# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Handling 402 'can only afford N tokens' errors as recoverable

## Open now

- Nothing open on GitHub.

Most members concern a 402 response saying only N tokens are affordable, which is described as being treated as terminal billing; two titles propose treating it as recoverable or retrying once with a capped output. One member is a broader test-focused item on provider wire formats, error bodies, and prompt-cache prefixes, which is related but less specific.

## TL;DR

- 4 member(s): 0 open issue(s), 1 closed issue(s), 0 open PR(s), 2 merged PR(s), 1 PR(s) closed without merging.
- A fix was merged to main in PR #134157. Verify it addresses your case.
- **Recommended:** read PR #134157 (and any competing PRs below) before filing. Confirm the merged change covers your symptom.

## Maintainer resolution verdict

- Internal-tracker verdict over this cluster's issue members: `resolved` · deciding PR(s): `pr-133714`. This is distinct from the fix status above. Weigh it yourself.

## How this cluster was grouped

- Link evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.
- Pairwise link density `0.50`: the share of member pairs that carry a link, counting a structural link in full and a relevance-only link at 0.36. `1.00` means every pair is linked.

## Closed / duplicate issues

- #49769: Recoverable 402 ("can only afford N tokens") is treated as terminal billing and drops the request

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#133767: test: pin each provider's wire, real error bodies, and the prompt-cache prefix contract**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`
  - files: `tests/agent/test_error_classifier_observed.py`, `tests/agent/test_prompt_cache_prefix_contract.py`, `tests/agent/transports/test_provider_wire_snapshot.py`, `tests/fixtures/provider_wire_snapshot.json`
- **#134157: fix(agent): a credit-limited 402 retries once with the affordable output cap instead of failing as billing**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`
  - files: `agent/turn_recovery.py`, `agent/turn_retry_state.py`, `tests/agent/test_affordable_402_main_loop.py`
- **#49785: fix(error): treat 402 'can only afford N tokens' as recoverable rate-limit**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `implemented_elsewhere`; implication `superseded`; refs `ee8dd6c886`, `#134157`

## Fix status

- Merged to main in PR #134157 (cited above). No release data is tracked. Verify downstream.
- Fix last verified (merged) `2026-10-07`.
- Subsystem: `agent`