diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index b784f6b..118ee0f 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -4495,6 +4495,18 @@ function parseOutputCeiling(detail) {
 	return Number.isSafeInteger(ceiling) && ceiling > 0 ? ceiling : void 0;
 }
 /**
+* The gateway's cap on the request's JSON STRUCTURE: `JSON node count
+* cannot exceed 32768` (issue #96). A structural limit, not a token one —
+* a session heavy in messages, tool calls and images trips it while well
+* inside the context window, so it needs its own wording: reported as the
+* generic refusal, the one sentence naming the actual cap was dropped and
+* the user had no lever at all; reported as a context overflow, the
+* harness would compact tokens and resend a structure that still exceeds
+* the cap. The stated limit is captured because the gateway owns the
+* number and it can move.
+*/
+const JSON_NODE_LIMIT_REJECTION = /JSON node count cannot exceed\s+(\d+)/i;
+/**
 * Whether one rejection says "ZDR requested, no ZDR-capable upstream": the
 * provider spells the code `cmd_zdr_no_providers` in JSON error bodies and
 * `CMD_ZDR_NO_PROVIDERS` in plain-text ones (the official CLI's own
@@ -4635,6 +4647,8 @@ function generateHttpError(status, errText, retryAfterMs, parsed = parseProvider
 		return bilingual("PROVIDER_HTTP_ERROR", `Command Code API error ${status}: this request's max_tokens is not valid for this model` + (stated ? ` (${stated})` : "") + " — the session is not oversized, so compacting it will not help; lower \"Max output tokens\" or pick a model with a larger output ceiling", `Command Code API 返回 ${status}：本次请求的 max_tokens 对该模型不合法` + (stated ? `（${stated}）` : "") + "——会话内容并未超长，压缩上下文无效；请调低「最大输出 token」或改用输出上限更大的模型", { status });
 	}
 	if (status < 500 && isContextOverflowDetail(overflowDetail)) return bilingual(CONTEXT_WINDOW_EXCEEDED_CODE, `Command Code API error ${status}: the request exceeds the model's context window — this session is being compacted and the request retried`, `Command Code API 返回 ${status}：请求内容超出模型上下文窗口——正在压缩上下文后重试；如仍失败，请新建会话或减少上下文`, { status });
+	const nodeLimit = status < 500 ? JSON_NODE_LIMIT_REJECTION.exec(overflowDetail)?.[1] : void 0;
+	if (nodeLimit !== void 0) return bilingual("PROVIDER_HTTP_ERROR", `Command Code API error ${status}: the request exceeds the gateway's JSON node limit (node count cannot exceed ${nodeLimit}) — the cap is on the request's structure, not its token length, so compacting the session usually will not be enough; start a new session, or reduce the messages and images in this one`, `Command Code API 返回 ${status}：请求超过网关的 JSON 节点数上限（节点数不能超过 ${nodeLimit}）——限制的是请求结构，不是 token 长度，压缩上下文通常不足以降到该上限以内；请新建会话，或减少本会话中的消息与图片`, { status });
 	if (status === 422 && isZdrNoProviders(providerCode, providerDetail, errText)) return bilingual("PROVIDER_HTTP_ERROR", `Command Code API error 422 (${detail}): zero data retention is enforced but no ZDR-capable upstream is available for this model — turn the ZDR setting off (or use another model)`, "Command Code API 返回 422：已开启零数据保留（ZDR），但该模型当前没有可用的 ZDR 上游——请关闭 ZDR 开关，或改用其他模型", { status: 422 });
 	if (status === 401) return bilingual("INVALID_CREDENTIAL", `Command Code API error 401 (${detail}): the API key is missing or invalid — check the key stored for COMMANDCODE_API_KEY (Models page) or the auth file`, "Command Code API 返回 401：API 密钥缺失或无效——请在设置页检查 COMMANDCODE_API_KEY 存储的密钥，或检查 auth 文件", { status: 401 });
 	if (status === 413) return bilingual("PROVIDER_HTTP_ERROR", "Command Code API error 413: the request body exceeds the provider's size limit (the cap is undocumented, measured at about 50 MB) — the session history is too large to send, usually because of accumulated image attachments. Start a new session, or drop the image-heavy part of this one, and retry", "Command Code API 返回 413：请求体超过服务端的体积上限（官方未公开，实测约 50 MB）——会话历史过大，通常是历史图片累积所致。请新建会话，或移除本会话中图片较多的部分后重试", { status: 413 });
diff --git a/src/provider-errors.ts b/src/provider-errors.ts
index 0f660f8..a811474 100644
--- a/src/provider-errors.ts
+++ b/src/provider-errors.ts
@@ -78,6 +78,19 @@ export function parseOutputCeiling(detail: string): number | undefined {
   return Number.isSafeInteger(ceiling) && ceiling > 0 ? ceiling : undefined
 }
 
+/**
+ * The gateway's cap on the request's JSON STRUCTURE: `JSON node count
+ * cannot exceed 32768` (issue #96). A structural limit, not a token one —
+ * a session heavy in messages, tool calls and images trips it while well
+ * inside the context window, so it needs its own wording: reported as the
+ * generic refusal, the one sentence naming the actual cap was dropped and
+ * the user had no lever at all; reported as a context overflow, the
+ * harness would compact tokens and resend a structure that still exceeds
+ * the cap. The stated limit is captured because the gateway owns the
+ * number and it can move.
+ */
+const JSON_NODE_LIMIT_REJECTION = /JSON node count cannot exceed\s+(\d+)/i
+
 /**
  * Whether one rejection says "ZDR requested, no ZDR-capable upstream": the
  * provider spells the code `cmd_zdr_no_providers` in JSON error bodies and
@@ -367,6 +380,30 @@ export function generateHttpError(
       { status },
     )
   }
+  const nodeLimit = status < 500 ? JSON_NODE_LIMIT_REJECTION.exec(overflowDetail)?.[1] : undefined
+  if (nodeLimit !== undefined) {
+    // The gateway capped the request's JSON structure, not its token
+    // length (issue #96). Checked after the overflow branch — the wording
+    // matches neither overflow pattern, and conflating the two would send
+    // the harness to compact a session whose resent structure exceeds the
+    // same cap. Compaction is not called useless: it shrinks the message
+    // and part count, so the node count can fall below the cap — it just
+    // usually will not be enough on its own. Like the output-limit branch
+    // above, the advice is the only lever: fewer messages and images, or
+    // a new session. The raw upstream sentence itself stays unshown, per
+    // the display rule at the bottom of this function; only its stated
+    // limit is quoted.
+    return bilingual(
+      'PROVIDER_HTTP_ERROR',
+      `Command Code API error ${status}: the request exceeds the gateway's JSON node limit`
+      + ` (node count cannot exceed ${nodeLimit}) — the cap is on the request's structure,`
+      + ' not its token length, so compacting the session usually will not be enough; start'
+      + ' a new session, or reduce the messages and images in this one',
+      `Command Code API 返回 ${status}：请求超过网关的 JSON 节点数上限（节点数不能超过 ${nodeLimit}）`
+      + '——限制的是请求结构，不是 token 长度，压缩上下文通常不足以降到该上限以内；请新建会话，或减少本会话中的消息与图片',
+      { status },
+    )
+  }
   if (status === 422 && isZdrNoProviders(providerCode, providerDetail, errText)) {
     // Zero data retention refused (the `zdr` connection option is on): either
     // this model has no ZDR-capable upstream, or none had capacity at that
diff --git a/tests/adapter.test.ts b/tests/adapter.test.ts
index a4f65ef..1d82c5d 100644
--- a/tests/adapter.test.ts
+++ b/tests/adapter.test.ts
@@ -4508,6 +4508,19 @@ function ceilingRejection(status: number, message: string): Response {
   )
 }
 
+/**
+ * The shape issue #96's gateway actually sends: `error.message` is an escaped
+ * JSON string, so the sentence naming the cap only exists after one unwrap —
+ * in `ParsedProviderError.rawMessage`, not `message`. Reproduced verbatim so a
+ * regression in that unwrap path cannot hide behind a flat single-layer body.
+ */
+function nestedGatewayRejection(status: number, inner: Record<string, unknown>): Response {
+  return new Response(
+    JSON.stringify({ error: { message: `${JSON.stringify(inner)}\n`, type: 'invalid_request_error' } }),
+    { status },
+  )
+}
+
 test('an HTTP output-ceiling refusal retries once at the ceiling the endpoint names', async () => {
   const { adapter, model, sent, attempts } = ceilingProbeAdapter('claude-ceiling-http', (attempt) =>
     attempt === 0
@@ -4591,6 +4604,42 @@ test('a second output-ceiling refusal fails the turn and does not blame the cont
   assert.equal(attempts(), 2)
 })
 
+test('a JSON node-count refusal names the gateway structure cap, not a context overflow (issue #96)', async () => {
+  // The gateway refused the request's JSON STRUCTURE — too many nodes —
+  // while the session was well inside the token window. Before this branch
+  // the refusal fell through to the generic wording, which drops the
+  // upstream sentence entirely, so the one fact that names the actual cap
+  // never reached the user.
+  const { adapter, model, attempts } = ceilingProbeAdapter('claude-node-limit', () =>
+    // issue #96's real body, double-encoded: the cap sentence lives only in
+    // `rawMessage`, which is the path this branch has to see.
+    nestedGatewayRejection(400, {
+      message: 'Invalid request JSON: JSON node count cannot exceed 32768 trace_id: 266affc7ac3a831b5846bdafebff8372',
+      type: 'invalid_request_error',
+    }))
+  await assert.rejects(
+    collect(adapter.stream({ provider: 'commandcode', model, messages: [userMessage('hi')] })),
+    (error: unknown) => {
+      const message = (error as Error).message
+      assert.equal((error as { code?: string }).code, 'PROVIDER_HTTP_ERROR')
+      // The cap the gateway stated, so the user can tell this failure apart
+      // from both a token budget and the generic refusal it used to land in.
+      assert.match(message, /32768/u)
+      assert.match(message, /JSON node limit/u)
+      // Not a context overflow: compaction shrinks the message and part
+      // count, so it can help — but usually not enough on its own. The
+      // wording has to say both, calling neither the session oversized nor
+      // compaction a guaranteed fix.
+      assert.doesNotMatch(message, /context window|上下文窗口/u)
+      assert.match(message, /compacting the session usually will not be enough/u)
+      assert.match(message, /压缩上下文通常不足以降到该上限以内/u)
+      return true
+    },
+  )
+  // Permanent and request-scoped: no ceiling to learn, nothing to resend.
+  assert.equal(attempts(), 1)
+})
+
 test('a ceiling learned from a refusal is what the next turn sends', async () => {
   const { adapter, model, sent } = ceilingProbeAdapter('claude-ceiling-learned', (attempt) =>
     attempt === 0