diff --git a/agent/error_classifier.py b/agent/error_classifier.py
index 514eda3834..1c0a46328e 100644
--- a/agent/error_classifier.py
+++ b/agent/error_classifier.py
@@ -1338,6 +1338,26 @@ def _classify_by_status(
                 should_fallback=True,
                 error_context=ctx,
             )
+        # Account/subscription usage exhaustion is a quota wall, not a
+        # request-rate throttle. Anthropic returns this as 429, so the generic
+        # branch below used to retry it and Desktop rendered a provider error
+        # instead of the billing/quota recovery. Preserve periodic quotas when
+        # the response supplies an explicit reset/retry signal.
+        has_usage_limit = (
+            error_code.lower() == "usage_limit_reached"
+            or "usage limit" in error_msg
+            or "usage_limit_reached" in error_msg
+        )
+        has_transient_signal = any(
+            p in error_msg for p in _USAGE_LIMIT_TRANSIENT_SIGNALS
+        )
+        if has_usage_limit and not has_transient_signal:
+            return result_fn(
+                FailoverReason.billing,
+                retryable=False,
+                should_rotate_credential=True,
+                should_fallback=True,
+            )
         return result_fn(
             FailoverReason.rate_limit,
             retryable=True,
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/hooks/use-statusbar-items.tsx b/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/hooks/use-statusbar-items.tsx
index 65e770819f..b9d9eff4e7 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/hooks/use-statusbar-items.tsx
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/app/shell/hooks/use-statusbar-items.tsx
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import { GlyphSpinner } from '@/components/ui/glyph-spinner'
 import { useI18n } from '@/i18n'
 import { displayPath, pathLeaf } from '@/lib/display-path'
 import { Activity, AlertCircle, Clock, Command, FolderOpen, Globe, Hash, Loader2, Terminal } from '@/lib/icons'
-import type { RuntimeReadinessResult } from '@/lib/runtime-readiness'
+import { runtimeReadinessDisplay, type RuntimeReadinessResult } from '@/lib/runtime-readiness'
 import { contextBarLabel, LiveDuration, usageContextLabel } from '@/lib/statusbar'
 import { useStoreSelector } from '@/lib/use-session-slice'
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils'
@@ -286,13 +286,15 @@ export function useStatusbarItems({
   const gatewayConnecting = gatewayState === 'connecting'
   const inferenceReady = gatewayOpen && inferenceStatus?.ready === true
   const gatewayDegraded = gatewayOpen || gatewayConnecting
+  const readinessDisplay = runtimeReadinessDisplay(inferenceStatus)
 
   const gatewayDetail = gatewayOpen
-    ? inferenceStatus?.ready
-      ? copy.gatewayReady
-      : inferenceStatus
-        ? copy.gatewayNeedsSetup
-        : copy.gatewayChecking
+    ? {
+        checking: copy.gatewayChecking,
+        needs_setup: copy.gatewayNeedsSetup,
+        ready: copy.gatewayReady,
+        unavailable: copy.gatewayUnavailable
+      }[readinessDisplay]
     : gatewayConnecting
       ? copy.gatewayConnecting
       : copy.gatewayOffline
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/i18n/ar.ts b/apps/desktop/src/i18n/ar.ts
index 5af5d3809c..2bc76807ab 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/i18n/ar.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/i18n/ar.ts
@@ -2255,6 +2255,7 @@ export const ar = defineLocale({
       gateway: 'البوابة',
       gatewayReady: 'البوابة جاهزة',
       gatewayNeedsSetup: 'البوابة تحتاج إعدادا',
+      gatewayUnavailable: 'الاستدلال غير متاح',
       gatewayChecking: 'جار فحص البوابة',
       gatewayConnecting: 'جار اتصال البوابة',
       gatewayOffline: 'البوابة غير متصلة',
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/i18n/en.ts b/apps/desktop/src/i18n/en.ts
index abf0f72a3c..65c9078a88 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/i18n/en.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/i18n/en.ts
@@ -2855,6 +2855,7 @@ export const en: Translations = {
       gateway: 'Gateway',
       gatewayReady: 'ready',
       gatewayNeedsSetup: 'needs setup',
+      gatewayUnavailable: 'inference unavailable',
       gatewayChecking: 'checking',
       gatewayConnecting: 'connecting',
       gatewayOffline: 'offline',
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/i18n/ja.ts b/apps/desktop/src/i18n/ja.ts
index a69d06d1eb..4c339562a8 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/i18n/ja.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/i18n/ja.ts
@@ -2523,6 +2523,7 @@ export const ja = defineLocale({
       gateway: 'ゲートウェイ',
       gatewayReady: '準備完了',
       gatewayNeedsSetup: '設定が必要',
+      gatewayUnavailable: '推論を利用できません',
       gatewayChecking: '確認中',
       gatewayConnecting: '接続中',
       gatewayOffline: 'オフライン',
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/i18n/types.ts b/apps/desktop/src/i18n/types.ts
index a9e97b98c3..4479acf298 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/i18n/types.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/i18n/types.ts
@@ -2421,6 +2421,7 @@ export interface Translations {
       gateway: string
       gatewayReady: string
       gatewayNeedsSetup: string
+      gatewayUnavailable: string
       gatewayChecking: string
       gatewayConnecting: string
       gatewayOffline: string
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/i18n/zh-hant.ts b/apps/desktop/src/i18n/zh-hant.ts
index fc1a4bdc10..e1988b62b4 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/i18n/zh-hant.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/i18n/zh-hant.ts
@@ -2435,6 +2435,7 @@ export const zhHant = defineLocale({
       gateway: '閘道',
       gatewayReady: '就緒',
       gatewayNeedsSetup: '需要設定',
+      gatewayUnavailable: '推論不可用',
       gatewayChecking: '檢查中',
       gatewayConnecting: '連線中',
       gatewayOffline: '離線',
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/i18n/zh.ts b/apps/desktop/src/i18n/zh.ts
index 9d6550279e..3041c5d8c5 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/i18n/zh.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/i18n/zh.ts
@@ -3020,6 +3020,7 @@ export const zh: Translations = {
       gateway: '网关',
       gatewayReady: '就绪',
       gatewayNeedsSetup: '需要设置',
+      gatewayUnavailable: '推理不可用',
       gatewayChecking: '检查中',
       gatewayConnecting: '连接中',
       gatewayOffline: '离线',
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/runtime-readiness.test.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/runtime-readiness.test.ts
index 87c9e6d2d5..4077ae45b0 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/runtime-readiness.test.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/runtime-readiness.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 
-import { evaluateRuntimeReadiness, fetchRuntimeReadinessSignals, interpretRuntimeReadiness } from './runtime-readiness'
+import {
+  evaluateRuntimeReadiness,
+  fetchRuntimeReadinessSignals,
+  interpretRuntimeReadiness,
+  runtimeReadinessDisplay
+} from './runtime-readiness'
 
 describe('interpretRuntimeReadiness', () => {
   it('prefers runtime_check when both signals exist', () => {
@@ -109,3 +114,27 @@ describe('evaluateRuntimeReadiness', () => {
     expect(result.ready).toBe(true)
   })
 })
+
+describe('runtimeReadinessDisplay', () => {
+  it('does not call configured credentials setup when runtime resolution fails', () => {
+    expect(
+      runtimeReadinessDisplay({
+        checksDisagree: true,
+        ready: false,
+        reason: 'Anthropic cannot serve the selected model.',
+        source: 'runtime_check'
+      })
+    ).toBe('unavailable')
+  })
+
+  it('keeps needs-setup for an authoritative unconfigured result', () => {
+    expect(
+      runtimeReadinessDisplay({
+        checksDisagree: false,
+        ready: false,
+        reason: 'No provider configured.',
+        source: 'setup_status'
+      })
+    ).toBe('needs_setup')
+  })
+})
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/runtime-readiness.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/runtime-readiness.ts
index 8473fc82f7..252bbf1963 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/runtime-readiness.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/runtime-readiness.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ export interface RuntimeReadinessResult {
   source: 'fallback' | 'runtime_check' | 'setup_status'
 }
 
+export type RuntimeReadinessDisplay = 'checking' | 'needs_setup' | 'ready' | 'unavailable'
+
 export type RuntimeReadinessRequester = <T = unknown>(method: string, params?: Record<string, unknown>) => Promise<T>
 
 const DEFAULT_NOT_READY_REASON = 'Add a provider credential before sending your first message.'
@@ -142,6 +144,21 @@ export function interpretRuntimeReadiness(
   }
 }
 
+export function runtimeReadinessDisplay(status: RuntimeReadinessResult | null): RuntimeReadinessDisplay {
+  if (status === null) {
+    return 'checking'
+  }
+
+  if (status.ready) {
+    return 'ready'
+  }
+
+  // Credentials exist but runtime resolution failed. Calling that "needs
+  // setup" sends users back through onboarding for provider/quota failures
+  // that setup cannot repair; the reason tooltip carries the specific cause.
+  return status.checksDisagree ? 'unavailable' : 'needs_setup'
+}
+
 export async function evaluateRuntimeReadiness(
   requestGateway: RuntimeReadinessRequester,
   options: RuntimeReadinessOptions = {}
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_error_classifier.py b/tests/agent/test_error_classifier.py
index 52eb723380..59b8d48b76 100644
--- a/tests/agent/test_error_classifier.py
+++ b/tests/agent/test_error_classifier.py
@@ -273,6 +273,35 @@ class TestClassifyApiError:
         assert result.reason == FailoverReason.rate_limit
         assert result.should_fallback is True
 
+    def test_anthropic_429_usage_limit_without_reset_is_billing(self):
+        e = MockAPIError(
+            "usage limit reached",
+            status_code=429,
+            body={
+                "error": {
+                    "type": "usage_limit_reached",
+                    "message": "Your account has reached its usage limit.",
+                }
+            },
+        )
+
+        result = classify_api_error(e, provider="anthropic", model="claude-opus-5")
+
+        assert result.reason == FailoverReason.billing
+        assert result.retryable is False
+        assert result.should_fallback is True
+
+    def test_anthropic_429_usage_limit_with_reset_stays_rate_limit(self):
+        e = MockAPIError(
+            "usage limit reached; resets at 2026-08-24T10:00:00Z",
+            status_code=429,
+        )
+
+        result = classify_api_error(e, provider="anthropic", model="claude-opus-5")
+
+        assert result.reason == FailoverReason.rate_limit
+        assert result.retryable is True
+
     def test_alibaba_rate_increased_too_quickly(self):
         """Alibaba/DashScope returns a unique throttling message.
 
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_error_surface.py b/tests/agent/test_error_surface.py
index 3a9b735d15..a842b54995 100644
--- a/tests/agent/test_error_surface.py
+++ b/tests/agent/test_error_surface.py
@@ -179,6 +179,25 @@ def test_exception_with_status_code_routes_through_classifier():
     assert surface["code"] in ("rate_limit", "upstream_rate_limit")
 
 
+def test_anthropic_usage_limit_routes_to_billing_recovery():
+    class FakeAPIError(Exception):
+        status_code = 429
+
+    surface = build_error_surface_from_exception(
+        FakeAPIError("usage limit reached"),
+        provider="anthropic",
+        model="claude-opus-5",
+    )
+
+    assert surface == {
+        "layer": LAYER_BILLING,
+        "code": "billing",
+        "retryable": False,
+        "provider": "anthropic",
+        "model": "claude-opus-5",
+    }
+
+
 def test_exception_auth_status_routes_to_auth_layer():
     class FakeAuthError(Exception):
         status_code = 401