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First-party CLI evidence · Updated October 9, 2026

Coding agent errors, decoded from the CLI

Exact Claude Code and Codex messages, what each one means, and the manual recovery path. Every entry names the CLI version that shipped the text.

How this library works

These are not keyword-swapped copies. Each page starts from an exact installed string or help entry, separates similar-looking causes, gives the complete manual path, and points generic queries to the existing guide that already owns them.

Claude Code

Claude Code 2.1.286Prompt is too long“Prompt is too long” means Claude Code could not send the request within the model's input limit. Shorten the new prompt or remove oversized pasted text first. If an old conversation is carrying too much history, run /compact; if compaction cannot recover enough space, start a new session with a written handoff.Claude Code 2.1.286Credit balance is too low“Credit balance is too low” is a billing or entitlement failure for the credential Claude Code actually used. Run claude auth status, identify whether the session uses an Anthropic login, API key, or managed provider, and inspect that account's balance or spend controls. Re-authenticate only after fixing the underlying account.Claude Code 2.1.286Repeated 529 Overloaded errors“Repeated 529 Overloaded errors” means Claude Code exhausted its retries while the API reported overload. Preserve the session, check Anthropic's status page, and retry after a pause. If another model is available to your account, use /model or start with --fallback-model; reinstalling Claude Code does not repair server capacity.Existing guideClaude Code usage limit reachedThe existing guide owns the generic Claude five-hour, weekly, and reset-time query.

Codex CLI

codex-cli 0.146.0Context window exceeded while compacting“Context window exceeded while compacting” means Codex could not fit the material needed for compaction and removed an oldest history item before retrying. Stop adding broad context, record the current goal and verified state in a file, then continue narrowly. Start a new session if the result has lost an important constraint.codex-cli 0.146.0Quota exceeded. Check your plan and billing details.“Quota exceeded. Check your plan and billing details.” means the active Codex credential has no usable allowance for that request. Run codex login status, determine whether Codex uses ChatGPT sign-in or an API key, then inspect that exact account or workspace. Adding API credit does not refill a ChatGPT plan allowance, and vice versa.codex-cli 0.146.0You've hit your usage limit.“You've hit your usage limit.” means the Codex allowance available to the signed-in account is exhausted. In a session, run /status; then check the usage dashboard for the limit, reset time, credits, upgrade, or admin request actually offered. Preserve the session and resume it after access returns instead of starting the task over.

Version boundary

Commands and messages change quickly. The version named on each page is the evidence boundary, and your own CLI's --help output wins when it differs. Product limits and billing options come from the provider account, not from Crowsnest.