Canonical guide · Source docs/faq.md

Frequently asked questions

Answers about ChatGPT sign-in and plan use, usage limits, image generation, local connections, SuperGrok, Claude, and private models. Read the OpenAI source check for implementation evidence and unresolved provider requirements. The Claude wizard source check covers the Claude questions below.

Why is Check the server unavailable?

Read the selected account's status and open Help with Check the server. Verified identity without plan permission needs Allow ChatGPT plan use. A paused plan needs Use ChatGPT plan if you want to enable it. A granted plan with an unread first-use notice needs Review plan notice, then Got it. Transferred and unresolved registrations use their installed-account management or recovery instead. A preview or a running operation has its own restriction. Help never enables a disabled action or accepts consent for you.

The mascot's Help button stays available after you skip the walkthrough. Its Help topic list includes the current view's existing feature tips and a bundled FAQ. About this help shows its revision, source version and review date. Answers use local state rules and ship with Relmio; they make no model requests and save no question history. Show me points and moves focus without activating a control. Hidden or missing controls are explained safely.

No. Relmio's local flow uses a separately authorized ChatGPT plan grant. It neither creates nor converts an OpenAI Platform API key. The one-time bearer shown for n8n authorizes that private Relmio sidecar; it is not an OpenAI key. Platform API billing is not an automatic fallback.

Why can an account be connected without model access?

Identity sign-in and permission to use a ChatGPT plan are separate. If the provider returns verified identity without chatgpt.tokens.use.direct, Relmio keeps the account connected but does not allow plan requests. Choose Allow ChatGPT plan use to make a separate authorization request. Enabling the Relmio setting cannot grant provider permission.

Each registration is bound to a verified issuer, client ID, and subject. Email is only a label, so separate registrations remain separate even when emails match. Relmio never imports a personal Codex login or switches accounts after an error.

What happens on first use and usage limits?

After plan permission is enabled, confirm the first-use Using ChatGPT plan notice before requesting models. Model listings are account-specific and do not prove admission or that a request will complete. ChatGPT account eligibility, workspace policy, model availability, and usage limits still apply.

A plan usage-limit error directs you to Manage usage at https://chatgpt.com/settings/usage. Other errors show their own recovery. Relmio does not retry through another account or switch to Platform API billing.

Plan and usage in the wizard counts only the requests sent through the Relmio sidecar in the last 30 days. It shows no plan percent, reset time or credits. Those stay on ChatGPT's Usage page, which Manage usage opens.

What can the OpenAI-compatible sidecar do?

The sidecar exposes GET /v1/models and POST /v1/responses behind a local Relmio bearer. It also translates POST /v1/chat/completions requests into a real Responses request. That route accepts text messages from user, assistant, or developer roles, plus function tools, assistant tool calls, and tool results. Function tools go upstream in one additional_tools item; n8n runs the tools, not the gateway. Limits are 32 tool calls, 128 KiB of arguments per call, and 2 MiB of streamed arguments in total. The route rejects a named tool_choice, tool namespaces, custom tools in streamed requests, system messages, and other fields it cannot preserve, but drops output-token caps (max_completion_tokens, max_tokens). Chat clients get only final-answer text. On 2026-10-05 a two-turn LangChain tool test passed through the real gateway on one ChatGPT account, streaming over both routes. That is not a guarantee for other accounts or models.

Audio, video, Files API routes, stored responses/conversations, moderation, and unsupported Responses parameters are not implemented. Audio input and transcription are unsupported. Image generation and editing are an opt-in add-on, on a VPS or on this computer, with a separate Codex sign-in that OpenAI does not document for other apps; see Can n8n generate images through Relmio?.

The n8n sidecar asks for text models as the newest stable Codex release from npm, checked about every 12 hours and never below Relmio's pin (0.160.0). registry.npmjs.org sees the server's IP address and receives no credentials. The catalog cache lasts 5 minutes. OpenAI's client_version filter is undocumented and could change; local Codex clients and the pre-install picker still use the pin. Optional VPS model checks use small requests from your plan and need confirmation. See model discovery and checks.

A model listing is not an entitlement promise. The gateway reports unsupported operations and provider errors; it has no alternative provider or account fallback.

Can n8n generate images through Relmio?

Yes, after you turn on the image add-on for an installed ChatGPT plan sidecar, on a VPS or on this computer. It uses a separate Codex sign-in that OpenAI does not document for other apps, so it can stop working without notice. In n8n, use the OpenAI node's Generate an Image or Edit Image with the same credential as your chat nodes and the model gpt-image-2.

Limits:

Images use your plan's Codex limits 3 to 5 times faster than text, then credits. Free plans can't use them. Your Codex limits are at chatgpt.com/codex/settings/usage.
The Codex sign-in is stored on the VPS, or for a local sidecar in its Docker volume on this computer. Anyone who can run workflows in that n8n can make images with the account.
Only gpt-image-2, one image per request, returned as base64. Masks and URL responses are not supported. For GPT Image 2.5 Flare or Sunburst, use your own OpenAI Platform API key in a separate n8n credential.
Sizes 1024x1024, 1024x1536, 1536x1024 or auto. OpenAI may return a different size.
Edits take up to 16 images, each up to 25 MiB and 48 MiB in total.
Relmio waits up to 5 minutes for an image and does not retry a failed one.

Setup and sign-out are in Turn on image generation on a VPS and on this computer. Every limit is in Generate and edit images.

How do I connect n8n?

For local n8n created by Relmio, installation tries to add Relmio ChatGPT plan to n8n's credential store. Select it in your OpenAI nodes. For other n8n installations, enter the private base URL and one-time Relmio bearer manually. If automatic setup cannot be confirmed, check for the named credential first. OpenAI tokens stay in the sidecar. Keep Use Responses API on for OpenAI Chat Model node 1.3. The sidecar publishes no host port and does not edit n8n Compose files. Background plan use still needs separate approval.

The new local/VPS runtime owns the SIWC registration after a receipt confirms transfer. Legacy credential-copy installations are not silently adopted: the separate migration requires a fresh SIWC sign-in and final consent, stops only the exact old Relmio service, and keeps its credential/workspace volumes offline. Old tokens are never imported. If migration is uncertain, it stays stopped for inspection; Relmio does not automatically restart the old service or delete the preserved data.

If an install stops partway, the wizard shows it as staged and offers a reviewed resume. If the destination accepted the session but the acknowledgment was lost, a reviewed reconcile finishes the handoff from the destination's receipt. Without a receipt the sender stays frozen and needs a fresh sign-in.

Can I use this local flow for the public website?

No. The website's /api/chat returns 410 Gone; plan-funded website chat remains off pending separate hosted-access work. This fact applies to that hosted route, not the documented local open-source flow. Local use needs no commercial approval, partner-issued client ID, or client secret; it follows the documented SIWC registration and separate plan-consent flow. This documentation change does not implement hosted chat. See the source check.

Is a VPS transfer approved by OpenAI?

This documentation does not claim that. Relmio gives the destination its own host ID, freezes the source before transfer, and clears source tokens only after a matching destination receipt. An uncertain transfer stays frozen, and the destination is the only refresh owner after completion. When that sign-in needs renewing, Relmio makes a new registration for the same account and replaces the old one. OpenAI's guides instead repeat the sign-in with the saved client ID and the VM's own host ID. OpenAI's self-hosted VM guide describes transfers, while SIWC Terms also say persistent tokens must be local and user-controlled. The published wording does not resolve that tension.

The SIWC Terms also limit use to the connected application and say not to provide general-purpose API access for other tools. Whether an OpenAI-compatible endpoint for n8n fits that rule needs an answer from OpenAI. Relmio is not listed in OpenAI's partner directory, and the published sources do not define whether it counts as a supported open-source tool.

The wizard verifies the SSH fingerprint before authentication and asks for a separate final confirmation before remote writes. Relmio does not edit, restart, rebuild, recreate, or stop your existing n8n deployment.

What does sign-out do?

Relmio attempts to revoke the refresh token, clears local access, refresh, and ID tokens, and retains the registration label and identity mapping. A refresh-uncertain session remains unconfirmed even if OpenAI returns HTTP 200, because the token family may have rotated beyond the known record. Otherwise, the result says whether remote revocation was confirmed. If unconfirmed, disconnect Relmio in ChatGPT settings. Local cleanup does not prove provider revocation or deletion of provider-side data.

Can I use SuperGrok or a local model?

The experimental SuperGrok adapter keeps its official xAI/Grok session separate from ChatGPT. It uses Chat Completions, a separate local Relmio bearer, and no xAI API key. n8n uses Use Responses API off for that connection. Authentication and quota errors do not select another account or fall back to API billing.

Relmio can also run one CPU-based Ollama model beside existing self-hosted n8n. The model API has no authentication and is reachable by containers on the selected private Docker network, so trust those peers. Image and model downloads need internet access. This workflow Chat Model is separate from n8n AI Assistant sandbox setup and does not establish reliable tool calling. See Private local models.

Can I use my Claude plan in the wizard?

Yes, as an experiment, for text workflows in your own n8n. Since Relmio 0.24.0 the browser wizard can set up a private Claude Code companion on a VPS (Claude on my server) or in local Docker (Claude for n8n, macOS or Linux only). Native n8n and the advanced Docker path use the relmio claude commands. n8n needs a Basic LLM Chain with an OpenAI Chat Model: Use Responses API off, Max Retries 0, Timeout at least 135000 ms, Batch Size 1. There are no AI Agent tools, no n8n AI Assistant and no Fable. The local wizard passed an owner-run live test on 2026-11-05. VPS discovery also passed; VPS install, replace, renew, sign-out and removal have not been run live. See Claude subscription.

Relmio never reads, copies or transmits your Claude login, and the wizard never handles the paste code. You sign in in your own terminal, with ssh -t root@<host> sh /docker/n8n-openai-oauth/claude/login.sh on a VPS or relmio claude companion login on this computer. The official Claude Code keeps the login in a Docker volume on that host, so root, Docker administrators and backups can read it.

Check sign-in is different: it runs claude auth status --json in the companion. The raw output can hold more than three fields and reaches Relmio's local server (over SSH for a VPS). Relmio forwards only loggedIn, authMethod and subscriptionType to the browser and does not store or log the rest. The one-time Relmio key the wizard shows is not a Claude or OpenAI key; the server keeps only its SHA256, and n8n stores the key you enter.

Is the Claude route approved by Anthropic?

No, and whether it is permitted is unresolved. Anthropic's Agent SDK quickstart says that, unless previously approved, third-party developers may not offer Claude.ai login or rate limits for their products. Relmio has no approval from Anthropic. Signing in through the official CLI in your own terminal avoids a paste-code relay, but the wizard still offers a Claude setup path, and that relates to the restriction. Use it only for your own personal work, with extra usage turned off in your Claude account. It may stop working or be disallowed. Plan limits are shared with other Claude surfaces, and Relmio cannot see your remaining allowance. For AI Agent tool workflows, use n8n's Anthropic Chat Model with a Console API key instead.