diff --git a/services/llm-gateway/src/llm_gateway/dependencies.py b/services/llm-gateway/src/llm_gateway/dependencies.py
index 904c42e5e767..3f52b1d61cde 100644
--- a/services/llm-gateway/src/llm_gateway/dependencies.py
+++ b/services/llm-gateway/src/llm_gateway/dependencies.py
@@ -233,7 +233,16 @@ async def enforce_throttles(
             team_id=user.team_id,
             product=product,
         )
-        raise HTTPException(status_code=status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN, detail=model_error)
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=status.HTTP_403_FORBIDDEN,
+            detail={
+                "error": {
+                    "message": f"{model_error} (rate_limit)",
+                    "type": "permission_error",
+                    "code": "model_gate",
+                }
+            },
+        )
 
     context = ThrottleContext(
         user=user,
@@ -262,11 +271,16 @@ async def enforce_throttles(
             status_code=result.status_code,
         )
         headers = {"Retry-After": str(result.retry_after)} if result.retry_after is not None else None
+        reason = result.detail
+        message = (
+            f"Rate limit exceeded: {reason}" if reason and reason != "Rate limit exceeded" else "Rate limit exceeded"
+        )
         detail = {
             "error": {
-                "message": "Rate limit exceeded",
+                "message": message,
                 "type": "rate_limit_error",
-                "reason": result.detail,
+                "reason": reason,
+                **({"code": result.scope} if result.scope else {}),
             }
         }
         raise HTTPException(status_code=result.status_code, detail=detail, headers=headers)
diff --git a/services/llm-gateway/tests/test_dependencies.py b/services/llm-gateway/tests/test_dependencies.py
index 5b94aa8bbefd..9285ab804a5b 100644
--- a/services/llm-gateway/tests/test_dependencies.py
+++ b/services/llm-gateway/tests/test_dependencies.py
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ async def test_multipart_transcription_model_is_gated(self, monkeypatch: pytest.
                     await enforce_throttles(request=request, user=user, runner=runner)
 
             assert exc_info.value.status_code == 403
-            assert "gpt-4o-transcribe" in exc_info.value.detail
+            assert "gpt-4o-transcribe" in exc_info.value.detail["error"]["message"]
         finally:
             get_settings.cache_clear()
 
@@ -370,7 +370,13 @@ async def test_gated_model_is_rejected_on_the_enforcement_path(self, monkeypatch
                     await enforce_throttles(request=request, user=user, runner=runner)
 
             assert exc_info.value.status_code == 403
-            assert "claude-fable-5" in exc_info.value.detail
+            error = exc_info.value.detail["error"]
+            assert "claude-fable-5" in error["message"]
+            assert error["code"] == "model_gate"
+            # Legacy PostHog Code clients route errors by substring; the
+            # "(rate_limit)" suffix sends this 403 to their usage-limit modal
+            # instead of their fatal-session teardown path.
+            assert error["message"].endswith("(rate_limit)")
         finally:
             get_settings.cache_clear()
 
diff --git a/services/llm-gateway/tests/test_rate_limiting.py b/services/llm-gateway/tests/test_rate_limiting.py
index 35a2dfb33a89..5e7353feabed 100644
--- a/services/llm-gateway/tests/test_rate_limiting.py
+++ b/services/llm-gateway/tests/test_rate_limiting.py
@@ -244,10 +244,65 @@ async def allow_request(self, context: ThrottleContext) -> ThrottleResult:
 
             assert response.status_code == 429
             assert response.headers["retry-after"] == "3600"
+            # The reason is repeated in the message (SDK error strings often
+            # surface only error.message) and the throttle scope rides along as
+            # a machine-readable code.
             assert response.json() == {
                 "error": {
-                    "message": "Rate limit exceeded",
+                    "message": "Rate limit exceeded: Product rate limit exceeded",
                     "type": "rate_limit_error",
                     "reason": "Product rate limit exceeded",
+                    "code": "test_throttle",
                 }
             }
+
+
+class TestFreeTierModelGateErrorBody:
+    def test_gate_403_wire_body_carries_code_and_legacy_shim(
+        self, mock_db_pool: MagicMock, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+    ) -> None:
+        """Pins the gate 403's wire shape end-to-end (raise site + exception-handler
+        unwrap): a top-level error envelope, never FastAPI's {"detail": ...} nesting.
+        Pre-cutover PostHog Code clients route this 403 by the "(rate_limit)"
+        substring in the message and newer clients read the code — a regression in
+        either strands installed builds in fatal-session teardown."""
+        from llm_gateway.auth.models import AuthenticatedUser
+        from llm_gateway.config import get_settings
+        from llm_gateway.dependencies import get_authenticated_user
+        from llm_gateway.products.config import POSTHOG_CODE_US_APP_ID
+
+        monkeypatch.setenv("LLM_GATEWAY_POSTHOG_CODE_MODEL_GATE_ENABLED", "true")
+        get_settings.cache_clear()
+        try:
+            app = create_test_app(mock_db_pool)
+            # OAuth caller on the Code app whose org isn't billed for Code usage
+            # (the conftest quota resolver reports code_usage_billing_active=False).
+            app.dependency_overrides[get_authenticated_user] = lambda: AuthenticatedUser(
+                user_id=7,
+                team_id=1,
+                auth_method="oauth_access_token",
+                distinct_id="unbilled-user",
+                scopes=["*"],
+                application_id=POSTHOG_CODE_US_APP_ID,
+            )
+
+            with TestClient(app) as client:
+                response = client.post(
+                    "/posthog_code/v1/messages",
+                    json={
+                        "model": "claude-fable-5",
+                        "max_tokens": 16,
+                        "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hi"}],
+                    },
+                )
+
+            assert response.status_code == 403
+            body = response.json()
+            assert "detail" not in body
+            error = body["error"]
+            assert error["type"] == "permission_error"
+            assert error["code"] == "model_gate"
+            assert "claude-fable-5" in error["message"]
+            assert error["message"].endswith("(rate_limit)")
+        finally:
+            get_settings.cache_clear()