fix(providers): g4f.space sub-providers no longer advertise a free tier (#10071) (#11185)

Validated on the combined batch board over tip c92bd40b: static gates clean (changelog, file-size 158 frozen, complexity 2626<=2774, cognitive 1183<=1223, dead-code 409<=416), typecheck:core clean, 70 focused tests green (PR suites 49/49 + auth/combo neighbors 21/21).

Five g4f-* entries re-flagged hasFree:false with the live-probed 402 evidence (proof-of-work wall, member key still works); the two dissenting providers deliberately untouched, matching the chutes/aimlapi/yi precedent. Fixes #10071. Thank you @pacocartones and @chirag127 for the capture!

changelog.d/fixes/10071-g4f-space-anonymous-tier-proof-of-work.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- **fix(providers):** the five g4f.space sub-providers (Groq, Gemini, Pollinations, Ollama, NVIDIA) no longer advertise a free tier — a keyless `POST /v1/chat/completions` now returns `402 insufficient_credits` behind a proof-of-work "cake" wall (re-verified live 2026-08-22), so `hasFree` is `false` and the notes point at `g4f.dev/members.html`. The gateway still works with a member key, so its registry wiring and `authType: "optional"` are unchanged ([#10071](https://github.com/diegosouzapw/OmniRoute/issues/10071)) — thanks @chirag127

src/shared/constants/providers/apikey/gateways.ts

@@ -673,11 +673,12 @@ export const APIKEY_PROVIDERS_GATEWAYS = {
     color: "#F97316",
     textIcon: "G4F",
     website: "https://g4f.space",
-    hasFree: true,
-    freeNote: "Free no-key reverse proxy to Groq (gpt4free project) — rate-limited to 5 req/min.",
+    hasFree: false,
+    freeNote:
+      "No-key reverse proxy to Groq (gpt4free project) — the anonymous free tier is gone; keyless calls return insufficient_credits until you bake proof-of-work credits. A g4f.dev member key is required.",
     passthroughModels: true,
     authHint:
-      "No auth required. Free tier is limited to 5 requests/minute — sign up at g4f.dev/members.html for higher limits.",
+      "Anonymous use now needs proof-of-work credits baked at g4f.dev/chat — sign up at g4f.dev/members.html for a member key.",
   },
   "g4f-gemini": {
     id: "g4f-gemini",
@@ -687,11 +688,12 @@ export const APIKEY_PROVIDERS_GATEWAYS = {
     color: "#F97316",
     textIcon: "G4F",
     website: "https://g4f.space",
-    hasFree: true,
-    freeNote: "Free no-key reverse proxy to Gemini (gpt4free project) — rate-limited to 5 req/min.",
+    hasFree: false,
+    freeNote:
+      "No-key reverse proxy to Gemini (gpt4free project) — the anonymous free tier is gone; keyless calls return insufficient_credits until you bake proof-of-work credits. A g4f.dev member key is required.",
     passthroughModels: true,
     authHint:
-      "No auth required. Free tier is limited to 5 requests/minute — sign up at g4f.dev/members.html for higher limits.",
+      "Anonymous use now needs proof-of-work credits baked at g4f.dev/chat — sign up at g4f.dev/members.html for a member key.",
   },
   "g4f-pollinations": {
     id: "g4f-pollinations",
@@ -701,12 +703,12 @@ export const APIKEY_PROVIDERS_GATEWAYS = {
     color: "#F97316",
     textIcon: "G4F",
     website: "https://g4f.space",
-    hasFree: true,
+    hasFree: false,
     freeNote:
-      "Free no-key reverse proxy to Pollinations (gpt4free project) — rate-limited to 5 req/min.",
+      "No-key reverse proxy to Pollinations (gpt4free project) — the anonymous free tier is gone; keyless calls return insufficient_credits until you bake proof-of-work credits. A g4f.dev member key is required.",
     passthroughModels: true,
     authHint:
-      "No auth required. Free tier is limited to 5 requests/minute — sign up at g4f.dev/members.html for higher limits.",
+      "Anonymous use now needs proof-of-work credits baked at g4f.dev/chat — sign up at g4f.dev/members.html for a member key.",
   },
   "g4f-ollama": {
     id: "g4f-ollama",
@@ -716,11 +718,12 @@ export const APIKEY_PROVIDERS_GATEWAYS = {
     color: "#F97316",
     textIcon: "G4F",
     website: "https://g4f.space",
-    hasFree: true,
-    freeNote: "Free no-key hosted Ollama gateway (gpt4free project) — rate-limited to 5 req/min.",
+    hasFree: false,
+    freeNote:
+      "No-key hosted Ollama gateway (gpt4free project) — the anonymous free tier is gone; keyless calls return insufficient_credits until you bake proof-of-work credits. A g4f.dev member key is required.",
     passthroughModels: true,
     authHint:
-      "No auth required. Free tier is limited to 5 requests/minute — sign up at g4f.dev/members.html for higher limits.",
+      "Anonymous use now needs proof-of-work credits baked at g4f.dev/chat — sign up at g4f.dev/members.html for a member key.",
   },
   "g4f-nvidia": {
     id: "g4f-nvidia",
@@ -730,12 +733,12 @@ export const APIKEY_PROVIDERS_GATEWAYS = {
     color: "#F97316",
     textIcon: "G4F",
     website: "https://g4f.space",
-    hasFree: true,
+    hasFree: false,
     freeNote:
-      "Free no-key reverse proxy to NVIDIA NIM (gpt4free project) — rate-limited to 5 req/min.",
+      "No-key reverse proxy to NVIDIA NIM (gpt4free project) — the anonymous free tier is gone; keyless calls return insufficient_credits until you bake proof-of-work credits. A g4f.dev member key is required.",
     passthroughModels: true,
     authHint:
-      "No auth required. Free tier is limited to 5 requests/minute — sign up at g4f.dev/members.html for higher limits.",
+      "Anonymous use now needs proof-of-work credits baked at g4f.dev/chat — sign up at g4f.dev/members.html for a member key.",
   },
   "vercel-ai-gateway": {
     id: "vercel-ai-gateway",

tests/unit/discontinued-providers-2026.test.ts

@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ import assert from "node:assert";
 // free tier that does not exist. The budget catalog already dropped them. The 2026-06-18 batch
 // (gitlawb, gitlawb-gmi, aimlapi, yi) was each re-verified against the official source before flipping
 // (aimlapi docs: "The Free Tier is currently paused"; gitlawb GitHub issue #1345: MiMo revoked).
+// 2026-08-22 (#10071): the five g4f.space sub-providers lost their anonymous tier to a proof-of-work
+// credit wall (keyless POST -> HTTP 402 insufficient_credits). They remain usable with a g4f.dev
+// member key, so only hasFree/freeNote/authHint changed - registry wiring is untouched.
 describe("2026 discontinued free tiers — providers.ts hasFree reconciliation", () => {
   it("APIKEY_PROVIDERS dead tiers no longer advertise a free tier", async () => {
     const { APIKEY_PROVIDERS } = await import("../../src/shared/constants/providers.ts");
@@ -27,6 +30,42 @@ describe("2026 discontinued free tiers — providers.ts hasFree reconciliation",
     }
   });
 
+  it("g4f.space sub-providers no longer advertise an anonymous free tier", async () => {
+    const { APIKEY_PROVIDERS } = await import("../../src/shared/constants/providers.ts");
+    // 2026-08-22 live re-verification: every g4f.space sub-path still lists models keylessly, but a
+    // keyless POST /v1/chat/completions returns HTTP 402 {"type":"insufficient_credits"} pointing at
+    // a proof-of-work "cake" wall (g4f.dev/chat) or a member key (g4f.dev/members.html). The gateway
+    // is NOT dead - it works with a g4f.dev member key - so the registry entries and their
+    // authType:"optional" are deliberately untouched; only the free-tier advertisement is corrected.
+    for (const id of ["g4f-groq", "g4f-gemini", "g4f-pollinations", "g4f-ollama", "g4f-nvidia"]) {
+      const p = (
+        APIKEY_PROVIDERS as Record<
+          string,
+          { hasFree?: boolean; freeNote?: string; authHint?: string }
+        >
+      )[id];
+      assert.ok(
+        p,
+        `${id} should still exist in APIKEY_PROVIDERS (gateway still usable with a member key)`
+      );
+      assert.strictEqual(
+        p.hasFree,
+        false,
+        `${id} should have hasFree:false (anonymous tier walled behind proof-of-work credits in 2026)`
+      );
+      assert.match(
+        p.freeNote ?? "",
+        /proof-of-work/i,
+        `${id} freeNote should explain the proof-of-work credit wall`
+      );
+      assert.match(
+        p.authHint ?? "",
+        /member key/i,
+        `${id} authHint should state that a g4f.dev member key is required`
+      );
+    }
+  });
+
   it("phind is fully removed (service shut down 2026-01) from both catalogs", async () => {
     const { APIKEY_PROVIDERS, WEB_COOKIE_PROVIDERS } =
       await import("../../src/shared/constants/providers.ts");

tests/unit/g4f-space-gateway-6650.test.ts

@@ -17,7 +17,8 @@
  *     category on the dashboard
  *   - allowed to skip API key validation (providerAllowsOptionalApiKey)
  *   - has provider metadata (name/website/free-tier note) in the apikey
- *     gateway catalog
+ *     gateway catalog (hasFree flipped false by #10071 — anonymous tier now
+ *     requires proof-of-work credits; a g4f.dev member key is required)
  */
 import test from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
@@ -96,7 +97,10 @@ for (const [id, subPath] of Object.entries(SUB_PATHS)) {
     assert.ok(meta, `${id} should have an APIKEY_PROVIDERS metadata entry`);
     assert.equal(meta.id, id);
     assert.equal(meta.website, "https://g4f.space");
-    assert.equal(meta.hasFree, true);
+    // hasFree was true at #6650 time; the anonymous tier was walled behind proof-of-work
+    // credits in 2026 (#10071), so the flag is now false. Registry wiring above is unchanged:
+    // the provider still works with a g4f.dev member key, hence authType stays "optional".
+    assert.equal(meta.hasFree, false);
     assert.equal(typeof meta.freeNote, "string");
     assert.ok((meta.freeNote as string).length > 0);
   });