Gemini CLI error
Gemini CLI: We are currently experiencing high demand for <model>
We are currently experiencing high demand for <model>.Status: WorkaroundLast verified 2 documented fixes5 sources
What it means
A capacity error, not a personal quota problem: the backend is out of capacity for the model. Raw API forms include 503 "The model is overloaded. Please try again later." (UNAVAILABLE) and 429 "Resource exhausted. Please try again later."
Causes
- Per the core source, 503 errors are classified as RetryableQuotaError, and capacity-exhaustion messages are handled as capacity exceeded.
- Maintainer (jackwotherspoon, #7227): "Currently experiencing higher than usual capacity constraints. Should be temporary." Maintainer (adamfweidman, #11937): the team is working to increase capacity.
How to fix it
- Fix 1.
Follow the in-CLI message: wait for the access reset time shown, or use /model to switch models.
Slash command/model - Fix 2.
Update to the latest version. A maintainer (silviojr, #11937) said a lot of error handling was added in recent releases. #7227 was closed asking reporters to reopen if it still happens on the latest version.
Terminalnpm install -g @google/gemini-cli@latest
More Gemini CLI errors
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FAQ
What does "We are currently experiencing high demand for <model>" mean in Gemini CLI?
A capacity error, not a personal quota problem: the backend is out of capacity for the model. Raw API forms include 503 "The model is overloaded. Please try again later." (UNAVAILABLE) and 429 "Resource exhausted. Please try again later."
How do I fix "We are currently experiencing high demand for <model>"?
There are 2 documented fixes. Start with the first: Follow the in-CLI message: wait for the access reset time shown, or use /model to switch models.
Is this Gemini CLI error fixed?
Status: Workaround. No release removes the cause. The documented fixes work around it. Affected versions: Reported on 0.2.1 (#7227) and 0.12.0-nightly.20251023 (#11937)
Sources
Last verified against 5 sources: official docs, maintainer replies and release notes.
- github.comhttps://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/blob/main/packages/cli/src/ui/hooks/useQuotaAndFallback.ts
- github.comhttps://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/blob/main/packages/core/src/utils/googleQuotaErrors.ts
- github.comhttps://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/issues/7227
- github.comhttps://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/issues/11937
- github.comhttps://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/issues/24937
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