Raw research notes

Gray-market subscription OAuth (checked 2026-11-14)

This note records what vendors had published, as of 14 November 2026, about using a personal AI-subscription login to run a third-party open-source agent such as OpenClaw. It describes written prohibitions, enforcement reports, and what one local proxy project claims. It is not a setup guide.

A subscription login (often called OAuth) is the “sign in with Google / Claude / ChatGPT / GitHub” session. An API key is a separate credential that bills a developer account. The gray market is the attempt to spend the flat monthly plan from a program the vendor did not build.

1. Google: Gemini CLI and Antigravity OAuth

Google’s Gemini CLI terms, last updated 10 April 2026, name the practice in the terms themselves:

Directly accessing the services powering Gemini CLI (for example, the Gemini Code Assist service) using third-party software, tools, or services (for example, using OpenClaw with Gemini CLI OAuth) is a violation of applicable terms and policies. Such actions may be grounds for suspension or termination of your account.

Source: Gemini CLI: License, Terms of Service, and Privacy Notices.

The same site’s FAQ, also last updated 10 April 2026, says using third-party software “to harvest or piggyback on Gemini CLI’s OAuth authentication” is a direct violation and “may be grounds for immediate suspension or termination.” The supported method it names for a third-party coding agent is a Vertex AI or Google AI Studio API key. Source: Gemini CLI FAQ.

Antigravity, the consumer product Google later pointed those users toward, has its own sentence:

Using third party software, tools, or services to access the Service (e.g. using OpenClaw with Antigravity OAuth) is a breach of this Agreement. Such actions may be grounds for suspension or termination of your Antigravity and/or Gemini CLI accounts.

Source: Google Antigravity Additional Terms of Service, section 6. The Antigravity FAQ repeats that Claude Code, OpenClaw, or OpenCode with an Antigravity login violates the terms and can suspend or terminate the account, and it recommends a Gemini Enterprise or Google AI Studio API key. Wrapping the Antigravity CLI inside a third-party agent, or automating account rotation, “is not supported under consumer plans.” Source: Antigravity FAQ.

2026 ban reports

On 27 February 2026, Gemini CLI developer relations posted in the official Gemini CLI repository that account disruptions that week came from “a series of Antigravity bans” for “the use of 3rd party tools or proxies to access Antigravity resources and quotas.” Because abuse prevention sat on a shared backend, those bans also blocked Gemini CLI and Gemini Code Assist. Google said it was unbanning recently flagged accounts and moving to a recertification form. A second terms violation “will be permanently banned.” The same post restates that piggybacking on Gemini CLI OAuth is a direct violation. Source: Addressing Antigravity Bans & Reinstating Access.

The Register’s 6 April 2026 account of the same February action attributes that piggyback sentence to Jack Wotherspoon, Gemini CLI developer relations. Source: Anthropic closes door on subscription use of OpenClaw.

What still works, and what OpenClaw offers now

Google’s deprecation page, last updated 9 October 2026, says that starting 18 June 2026, Gemini Code Assist IDE extensions stopped serving the individuals, Google AI Pro, and Google AI Ultra tiers, that this also applies to Gemini CLI, and that “you can no longer use the Login with Google option to access the IDE extensions or Gemini CLI.” Consumer users “can migrate to the Antigravity family of products.” Source: Gemini Code Assist consumer accounts.

That page and the April Gemini CLI terms page do not say the same thing about consumer Google login. The terms page still lists “Logging in with your Google account to Gemini Code Assist” as a supported method. The October deprecation page says that consumer Login with Google path stopped being served on 18 June 2026. Standard and Enterprise are called out there as a separate schedule. This note does not treat the April terms page as proof that a personal Google login still opens Gemini CLI.

OpenClaw’s current Google provider page does not offer creating that OAuth login. It says:

OpenClaw does not offer new Gemini CLI OAuth or Antigravity OAuth setup. Google ended consumer Gemini CLI Login with Google access on June 18, 2026, and the Antigravity terms prohibit third-party tools from accessing the service through Antigravity OAuth. Use an AI Studio API key or Vertex AI instead.

The same page says to get a key in Google AI Studio and run onboarding with gemini-api-key. An optional local Gemini CLI runtime stays on “the supported AI Studio API-key path.” Existing valid Gemini CLI OAuth profiles “remain executable for compatibility, but OpenClaw cannot create or repair them.” A broken one is to be replaced with an AI Studio API-key profile. Source: OpenClaw Google (Gemini).

2. Anthropic: Claude subscription and Claude Code OAuth

Around 4 April 2026 the change was extra-usage billing, not a shutdown of Claude for outside tools.

The Register, 6 April 2026, quotes Boris Cherny, head of Claude Code: “Starting tomorrow at 12pm PT, Claude subscriptions will no longer cover usage on third-party tools like OpenClaw.” It then quotes an Anthropic spokesperson:

Starting April 4, third-party tools will draw from extra usage instead of subscription limits. Using Claude subscriptions with third-party tools isn't permitted under our Terms of Service, and they put an outsized strain on our systems. Capacity is something we manage thoughtfully, and we need to prioritize customers using our core products.

The same article says Claude subscriptions continued to apply to Claude.ai, Claude Code, and Cowork, and that customers could still use Claude with third-party tools through extra-usage bundles or an API key. Anthropic offered a month of extra-usage credit based on the monthly plan, bundles at 30 percent off, and a cancel-and-refund option. Source: The Register, 6 April 2026.

So the login was not described as deleted. The monthly included allowance stopped covering that traffic, and a separate meter started.

Later help-center notes use overlapping words for a different change. On 15 June 2026 Anthropic wrote that it had paused previously announced Claude Agent SDK changes, and that “Claude Agent SDK, claude -p, and third-party app usage still draw from your subscription limits.” On 7 October 2026 it said Max, Ultra, and Team plans include monthly API credits for API-key use, and that “when you’re signed in with your Claude plan, the Claude Agent SDK and claude -p still draw from your subscription limits.” That October sentence does not repeat “third-party app usage.” Source: Use the Claude Agent SDK with your Claude plan.

What a user is billed for now

The Claude help page “Log in to your Claude account,” updated in the week before this check, is the current statement about third-party tools on a subscription login:

The preferred way to access Anthropic services using third-party software, tools, or services (“third-party tools”), including open-source projects, is through API key authentication through Claude Console or a supported cloud provider. Anthropic may at its discretion allow paid subscribers who have enabled usage credits to use certain third-party tools to access Anthropic services included in paid subscription plans, but reserves the right to draw use of such third-party tools from usage credits rather than subscription limits. Users are responsible for any usage credit charges incurred this way. Use of third-party tools that misrepresent their identity to Anthropic’s servers, attempt to route third-party traffic against subscription limits, or otherwise violate applicable terms or policies is prohibited and such use may be enforced against.

Source: Log in to your Claude account.

Claude Code’s legal page says OAuth “is intended exclusively for purchasers of Claude Free, Pro, Max, Ultra, Team, and Enterprise subscription plans and is designed to support ordinary use of Claude Code and other native Anthropic applications.” It also says Anthropic does not permit third-party developers to offer Claude.ai login in their own applications, or to route requests through Free, Pro, Max, or Ultra credentials on behalf of their users. Source: Claude Code legal and compliance.

Anthropic’s Usage Policy, effective 12 November 2026, tells users not to “Resell, proxy, or otherwise provide access to Claude through unauthorized means, including services that route requests through consumer subscriptions or misrepresent the product or client being used.” Source: Usage Policy (PDF).

OpenClaw’s own docs are more permissive than those pages. The OpenClaw OAuth page says Anthropic staff told the project that Claude CLI reuse is allowed again, and that OpenClaw treats that reuse and claude -p as sanctioned unless Anthropic publishes a new policy. It still calls an API key the safer production path. Source: OpenClaw OAuth. That staff assurance was not on the Anthropic pages fetched for this note. A reader who wants to know the bill should use the help-center sentence: third-party tool use can be drawn from usage credits, and the user pays those charges. The flat monthly plan is what the April spokesperson said still covers Claude.ai, Claude Code, and Cowork.

3. OpenAI: Codex or ChatGPT subscription OAuth

The pages checked support a conditional allow, and they forbid turning that login into a shared or general-purpose API. They do not support calling the whole practice “merely tolerated.” Nothing fetched for this note was an OpenAI page that names OpenClaw.

Sign in with ChatGPT Terms, effective 4 November 2026, govern an application that lets a user connect a ChatGPT account and, where enabled, use that plan in the app. Tokens must be obtained through OpenAI’s supported sign-in flow. Persistent storage “must be local and under the user’s control, not in a remote or managed environment.” The app must not impersonate OpenAI or another open-source project.

If the app selects the ChatGPT Plan scope, the terms say the developer must not enable or encourage creating multiple accounts, splitting usage, rotating accounts, bypassing limits, or “Pooling, transferring, reselling, gifting, or sharing ChatGPT plan usage or Authentication Tokens,” or “Using one user’s subscription to fulfill another user’s requests.” Requests must come from the user’s local runtime or a remote runtime only that user controls. “Use the user’s plan only for the application they connected. Do not provide general-purpose API access for other tools or unrelated requests.” Plan limits still apply, and this sign-in “does not grant extra usage.” OpenAI “may suspend or disable your application’s access” for violations. Source: Sign in with ChatGPT Terms.

OpenAI’s developer docs describe that plan-usage OAuth for “open-source and locally hosted apps,” and tell paid or remotely hosted apps to complete an interest form. The same overview lists “Codex app-server” as a way to use an OAuth access token authorized for ChatGPT plan usage. Source: Sign in with ChatGPT for open source.

The help center, updated two days before this check, says participating commercial apps can use a Go, Plus, Pro, or Business plan, and “Supported open-source tools remain available to all ChatGPT users.” Eligible requests “use the included ChatGPT Work and Codex allowance or applicable credits.” On a personal plan, apps can use credits after plan limits only if the person has explicitly allowed that, and that switch is off by default. If automatic credit purchases are on, “continued usage can result in automatic charges,” and the person may not get a separate notice when included usage runs out. Source: Using your ChatGPT plan in other apps and sites.

OpenClaw’s FAQ says OpenAI “explicitly allows subscription OAuth usage in external tools/workflows like OpenClaw.” Source: OpenClaw FAQ. That is OpenClaw’s claim. The OpenAI pages above allow the published Sign in with ChatGPT flow, including a local open-source client and a Codex app-server token the user authorized. They forbid the general-API and shared-account shape.

4. GitHub Copilot: device-flow login from OpenClaw

OpenClaw’s Copilot page documents a device login. The command openclaw models auth login-github-copilot prompts the person to visit a URL and enter a one-time code. OpenClaw stores the GitHub token in a local secret store and then calls the account’s Copilot API. It says the model catalog comes from the same models endpoint VS Code Copilot uses. Model availability “depends on your GitHub plan and organization policy.” The page does not name a minimum paid plan. Setup that must pick a default fails if the account has no picker-visible model that supports streaming and tool calls. Source: OpenClaw GitHub Copilot.

Whose terms apply depends on how Copilot was bought. GitHub’s Additional Products terms, effective 27 August 2026, say:

Source: GitHub Terms for Additional Products and Features. The Generative AI Services Terms say they apply to volume-licensing customers, and that personal customers who do not buy under a volume license are on the GitHub Terms of Service, including the Additional Products terms. Source: GitHub Generative AI Services Terms.

GitHub’s individual billing page lists Copilot Free, Copilot Pro, Copilot Pro+, and Copilot Max. Paid allowances published there: Pro is $10 a month and 1,500 AI credits (1,000 base plus 500 flex); Pro+ is $39 and 7,000 credits; Max is $100 and 20,000 credits. One AI credit equals $0.01. Copilot Free and Copilot Student have an allowance and “access to models through auto model selection only.” Copilot Free includes 2,000 code completions a month. Included credits reset at 00:00:00 UTC on the first day of each calendar month and do not carry over. The same page lists “Third-party coding agents” among features billed in AI credits. GitHub’s separate page of that name is a public preview of Claude and Codex agents inside GitHub, powered by an existing Copilot subscription for Pro, Pro+, and Max. That page does not describe OpenClaw. Sources: Usage-based billing for individuals, Third-party coding agents.

When the included credits run out, GitHub’s individual page gives three choices: upgrade (the charge is the price difference, and earlier usage counts toward the new allowance), stay and set a budget for additional usage, or wait for the next monthly reset. Additional usage “is billed after it occurs.” A person must pay usage incurred before they cancel, drop to Copilot Free, or cut the additional-usage budget to $0. OpenClaw’s Copilot page does not document a separate fallback when that allowance is gone. Business and Enterprise users who exhaust credits see a banner to request more budget from an administrator.

5. CLIProxyAPI (router-for-me)

The project README says CLIProxyAPI “is a proxy server that provides OpenAI/Gemini/Claude/Codex/Grok compatible API interfaces for CLI.” It says a person can reach those providers “locally and with multiple CLI accounts through any OpenAI (including Responses), Gemini (including Interactions), or Claude-compatible client or SDK.”

The overview advertises these CLI logins:

The provider blurb adds that it “supports Gemini API, AI Studio, Vertex AI, Gemini CLI, and Antigravity accounts,” with model availability varying by channel. It also lists ordinary API-key support for the Generative Language API. Source: CLIProxyAPI README.

If those Gemini or Claude logins are consumer subscriptions, the account risk is the risk in sections 1 and 2, not a separate CLIProxyAPI terms grant:

6. Risk table

“Appears to save” is the gap a flat plan looks like it offers versus paying the API. Ban risk and bill risk are what the linked pages support. “Leaves the normal path” means the prompt is sent by a client other than the vendor’s own app, even when it still arrives at that vendor.

Route Money it appears to save Ban risk Surprise-bill risk Prompts leave the vendor's normal path?
Gemini CLI or Antigravity OAuth inside OpenClaw, CLIProxyAPI, or a similar tool A consumer plan allowance instead of API token charges. Google stopped serving consumer Gemini CLI Login with Google on 18 June 2026. High. Both terms pages name suspension or termination. February 2026 bans happened, including for proxies, and a second violation is described as permanent. The published penalty is account action. These pages do not describe an overage bill for this route. Yes. Google’s terms call this third-party access to the service. The prompt still goes to Google.
Google AI Studio or Vertex API key, the path Google and OpenClaw name No plan arbitrage. The key’s own price or unpaid quota applies. This check did not re-quote unpaid quota numbers. Low under the OAuth rule. The Gemini CLI FAQ names this as the supported third-party method. A paid key bills its Google Cloud project. That bill is the API bill. The prompt leaves the Gemini chat app and uses the API path Google documents for outside agents.
Claude subscription OAuth in OpenClaw or a similar harness Before 4 April 2026, the monthly plan. The Register used one reporter’s March as an illustration: a $20 plan lined up with about $236 of token usage. The April action described by Anthropic was a billing change. The terms still say the use is not permitted and may be enforced. The usage policy forbids proxying through consumer subscriptions. High. April 2026 moved this traffic to extra usage. The current help page says usage-credit charges are the user’s. Claude.ai, Claude Code, and Cowork were what the spokesperson said stayed on the subscription. Yes. The prompt reaches Anthropic from a client other than Claude’s own apps.
Claude API key from Claude Console None against API rates. This is the price. Ordinary API enforcement. Anthropic names this as the preferred third-party path. The API bill can be large. It is the bill for the key, not a hidden switch on the monthly plan. The prompt uses the API path Anthropic documents.
ChatGPT plan through Sign in with ChatGPT, in a local open-source app that follows OpenAI’s terms Included ChatGPT Work and Codex allowance until the plan limit. Open-source tools are described as available to all ChatGPT users. Commercial plan-usage requires Go, Plus, Pro, or Business. Low while the app stays inside the published rules. OpenAI can suspend that app’s sign-in access for a violation. Medium, and off until the person opts in. Credits after the plan limit require an explicit allow. Automatic credit purchases can charge without a separate notice at the limit. The prompt leaves the ChatGPT website and uses the Responses API path OpenAI documents for this sign-in.
Codex or ChatGPT OAuth exposed as a general API, or shared across accounts, as the CLIProxyAPI README describes Several accounts’ allowances, via the README’s round-robin claim. The Sign in with ChatGPT terms forbid pooling, one person’s plan serving someone else’s requests, and a general-purpose API for other tools. OpenAI may suspend the app’s access. This check found no separate tally of bans for this project. Depends on credit and auto-purchase settings on those accounts. The terms do not describe this shape as included usage. Yes. Other programs call the proxy, and the proxy presents CLI-account logins. The README says the access is local.
GitHub Copilot device login in OpenClaw That account’s included Copilot credits instead of a separate model API bill. Published paid totals: Pro 1,500 credits ($10), Pro+ 7,000 ($39), Max 20,000 ($100). One credit is $0.01. No OpenClaw-specific Copilot ban showed up in the pages checked. Organization policy can hide models. Medium once extra usage is allowed: GitHub bills additional credits after the fact. With no budget, the published choices are upgrade, set a budget, or wait until the first of the month at 00:00:00 UTC. The prompt goes to GitHub’s Copilot API. OpenClaw says it uses the same models endpoint as VS Code, from OpenClaw.

Facts for the scorecard

Sources

Checked 14 November 2026.

What a layman should be told

Use an API key from a Google, Anthropic, or OpenAI account you own and pay for when an outside program needs a model. Google’s terms say that connecting a tool such as OpenClaw to a Gemini CLI or Antigravity login can suspend or close the account, and Google did suspend accounts for third-party tools and proxies in February 2026. Anthropic’s April 2026 change bills outside tools such as OpenClaw from extra usage, separate from the monthly Claude plan, and the current help page says you pay those usage-credit charges. OpenAI publishes Sign in with ChatGPT for your own local open-source app and your own included allowance, and the same terms forbid pooling logins, serving another person’s requests, or offering the plan as a general API. Copilot’s device login in OpenClaw spends that GitHub account’s Copilot credits; when they run out, GitHub’s published choices are to upgrade, set a budget that bills afterward, or wait for the monthly reset. A login from an account you do not own sits outside every one of these terms.