Setup guides have invalid models and instructions that don't work for Pro users

[marty0678]

Following the instructions in the following files:

https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code-action/blob/main/docs/setup.md
https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code-action/blob/main/docs/usage.md

Pro users can not actually use the actions as written due to two issues:

1. Claude Code Action defaults to Opus, but the token generated from claude setup-token is not allowed for Opus use. So when the action runs, you instead get a confusing 400 error from the API with the message This credential is only authorized for use with Claude Code and cannot be used for other API requests. It turns out, it's because it's trying to call Opus instead of Sonnet.
2. Following the instructions in the Usage file, however, lists a model that doesn't exist - claude-4-0-sonnet-20250805 isn't a valid model, so the action will 400. It instead needs to be claude-sonnet-4-20250514.

I believe this is mostly a documentation issue for the manual setup paths.

Thank you!

[ashwin-ant]

Where is it defaulting to Opus? The /install-github-app command doesn't specify Opus, and the examples don't either.

[marty0678]

Where is it defaulting to Opus? The /install-github-app command doesn't specify Opus, and the examples don't either.

I don't know. I never set a model anywhere in the GitHub action, but in the logs, it says the model was set to Opus. I was able to 'fix' it by setting the model flag. And to clarify, this ticket is regarding the manual setup, not the /install-github-app method.

[kimveasna]

I have the same issue, even though I used /install-github-app. The workflow script does not mention any model, but it is defaulting to Opus. From my past logs with successful actions, it was also defaulting to Opus, but it was working. Until 2 days ago, when I started receiving credential errors. I have now added claude_args: '--model claude-sonnet-4-20250514' and it is working again. Thank you for the hint @marty0678 .

[leeminseo0923]

I have the same issue, and I think it is related to [Bug] Anthropic API Credential Restriction Preventing API Requests.
Maybe it is a bug because of Claude App and API connectivity errors

[DavidWells]

I was also seeing this error.

The model was defaulting to "model": "claude-opus-4-1-20250805", even though I have model: ${{ steps.setup-env.outputs.model || 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514' }} set in my action. (This was previously working)

I can confirm that adding the extra args "fixed" the issue

Did the with.model arg for the github action get removed by chance?

[reno-tn]

Exact same issue while running claude code in devcontainer.
Thanks @DavidWells for the workaround !

[derekrhiggins]

this issue has been around MONTHS

[BOLT04]

is anyone working on this, or is it fixed?