LLM Request Rejected: Third-Party Apps Now Draw From Your Extra Usage
LLM Request Rejected: Third-Party Apps Now Draw From Your Extra Usage
If you just hit a wall where your AI tool stopped working and showed "third-party apps now draw from your extra usage, not your plan limits," you are not alone. Anthropic changed how third-party app usage is billed, and it caught a lot of people off guard.
What Changed With Third-Party App Billing
Before this change, third-party apps that used Claude (tools like Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code extensions, and other MCP-connected apps) drew from your main plan limits. Your Pro or Team subscription covered both direct Claude usage and any third-party tool calls.
Now, Anthropic has separated these into two pools:
| Usage type | What counts | Where it draws from | |---|---|---| | Direct Claude usage | claude.ai chat, Claude mobile app | Your plan limits (Pro, Team, etc.) | | Third-party app usage | Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code extensions, MCP servers, custom API integrations | Extra usage credits (separate pool) | | API usage | Direct API calls with your API key | API billing (pay-per-token, always separate) |
The key distinction: third-party apps no longer share your plan's included tokens. They pull from a separate "extra usage" credit balance instead.
Why You Are Seeing "Request Rejected"
The rejection happens when all three conditions are true:
- You are using Claude through a third-party app (not claude.ai directly)
- Your extra usage credit balance is zero or exhausted
- The app tries to make an API call on your behalf
Warning
This is not a rate limit or a temporary throttle. Your requests will keep getting rejected until you add credits to your extra usage balance. Waiting will not fix it.
The $20 credit Anthropic mentions is a one-time starter credit they added to ease the transition. If you have not claimed it yet, it is sitting in your account settings waiting for you.
How to Claim the $20 Credit and Fix the Rejection
Step by step:
- Open claude.ai/settings/usage in your browser
- Sign in with the account linked to your third-party app
- You should see a banner or notice about the $20 credit, click to claim it
- Once claimed, the credit appears in your "Extra usage" balance
- Go back to your third-party app and retry the request
If the $20 credit banner is not visible, your account may have already been credited automatically. Check your extra usage balance; if it shows $20.00 or a positive amount, you are good to go.
How Fast Does the $20 Credit Get Used Up?
This depends entirely on which tools you use and how heavily you use them. Here are some real-world estimates:
| Tool | Typical usage | Approximate cost per hour | $20 lasts roughly | |---|---|---|---| | Cursor (autocomplete + chat) | Light coding | $0.50 - $1.50/hr | 13 - 40 hours | | Cursor (heavy agent mode) | Refactoring, multi-file edits | $2 - $5/hr | 4 - 10 hours | | Claude Code (CLI) | Single agent, normal use | $1 - $3/hr | 7 - 20 hours | | Claude Code (parallel agents) | 5+ agents, heavy workload | $5 - $15/hr | 1 - 4 hours | | VS Code extension (chat only) | Occasional questions | $0.10 - $0.30/hr | 65+ hours |
Tip
If you run parallel Claude Code agents or use heavy agent mode in Cursor, the $20 credit can disappear in a single work session. Set up auto-reload before you start a long coding session so you do not get interrupted mid-flow.
Understanding the Three Billing Layers
The confusion comes from Anthropic now having three separate billing concepts that all relate to "using Claude." Here is how they break down:
Plan limits (included with your subscription)
Your Pro ($20/month) or Team ($30/seat/month) subscription includes a set amount of direct usage on claude.ai. This covers conversations in the web app, the Claude mobile app, and Projects. When you hit this limit, you get throttled to slower responses until it resets.
Extra usage credits (the new third-party pool)
This is the new pool that third-party apps draw from. It is a prepaid credit balance, separate from your subscription. You load it up manually or set auto-reload. When it hits zero, third-party apps get rejected.
API billing (developer usage)
If you have an Anthropic API key and make direct API calls (for your own apps, scripts, or automations), that runs on yet another billing track: pay-per-token with monthly invoicing. This has always been separate and is not affected by the change.
Common Pitfalls
-
Assuming the $20 credit is recurring. It is a one-time transition bonus. After you burn through it, you need to add more credits manually or enable auto-reload. There is no second free credit.
-
Confusing plan limits with extra usage. If claude.ai still works fine but Cursor keeps rejecting requests, your plan is not the problem. Your extra usage credits are empty. These are two different balances.
-
Not linking the right account. Third-party apps authenticate with your Anthropic account. If you have multiple accounts (personal vs. work), make sure the app is linked to the account that has credits. Check in your third-party app's settings for which Claude account it connects to.
-
Ignoring the auto-reload option. If you rely on third-party tools for daily work, manually topping up credits every few days is a recipe for interruptions. Set auto-reload to $10 or $20 with a $5 threshold and forget about it.
-
Thinking the API key is affected. If you have a separate Anthropic API key with its own billing, that is unrelated. The extra usage change only affects third-party apps that use your Claude account (OAuth-based access), not direct API key usage.
Quick Checklist: Get Back to Working
What If You Do Not Want to Pay Extra?
If you do not want to add credits, you have a few options:
-
Use claude.ai directly. Your plan limits still apply to direct usage. Copy your code into the web app, ask your question there, and paste the answer back. It is slower but free within your subscription.
-
Use the API with a key instead. If you are a developer, you can set up your own API key and configure your tool to use it directly. This gives you granular control over spending and avoids the extra usage system entirely. Many tools like Cursor and Claude Code support custom API key configuration.
-
Switch tools temporarily. If your editor supports multiple AI backends, switch to a different model provider while your Claude credits are empty.
-
Wait for your plan to reset. Your plan limits reset monthly. But remember, this only affects direct Claude usage, not third-party apps. Third-party apps will stay blocked until you add credits regardless of plan resets.
Wrapping Up
The "request rejected" message means your third-party app credits are empty, not that anything is broken. Claim the $20 starter credit at claude.ai/settings/usage, set up auto-reload if you rely on these tools daily, and you are back in business. The billing split is permanent, so plan accordingly.
Fazm is an open source macOS AI agent. Open source on GitHub.