diff --git a/packages/ai/src/provider-error.ts b/packages/ai/src/provider-error.ts
index 722728c3a031..f6a436cfac53 100644
--- a/packages/ai/src/provider-error.ts
+++ b/packages/ai/src/provider-error.ts
@@ -140,7 +140,9 @@ const SERVER_CODES = new Set([
   "serviceunavailableexception",
 ])
 // `invalid_request` is the Vercel AI Gateway's code for an upstream request rejection.
+// xAI reports an undecodable image over WebSocket with no status as `invalid_image` under type `api_error`.
 const INVALID_REQUEST_CODES = new Set([
+  "invalid_image",
   "model_not_found",
   "invalid_prompt",
   "invalid_request",
@@ -290,8 +292,10 @@ export function classifyProviderFailure(input: ProviderFailure): AIError["reason
     // Server codes and phrasing only decide when no HTTP status contradicts them:
     // gateways such as OpenCode Zen substitute `server_error` for codes they do
     // not forward, so a 4xx with a server code is still a rejected request.
+    // A specific invalid-request code outranks a generic server code or phrase in the same body.
     ((input.status === undefined || input.status < 400) &&
-      ((!codes.some((code) => INVALID_REQUEST_CODES.has(code)) && SERVER_ERROR_TEXT.test(text)) ||
+      !codes.some((code) => INVALID_REQUEST_CODES.has(code)) &&
+      (SERVER_ERROR_TEXT.test(text) ||
         codes.some((code) => SERVER_CODES.has(code) || code.includes("exhausted") || code.includes("unavailable"))))
   )
     return new ProviderInternalError({
diff --git a/packages/ai/test/provider-error.test.ts b/packages/ai/test/provider-error.test.ts
index c325698cd591..e003fed24728 100644
--- a/packages/ai/test/provider-error.test.ts
+++ b/packages/ai/test/provider-error.test.ts
@@ -380,6 +380,21 @@ describe("provider error classification", () => {
     ).toBe("ProviderInternal")
   })
 
+  test("does not retry an xAI invalid image reported as api_error without a status", () => {
+    // Recorded from the xAI Responses WebSocket after sending a GIF.
+    const body = {
+      error: {
+        message:
+          "gRPC error: code: 'Client specified an invalid argument', message: \"Downloaded response does not contain a valid JPG, PNG, WebP, or ICO image.",
+        type: "api_error",
+        code: "invalid_image",
+      },
+    }
+    expect(classifyProviderFailure({ message: body.error.message, rawBody: JSON.stringify(body) })._tag).toBe(
+      "InvalidRequest",
+    )
+  })
+
   test("classifies nested provider codes when a top-level code is also present", () => {
     expect(
       [
diff --git a/packages/core/src/model-resolver.ts b/packages/core/src/model-resolver.ts
index ea8665a49bbf..542615f68190 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/model-resolver.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/model-resolver.ts
@@ -114,6 +114,8 @@ export interface Resolved {
   readonly ref: Ref
   /** Catalog capabilities used to shape requests before provider lowering. */
   readonly capabilities: Capabilities
+  /** Catalog model family; family-wide input limits apply however the model is served. */
+  readonly family?: Info["family"]
   /** Catalog pricing in dollars per million tokens. */
   readonly cost: Info["cost"]
   /** Catalog token limits used by Core for context management. */
@@ -388,6 +390,7 @@ export const layer = Layer.effect(
           ...(variant === undefined ? {} : { variant }),
         }),
         capabilities: selected.capabilities,
+        family: selected.family,
         cost: selected.cost,
         limit: selected.limit,
         compaction: runtimeInfo.settings?.compaction,
diff --git a/packages/core/src/session/model-request.ts b/packages/core/src/session/model-request.ts
index 5e25326bf7b8..0a1e16a9e983 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/session/model-request.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/session/model-request.ts
@@ -126,20 +126,27 @@ const mimeToModality = (mime: string) => {
   if (mime === "application/pdf") return "pdf"
 }
 
-// xAI rejects any other image type (e.g. GIF) with invalid_image, and the stored image would fail every later turn.
-const XAI_IMAGE_MIMES = new Set(["image/png", "image/jpeg", "image/webp"])
+// Grok rejects any other image type (e.g. GIF) with invalid_image, through xAI and through gateways such as
+// OpenCode Zen alike, and the stored image would fail every later turn.
+const GROK_IMAGE_MIMES = new Set(["image/png", "image/jpeg", "image/webp"])
+
+interface Served {
+  readonly provider?: string
+  readonly family?: string
+}
 
 const unsupportedMedia = (
   mime: string,
   name: string | undefined,
   capabilities: Model.Capabilities,
-  provider: string | undefined,
+  model: Served | undefined,
 ) => {
   const modality = mimeToModality(mime)
   if (!modality) return
+  const grok = model?.provider === "xai" || model?.family?.startsWith("grok") === true
   const unsupported = !capabilities.input.some((item) => item.startsWith(modality))
     ? modality
-    : provider === "xai" && modality === "image" && !XAI_IMAGE_MIMES.has(mime.toLowerCase())
+    : grok && modality === "image" && !GROK_IMAGE_MIMES.has(mime.toLowerCase())
       ? mime
       : undefined
   if (!unsupported) return
@@ -180,11 +187,8 @@ const replaceMedia = (
       : new Message({ ...message, content })
   })
 
-export const unsupportedParts = (
-  messages: LLMRequest["messages"],
-  capabilities: Model.Capabilities,
-  provider?: string,
-) => replaceMedia(messages, (media) => unsupportedMedia(media.mime, media.name, capabilities, provider))
+export const unsupportedParts = (messages: LLMRequest["messages"], capabilities: Model.Capabilities, model?: Served) =>
+  replaceMedia(messages, (media) => unsupportedMedia(media.mime, media.name, capabilities, model))
 
 export const boundImages = (messages: LLMRequest["messages"]) => {
   const isImage = (mime: string) => mime.toLowerCase().startsWith("image/")
@@ -294,7 +298,12 @@ export const layer = Layer.effect(
         // TODO: Persist cache lineage so nested forks reuse the root session's cache key.
         promptCacheKey: /^ses_[0-9a-f]{64}$/.test(affinity) ? affinity.slice(4) : affinity,
         system: shaped.system,
-        messages: boundImages(unsupportedParts(shaped.messages, model.capabilities, model.model.provider)),
+        messages: boundImages(
+          unsupportedParts(shaped.messages, model.capabilities, {
+            provider: model.model.provider,
+            family: model.family,
+          }),
+        ),
         tools: Array.from(hooked, ([name, t]) => ({ ...t, name })),
         toolChoice: input.toolChoice,
         generation: Object.keys(generation).length === 0 ? undefined : generation,
diff --git a/packages/core/test/session-model-request.test.ts b/packages/core/test/session-model-request.test.ts
index fb1837a5956e..c7512c7dd9bb 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/session-model-request.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/session-model-request.test.ts
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ describe("SessionModelRequest.unsupportedParts", () => {
     })
   })
 
-  test("replaces images xAI cannot decode and keeps png, jpeg and webp", () => {
+  test("replaces images Grok cannot decode and keeps png, jpeg and webp", () => {
     const image = (mime: string, name: string) => ({
       type: "media" as const,
       media: Media.base64("aGVsbG8=", mime),
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ describe("SessionModelRequest.unsupportedParts", () => {
         }),
       ),
     ]
-    const result = unsupportedParts(messages, capabilities(["text", "image"]), "xai")
+    const result = unsupportedParts(messages, capabilities(["text", "image"]), { provider: "xai" })
 
     expect(result[0]?.content).toEqual([
       ...user,
@@ -101,7 +101,15 @@ describe("SessionModelRequest.unsupportedParts", () => {
         ],
       },
     })
-    expect(unsupportedParts(messages, capabilities(["text", "image"]), "openai")).toEqual(messages)
+    expect(unsupportedParts(messages, capabilities(["text", "image"]), { provider: "openai" })).toEqual(messages)
+    // Gateways such as OpenCode Zen serve Grok under their own provider ID, and the upstream check still applies.
+    for (const family of ["grok", "grok-build"])
+      expect(unsupportedParts(messages, capabilities(["text", "image"]), { provider: "opencode", family })).toEqual(
+        result,
+      )
+    expect(
+      unsupportedParts(messages, capabilities(["text", "image"]), { provider: "opencode", family: "gpt" }),
+    ).toEqual(messages)
   })
 
   test("preserves supported media", () => {