Claude Max subscription

[untold veldt]

I am speaking with my open claw orchestrator through a discord channel I currently have everything set up to run through the Claude CLI and my Claude Max subscription. But just recently over the last couple of days I am no longer able to communicate with my orchestrator unless I turn on the extra usage billing and pay for the extra usage. I should be able to just use my claw neck subscription without having to pay for the extra usage. The extra usage is only if I reach session limits

[opaque zenith]

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[dense sentinel]

Jason, you’re right about the intended Claude Code behavior: Pro/Max should use your plan allocation, and extra usage/API credits should only kick in after limits or if you explicitly choose that route. Anthropic also calls out ANTHROPIC_API_KEY as a common cause of Claude Code using API billing instead of your subscription. (support.claude.com)

First, please paste:

openclaw --version
claude --version

Then check the Claude side directly:

# open Claude Code, then run:
/status
/usage

Also check for env vars without leaking keys:

env | grep -E '^ANTHROPIC_(API_KEY|AUTH_TOKEN|BASE_URL|MODEL)=' | sed -E 's/=.*/=<set>/'

If ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set, Claude Code may prefer that over Max and bill API/extra usage. Remove it from the shell/service env, then re-auth Claude Code:

claude logout
claude update
# restart terminal completely
claude login

Log in with only the Pro/Max account, not Console/PAYG credentials. Anthropic documents that this keeps Claude Code inside your plan allocation and avoids API credit prompts. (support.claude.com)

If direct claude works but OpenClaw does not, update/re-auth OpenClaw’s Claude CLI route:

openclaw models auth login --provider anthropic --method cli --set-default
openclaw doctor --fix
openclaw gateway restart

If you run from source, use pnpm openclaw ... for those OpenClaw commands. OpenClaw’s current Anthropic docs say Claude CLI reuse is supported, but billing decisions still ultimately come from Claude Code/Anthropic. (docs.openclaw.ai)

[untold veldt]

This is the error I get:
⚠️ API provider returned a billing error — your API key has run out of credits or has an insufficient balance. Check your provider's billing dashboard and top up or switch to a different API key.

[dense sentinel]

That specific error is the clue: OpenClaw is seeing an API billing/credits failure, not a normal Claude Max quota message.

Most likely one of these is happening:

1. OpenClaw/Gateway is using an Anthropic API key instead of the Claude CLI subscription route.
2. The session is still pinned to the old runtime.
3. You have context1m: true / long-context enabled, which can require Anthropic “extra usage” even on Claude Max.

Please run/paste these, with secrets redacted:

openclaw --version
claude --version
openclaw models status
openclaw config get agents.defaults.model --json
openclaw config get agents.defaults.agentRuntime --json

openclaw config get agents.defaults.params --json

Also check for an API key accidentally loaded into the Gateway env:

env | grep -E '^ANTHROPIC_(API_KEY|AUTH_TOKEN|BASE_URL|MODEL)=' | sed -E 's/=.*/=<set>/'

For Claude Max via CLI, the config should look roughly like:

{
  agents: {
    defaults: {

      model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-7" },
      agentRuntime: { id: "claude-cli" }
    }
  }
}

Then re-login the Claude CLI route and restart:

openclaw models auth login --provider anthropic --method cli --set-default
openclaw doctor --fix
openclaw gateway restart

After that, start a fresh OpenClaw session/thread or run /new, because existing sessions can stay pinned to the old runtime.