claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Bug] Anthropic API Error: Incorrect Usage Policy rejection for benign PDF debugging request [2 comments, 2 participants]

Claude wrongly rejected a benign request. We are writing a PDF viewer. The viewer has some minor bugs relating to link annotations. I described how these bugs manifest for a specific PDF file (wrong pointer shape, copy&paste does not work) and asked Claude to investigate. In response, after some thinking, I got: " API Error: Claude Code is unable to respond to this request, which appears to violate our Usage Policy". Even trying to think laterally, I cannot see how my request could be misconstrued as being problematic.

TL;DR

The issue may be resolved by rephrasing the request to Claude to better align with the Usage Policy, although the exact policy violation is unclear.

Guidance

• Review the Usage Policy to understand what types of requests are allowed and what might be considered a violation.
• Attempt to rephrase the request in a more general or abstract way to see if Claude can provide a response without triggering the policy violation error.
• If possible, try breaking down the request into smaller, more specific questions to avoid any potential misinterpretation.
• Consider reaching out to support or the Claude team for clarification on what specifically triggered the Usage Policy error.

Notes

The lack of explicit error details in the Errors section and the absence of a clear description of the Usage Policy violation limit the ability to provide a more precise solution.

Recommendation

Apply workaround: Rephrase the request to Claude to better align with the Usage Policy, as this is the most direct approach to potentially resolving the issue without additional information.