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AI Model & API Guides

Source-linked guidance for AI models, API integration, and developer workflows—turning fast-changing prices, quotas, capabilities, and limits into decisions you can verify.

Primary sources first
Reproducible steps and failure boundaries
Volatile facts carry review dates

478 articles
6 languages
12 topics
Updated Oct 6, 2026

Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Sonnet 5: same $2/$10 token price, $1.12 vs $1.79 per task at high effort and $7.67 vs $5.09 at max

LatestClaude Code

Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Sonnet 5: Cost by Effort and What Breaks

Sonnet 5.5 keeps Sonnet 5's $2/$10 token prices. On Artificial Analysis tests it costs less per task from low to xhigh effort and about 51% more at max.

Oct 6, 202618 min

The Temporarily unable to authenticate toast leads to a status.claude.com check: stay signed in if an incident is posted, fix it locally if not

Claude & Anthropic

Claude (Temporarily) Unable to Authenticate: Outage or Local Fix?

Temporarily unable to authenticate comes from Anthropic: stay signed in and retry. Login expired or Failed to authenticate means /login. The wording decides.

Oct 6, 202622 min

AI video model comparison guide covering Sora, Veo, Runway, Kling and open-source routes

AI Video Generation

Best AI Video Model in 2026: Complete Comparison Guide (Sora 2, Veo 3.1, Runway & More)

Compare the best AI video models in 2026 including Sora 2, Veo 3.1, Runway Gen-4.5, Kling 2.6, and open-source options. Features verified pricing data, real cost calculations per 10-second video, scene-based recommendations, and an API developer guide.

Oct 5, 202625 min

Claude API 500 recovery uses actual error evidence and bounded retry decisions

Claude & Anthropic

Claude API Error 500: Handle Internal Server Errors and Persistent Failures

A returned Claude API 500 api_error calls for bounded retries and request evidence. If it keeps failing, stop the immediate loop, defer safe work, and send a redacted reproduction to the service owner.

Oct 5, 202611 min

Claude Code

Claude Code API Error 500 or 529: Resume Without Duplicating Work

Claude Code API Error 500 is a server-side failure, not your prompt or account. Check status, then retry, sign in again, or resume after checking finished work.

Oct 5, 202619 min

Claude Code

Claude Code Hooks vs Skills vs Slash Commands: What to Use and How to Start

A slash command is an invocation interface; a skill packages reusable instructions; a hook runs at a lifecycle event. Custom commands now use the skills system, and /claude-api invokes the bundled Claude API skill.

Oct 5, 202611 min

Claude Code

Claude Code Rate Limit Reached: Identify the Limit and Resume

"Rate limit reached" in Claude Code is usually a session, weekly, or Opus/Sonnet limit. Match the line, then resume in the same session without resending.

Oct 5, 202614 min

Claude Code

Claude Code Usage Limits: Check, Audit, and Reduce Token Usage

Run /usage for Claude Code's 5-hour session and weekly limits and their reset times. /status only shows account and model. Audit fast drain before upgrading.

Oct 5, 202618 min

Claude Rate Exceeded owner board showing Claude.ai usage, Claude Code, direct API 429, provider, gateway, burst, status, and verification branches.

Claude & Anthropic

Claude Rate Exceeded Error: Identify the Limit Owner Before You Retry

Claude API Error: Rate limit reached and Rate Exceeded are not one limit. Match the current message to plan usage, 1M access, API key, provider, or gateway.

Oct 5, 202610 min

Gemini 3 Pro Image access map showing free US English AI Mode, paid API and AI Studio, and paid Redo with Pro in the app

API Guides

Gemini 3 Pro Image Free Tier: Paid API, Free Only in US AI Mode

Gemini 3 Pro Image (Nano Banana Pro) has no free API tier and no free Pro quota in the Gemini app. The one no-cost route is AI Mode in Search for US adults.

Oct 5, 202614 min

Cover image for a guide to Gemini API rate limits, usage tiers and spend caps

API Guides

Gemini API Rate Limits 2026: Free vs Paid Tiers and How to Raise

Gemini API rate limits (RPM, TPM, RPD) apply per project, not per key, and your live numbers are in AI Studio. Tier 2 and Tier 3 unlock at $100 and $1,000 paid.

Oct 5, 202614 min

Gemini image 429 overview separating per-minute, daily, rolling-spend and free-tier-zero limits

API Guides

Gemini Image 429 Rate Limit: How Long It Lasts and How to Fix It

A Gemini image 429 is a per-minute limit (clears in a minute), a daily quota (resets midnight Pacific), a spend cap per 10 minutes, or a free-tier limit of 0.

Oct 5, 202613 min

Illustration distinguishing a free Gemini API key from paid image output and consumer image options

AI Image Generation

Gemini Image API Free? No Free Tier, but $5 Buys 148 Images

No. As of October 5, 2026, no Gemini image model has free API output. The $5 minimum prepay covers about 148 Nano Banana 2 Lite images at 1K.

Oct 5, 202611 min

Conceptual Gemini image API cover showing the three current Nano Banana models and a paid-key image workflow

API Guides

Gemini Image API Guide: Python Code, 3 Current Models, Pricing

As of October 5, 2026, the Gemini image API runs on three models, from $0.0336 per image. Image output has no free tier: you need a paid key with $5 prepaid.

Oct 5, 202612 min

Illustrated Gemini background-change workflow with a vase and a new studio backdrop

AI Image Generation

Gemini Image Background Change: Prompts, App Steps, PNG Limits

Upload the photo to Gemini, ask it to change only the background, then check the face and edges. Gemini can't make a transparent PNG; use a cutout tool.

Oct 5, 202613 min

Gemini image errors separated into app account causes and API status codes

Troubleshooting

Fix Gemini Image Generation Errors: 400, 429, 503 and Retry Rules

Gemini app image failures are usually sign-in, age, quota or a policy refusal. In the API, retry 429 and 5xx with backoff, and never retry 400, 402 or 403.

Oct 5, 202611 min

Illustration of a Gemini people-image request with policy, account-access and usage-limit checks

Gemini & Google AI

Why Can't Gemini Generate Images of People? Policy, Age or Quota

Gemini creates and edits people images within consent, privacy and safety rules. A no-person image request helps separate a people refusal from an access or quota problem.

Oct 5, 202614 min

Gemini API Tier 3 billing-account inheritance with $1,000 paid and 30 days, using ordinary API keys

API Guides

Gemini API Tier 3 (T3) Upgrade: $1,000 + 30 Days, Same API Key

Gemini API Tier 3 (T3) isn't a special key: the billing account upgrades itself after $1,000 in paid Google Cloud spend and 30 days from the first payment.

Oct 5, 202614 min

Use Seedance2.0 with motion descriptions, image references, video guidance and audio

AI Video Generation

How to Use Seedance 2.0: Step-by-Step Access Guide for Any Country (Free & Paid Methods, 2026)

Seedance 2.0 is ByteDance's AI video generation model that creates up to 15-second clips at 2K resolution with native audio. This guide covers 4 access methods (including free Dreamina), step-by-step tutorials for text-to-video, image-to-video, the 12-file multimodal reference system, lip sync in 8+ languages, commercial use guidance, and current limitations with workarounds.

Oct 5, 202623 min

Nano Banana Pro API quota through current model, project billing tiers, Batch and an increase request

API Guides

Nano Banana Pro API Quota Increase: Tier 1–3 Caps in Images

Nano Banana Pro API quota grows with your billing tier, not with extra keys: Tier 1's $10 per 10 minutes buys about 74 Pro images, Tier 3's $200 about 1,488.

Oct 5, 202611 min

Nano Banana 2 Standard image prices by size, half-price Batch token rates and a $0.055-per-call gateway

AI Image Generation

Nano Banana 2 API Pricing: $0.045–$0.151 per Image by Resolution

Google bills Nano Banana 2 (gemini-3.1-flash-image) at $0.067 per 1K image and $0.151 per 4K image, half that on Batch, with no free tier for image output.

Oct 5, 202612 min

blockReason OTHER with no candidates and no documented BLOCK_NONE fix

Troubleshooting

Nano Banana 2 blockReason OTHER: What It Means and What to Check

Google defines blockReason OTHER as a prompt blocked for unknown reasons. Save the response, test one change at a time, and don't retry it in a loop.

Oct 5, 202613 min

Conceptual Nano Banana 2 follow-up edit contrasting a preserved signed model turn with an image-only rebuilt turn

Troubleshooting

Nano Banana 2 Thought Signature Error: Fix the Second-Turn 400

Nano Banana 2 returns 400 when a follow-up edit resends its earlier image without the thought signature. Use previous_interaction_id or SDK chat history.

Oct 5, 20269 min

Conceptual Nano Banana Pro 4K workstation with image size configuration, crop framing and print workflow

AI Image Generation

Nano Banana Pro 4K: Exact Sizes, $0.24 Cost and Watermark Rules

Nano Banana Pro gives true 4K only when you ask for it: a 16:9 image is 5504x3072, costs $0.24 on the Gemini API, and always carries SynthID.

Oct 5, 202615 min