AI connection errors and how to fix them

What it means

The AI model your project is set to use is no longer available on your provider.

Why it happens

Providers regularly retire older models (Google deprecates Gemini 1.5 family, OpenAI rotates GPT versions, OpenRouter delists models). The model name your account remembered is now invalid.

How to fix

1. Open Settings → AI Providers, open the menu on your provider card and click Refresh models. plotwrite.ink will pull the latest model list directly from your provider.
2. Pick a current model for each of the four task slots (Quick tasks / Creative tasks / Deep analysis / Background tasks).
3. Save and retry your last action.
4. If you leave a slot empty, plotwrite.ink uses a built-in default model for your provider, which can also be retired over time, so picking a current model yourself is the most reliable fix.

What it means

Your provider rejected the API key with a 401 or 403 error.

Why it happens

Either the key was revoked, the project it belongs to was disabled, your billing lapsed, or the key was rotated and not updated here.

How to fix

1. Log in to your provider's dashboard and confirm the key is still active.
2. If it was rotated, copy the new key and update it in Settings → AI Providers.
3. If billing was suspended, restore it, then choose Test key from your provider card's menu in Settings.

What it means

Your provider returned a 402 / quota / billing error.

Why it happens

BYOK costs are paid directly to your provider. Your prepaid credits or monthly cap have been used up.

How to fix

1. Top up your provider account (OpenRouter, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Groq, etc.) directly.
2. Once funds are added, retry. No need to re-add the key.
3. Optional: switch your active provider to one that still has credits.

What it means

Provider returned 429: too many requests in a short window.

Why it happens

Most providers throttle free tiers and lower paid tiers (Google AI Studio free tier is especially aggressive). Many parallel generations triggered the cap.

How to fix

1. Wait 30–60 seconds and try again.
2. If it keeps happening, upgrade your provider plan or switch to a higher-throughput provider like OpenRouter or Groq.

What it means

We couldn't fetch any usable models for the selected provider.

Why it happens

Either the provider's /models endpoint is down, your key has no model access, or the model list never finished syncing.

How to fix

1. Open Settings → AI Providers, open the menu on your provider card and click Refresh models.
2. If it still shows zero models, choose Test key from the same menu. Your key may not have access — check your provider account permissions.

What it means

We could not reach the provider's API at all.

Why it happens

Usually a transient network issue, the provider being down, or (for LM Studio) the local server isn't running.

How to fix

1. Try again in a moment.
2. For LM Studio: confirm the LM Studio app is running with the server enabled on http://localhost:1234.
3. Check the provider's status page if it persists.

What it means

The provider returned an error we don't have a specific recipe for yet.

Why it happens

Providers occasionally return new error shapes. The toast description has the raw provider message — that's usually the fastest clue.

How to fix

1. Read the toast description for the provider's exact message.
2. Try refreshing models and switching to a different model in Settings.
3. If the issue persists, contact support@plotwrite.ink with the message text.