# OpenAI: value can now return "max_output_tokens"

> Source: <https://driftwatch.et/changes/openai-2026-11-03-2cc3309f>
> Published: 2026-11-03 22:29:31+00:00

## What changed

Producer-side tools call this additive. It breaks exhaustive switches, strict parsers and generated client enums.

Affects this value on `SessionTurnErrorCodeResource` reachable from 6 operations.

New value: `max_output_tokens`.

can now return "max_output_tokens"

## Who is affected

Code that reads OpenAI's SessionTurnErrorCodeResource objects, used by 6 OpenAI operations.

## Before and after

| Where | Before | After | 
|---|---|---|
| SessionTurnErrorCodeResource | "active_turn_not_steerable", "authentication_error", "billing_not_active", "connection_failed", "context_length_exceeded", "credit_balance_exhausted", "cyber_policy", "executor_version_incompatible", "flex_unavailable", "internal_error", "invalid_request", "misalignment_policy_violation", "organization_spend_limit_exceeded", "organization_usage_limit_exceeded", "project_spend_limit_exceeded", "rate_limit_exceeded", "request_timeout", "resource_not_found", "sandbox_error", "server_error", "server_overloaded", "session_budget_exceeded", "usage_limit_exceeded" | "active_turn_not_steerable", "authentication_error", "billing_not_active", "connection_failed", "context_length_exceeded", "credit_balance_exhausted", "cyber_policy", "executor_version_incompatible", "flex_unavailable", "internal_error", "invalid_request", "max_output_tokens", "misalignment_policy_violation", "organization_spend_limit_exceeded", "organization_usage_limit_exceeded", "project_spend_limit_exceeded", "rate_limit_exceeded", "request_timeout", "resource_not_found", "sandbox_error", "server_error", "server_overloaded", "session_budget_exceeded", "usage_limit_exceeded" | 

## Code that breaks

```
switch (response) {
  // existing branches …
  // no branch for "max_output_tokens"
  default:
    throw new Error("unexpected value");
}
```

Based on OpenAI’s published API specification. [How severity is decided](https://driftwatch.et/method).