/model shows Fable 5 as credits-only (€0.00) on Max plan, while /usage shows Fable covered by plan (5% of weekly limit)

[tobowers]

Summary

On a Max plan, the /model picker tells me Fable 5 is credits-only ("runs on usage credits — you have €0.00 in credits"), while /usage in the same session shows Fable covered by my plan's weekly limit at 5% used. The two surfaces disagree. The picker appears to be applying Pro-tier / credits-only gating to a Max account.

Environment

• Claude Code version: 2.1.205
• Install: Homebrew (/opt/homebrew/bin/claude), macOS (darwin 25.5.0)
• Plan: Max
• Auth: subscription (Max)
• Region/currency: EUR billing

What I saw

/model → "Switch to Fable 5?"

Fable 5 runs on usage credits — you have €0.00 in credits.
Learn more: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12429409-extra-usage-for-paid-claude-plans

1. Manage usage credits on claude.ai
2. No, keep my current model

/usage (same session, same time)

Current week (all models):  3% used   Resets Jul 20 at 2:59pm (America/New_York)
Current week (Fable):       5% used   Resets Jul 20 at 2:59pm (America/New_York)

The Current week (Fable) bucket is a plan-usage allowance that resets on the weekly cycle — i.e. Fable is included in my plan and I'm 5% into it. Per the Help Center, Max plans get Fable 5 at up to 50% of weekly limits at no extra cost.

Expected

The /model picker should recognize the Max plan and present Fable as drawing from the plan's weekly Fable allowance — not as credits-only with a €0.00 balance.

Actual

The picker shows credits-only gating (the Pro/Team-Standard path) and implies Fable is unavailable because I have €0.00 in credits, contradicting /usage.

Notes

• CLI is well past the 2.1.170 Fable floor, so this isn't a stale-version issue.
• The Max-vs-Pro Fable billing split reportedly took effect Jul 20, 2026 (same day observed), so this may be a plan-tier classification / rollout timing bug in the picker.

Screenshots of both the /model prompt and the /usage panel are available and can be attached to this issue.

[noricha-vr]

Reproduced on Claude Code 2.1.216 (latest as of 2026-07-21). Same symptom on macOS / Max (20x) plan / subscription auth (no ANTHROPIC_API_KEY).

Environment

• Claude Code version: 2.1.216 (up to date via claude update)
• Install: official installer (~/.local/share/claude/versions/2.1.216), macOS Darwin 25.5.0
• Plan: Max (20x)
• Auth: subscription (no API key)
• Region/currency: JPY

What I saw

claude.ai/settings/usage (same time)

Weekly limits (all models):  5% used   Resets Mon 22:00
Weekly limits (Fable):       2% used   Resets Mon 22:00
Current session:            14% used
Usage credits:               $0.00 used / $40.00 monthly cap / $0.00 balance / auto-charge OFF

The settings page even carries an in-product banner:

Fable 5 は引き続き Max プランに含まれています。使用クレジットの設定を求めるメッセージが表示された場合は、Claude Code を再起動してください。
(translation: "Fable 5 is still included in the Max plan. If you are prompted to set up usage credits, please restart Claude Code.")

CLI /model → "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

So /model still gates Fable behind usage credits despite Fable being 2% into the Max plan's weekly bucket.

Workarounds attempted — none of them fix it

• claude update → already on latest (2.1.216); no change.
• Full process restart (pkill -f claude → confirm no claude process left → relaunch) — the workaround the in-product banner itself recommends. Result: does not fix it. I sometimes get a handful of Fable turns in the fresh session, then the credits gate returns and every subsequent /model fable shows the same prompt.
• /logout then /login (fresh OAuth) — no change. Same brief window at best, then re-gated.
• Combination of all three (update → kill all processes → re-login → new session) — no change.
• Setting "model": "fable" in ~/.claude/settings.json — CLI ignores it once the gate trips and silently continues on Opus.

The "restart Claude Code" instruction in the settings banner is not a real fix for this — the credits gate returns within a few sessions regardless of what you do locally.

Additional data points

• Session transcripts (~/.claude/projects/*/*.jsonl) show the pattern cleanly: sessions start with model=claude-fable-5 for a handful of turns, then silently switch to claude-opus-4-7 for the rest — while the system prompt keeps announcing "You are powered by the model named Fable 5". So the CLI is not only mis-gating the picker but also mis-labeling the active model to itself after falling back.

Detection one-liner (each hit = a session that silently fell back within its first few turns):

for f in $(find ~/.claude/projects -name "*.jsonl" -mtime -1); do
  fable=$(grep -c "claude-fable-5" "$f")
  opus=$(grep -c "claude-opus-4-7" "$f")
  [ "$fable" -le 10 ] && [ "$opus" -ge 20 ] && echo "$fable/$opus $(basename $f)"
done

On my machine this reports every session started today.

Impact

The Fable weekly bucket goes essentially unused (2% after a week of heavy use) because the CLI keeps routing to Opus. The workarounds documented in the settings banner and in this repo's usual troubleshooting flow (restart, re-login, update) do not resolve it — the gate returns.

[totalrepairnow-crm]

Same issue on Max plan, July 23, 2026. Claude Code v[tu versión].

/usage shows "Current week (Fable) — 0% used", confirming the plan
entitlement exists and is untouched.

/model shows Fable 5 as "Requires usage credits", and selecting it
prompts "Fable 5 runs on usage credits — you have $0.00 in credits"
and blocks the switch.

Session history shows Fable 5 did run earlier (6.8k input / 18.8k
output), so this appears to have started with the July 20 entitlement
change.

Claude Code 2.1.218 — la última versión, ya estás al día. ✅

[nguerrera]

For me log out and log back in, @claude Opus 5 suggested pasting this here in case it helps:

Possible root cause on at least some reports: a stale OAuth credential rather than picker misclassification.

On my machine the two records disagreed:

• ~/.claude.json → oauthAccount.organizationType = claude_max, organizationRateLimitTier = default_claude_max_5x
• ~/.claude/.credentials.json → claudeAiOauth.subscriptionType = pro, rateLimitTier = default_claude_ai

The token was minted before I upgraded to Max and was never reissued with the new tier, so the picker applied Pro-tier credits-only gating to Fable while /usage correctly showed it covered (0% used).

/logout + /login flipped the credential to subscriptionType: max / default_claude_max_5x and resolved it.

Worth checking whether the picker reads the credential's subscriptionType while /usage reads the server-side entitlement — if so, a plan upgrade won't take effect in the picker until the token is reissued, which may explain reports clustering right after 2026-07-20.

Claude Code 2.1.220, Linux.