Intermittent 401 scope errors on key with "All" permissions — spikes randomly, no config changes

API Bugs
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We’ve been running a production application on the Assistants API for several months with no issues. Starting recently, we’re seeing intermittent spikes of 401 errors with the following message:

Error code: 401 - {‘error’: {‘message’: “You have insufficient permissions for this operation.
Missing scopes: api.threads.read.”, ‘type’: ‘invalid_request_error’, ‘param’: None, ‘code’: None}}

What makes this strange:

  • The API key shows “All” permissions in the OpenAI platform UI

  • The key has been working correctly for months

  • No changes were made to the key, the project, or any account settings

  • The errors are intermittent — the app runs fine most of the time, then spikes (e.g. thousands of errors in a short window around 10:00 AM UTC today, April 11 2026)

  • After the spike, it sometimes recovers on its own

Setup:

  • Python openai SDK version 1.35.7

  • Affected endpoints: beta.threads.runs.list, beta.threads.messages.create, beta.threads.runs.stream

What we’ve tried:

  • Verified the key shows “All” permissions in the UI

  • Created new API Keys

  • Confirmed only one key is in use (logging last-4 of the key on every request)

Question: Is this a known platform-side issue where project-level keys intermittently lose their granted scopes? We saw a similar incident reported by other users in August 2025.

4 Likes
2

Same issue, no code change, no key change, 401 error start happening when the key has ALL permissions

I tried the same things as the original post.

3 Likes
3

Hi and welcome to the community!

Thanks for raising this!
I have pinged the team to take a look.

5 Likes
4

Hi,

I have actually found my issue on my side, an uncatched exception in an asyncio task did actually create a corrupted client which then made the 401 Error

5

Hi, thank you for checking this. Please keep us posted on any updates, and let us know if you need any additional information on the issue.

2 Likes
6

same here.

getting random:

{“error”=>
{“message”=>
“You have insufficient permissions for this operation. Missing scopes: api.threads.read. Check that you have the correct role in your organization (Reader, Writer, Owner) and project (Viewer, Member, Owner), and if you’re using a restricted API key, that it has the necessary scopes.”,
“type”=>“invalid_request_error”,
“param”=>nil,
“code”=>nil}}
api key (user api key) have all permission and the error is intermittent

2 Likes
7

Getting the same thing. It started last night then cleared up. Now it is back around 3:30PM EST

3 Likes
8

Same error. Not working Assistant APIs with de same error :frowning:

1 Like
9

I’m experiencing the same issue. My API key is set with “All” permissions, but I’m still getting 401 errors like:

  • Missing scopes: api.threads.read

  • Missing scopes: model.request

This was working perfectly before and nothing changed on my side (same project, same key).

2 Likes
10

Same issue here. Worked for the past 6 months, now I am getting 401 spikes all of the sudden.

1 Like
11

it worked for almost an hour and now is failling again. Totally random.

1 Like
12

Hi. Any updates of this ? Please keep us posted.

13

Sorry, no updates yet.
Will keep you posted.

1 Like