work here for me. Unistalling and restarting extensions / VSC didn't do any. Hope this works for you.
Same version, same plan...

[danmt]

I'm getting this exact same issue using claude code through an OAUTH token.

[indjev99]

Getting the same issue on VS Code + Windows.

[zicobear2013-ops]

Isolated this to the VS Code extension's native UI layer — not the account,
not the server, not the binary.

Same binary, three launch paths, on Claude Max (Fable weekly usage 0%,
overall weekly usage 75%):

Path	Result
Terminal.app -> claude -> /model fable -> send	works
Extension's OWN bundled binary run as a CLI:	works
.../anthropic.claude-code-2.1.221-darwin-arm64/
resources/native-binary/claude -p "1+1=?" --model fable
Extension native UI -> pick Fable -> send	BLOCKED

So the binary is fine and the entitlement is fine. Only the native UI path fails.

Environment: extension 2.1.221 (darwin-arm64), CLI 2.1.221, macOS Darwin 25.5.0,
Apple Silicon, auth = Claude AI (Max). No ANTHROPIC_API_KEY / AUTH_TOKEN /
BASE_URL set. No [1m] suffix in any settings file.

Ruled out:

• Version floor (2.1.170) — well past it.
• The [1m] alias-resolution bug ([BUG] Fable 5 prompts 'usage credits required' on Max plan from 2026-07-20, the day it became standard on Max (saved model claude-fable-5[1m]) #79337) — both --model 'claude-fable-5[1m]'
  and --model 'claude-fable-5' succeed via CLI.
• The 2.1.219 stale-label fix — that targets the /model row label; this blocks
  at send time.
• Weekly limits — Fable meter at 0%.
• Server-side entitlement sync (the theory in Claude Code (VS Code extension) prompts for usage credits on Fable 5 despite Max plan showing full entitlement #79386) — the terminal works on the
  same account at the same moment.

Possible lead: extension.js carries "fable_overage_consent_prompt" in the
bridged-prompt list, alongside session flags fableBridgeDialogTimedOut,
fableConsentSessionFallback, fableCreditsRequired. If the consent dialog
fails to bridge to the webview and times out, falling back to "credits required"
would reproduce exactly this — and would explain why the terminal path, where the
prompt renders directly, is unaffected.

[Kondo-Daichi]

Same issue, another data point — still present in 2.1.222 (both CLI and extension), on a Team plan, extension running inside Cursor on Windows 11.

• Desktop app, same account, same machine: Fable 5 works within the plan allowance (/status shows "Weekly Fable" bar, 5% used).
• Extension UI: /model → pick Fable (plain claude-fable-5, no [1m]) → send → "Fable 5 requires usage credits" dialog every time, request blocked.

Troubleshooting with no effect:

• claude update 2.1.175 → 2.1.222, removed a leftover npm-global install (native-only now)
• Extension confirmed at 2.1.222
• /logout → /login from the terminal CLI (shared credentials)
• Selected Fable from the interactive /model picker as the one-time-consent hint suggests — no consent dialog ever renders, only the credits dialog

This matches @zicobear2013-ops's analysis: the account entitlement is fine (desktop app works at the same moment), only the extension UI path fails, consistent with the consent-dialog bridge falling back to fableCreditsRequired.