API
OpenAI
OpenAI is removing the dated GPT-5 and o3 model snapshots — gpt-5-2025-08-07, gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07, gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07, gpt-5-pro-2025-10-06, o3-2025-04-16 and o3-pro-2025-06-10 — from the API on 11 December 2026, directing developers to the gpt-5.6 family
departs 11 Dec 2026
Quick answers
- Is it true that OpenAI removes the GPT-5 and o3 snapshots gpt-5-2025-08-07, o3-2025-04-16 and o3-pro-2025-06-10 from the API on 11 December 2026?
- Yes. OpenAI has officially announced it, effective 11 Dec 2026. On 11 December 2026, a request that pins any of these dated GPT-5 or o3 snapshots by id stops working.
- When does it take effect?
- 11 Dec 2026. Verified against the vendor's own announcement.
- What should I use instead?
- Before 11 December 2026, grep your codebase, environment files, notebooks and eval/CI configs for the six exact snapshot ids and repoint them.
What this means for you
On 11 December 2026, a request that pins any of these dated GPT-5 or o3 snapshots by id stops working. OpenAI's [deprecations page](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/deprecations) records that *"on June 11, 2026, we notified developers using older GPT-5 and o3 model snapshots of their deprecation and removal from the API on December 11, 2026,"* and lists six ids against that single shutdown date: **gpt-5-2025-08-07**, **gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07**, **gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07**, **gpt-5-pro-2025-10-06**, **o3-2025-04-16** and **o3-pro-2025-06-10**. The catch is the difference between an alias and a snapshot. If your code calls the unversioned `gpt-5`, `gpt-5-mini`, `gpt-5-nano` or `o3` alias, OpenAI keeps repointing it to a current model and nothing breaks on the date. What breaks is code that pins the *specific dated snapshot* — the exact string `gpt-5-2025-08-07` or `o3-pro-2025-06-10` — which teams do deliberately for reproducibility: eval harnesses, regression suites, cached prompt configs, batch jobs, and anything that hardcodes a snapshot so results do not shift under it. Those requests return an error after 11 December 2026 rather than a completion. This is the same rolling schedule that removes the older GPT-4/GPT-3.5/o1/o3-mini batch on 23 October 2026 and the legacy audio, realtime and transcription models into 2027 — this wave is specifically the current-generation GPT-5 and o3 dated snapshots.
Where to go
Before 11 December 2026, grep your codebase, environment files, notebooks and eval/CI configs for the six exact snapshot ids and repoint them. OpenAI's named per-model replacements are the **gpt-5.6** family: `gpt-5-2025-08-07` → **gpt-5.6-sol**, `gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07` → **gpt-5.6-terra**, `gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07` → **gpt-5.6-luna**, `gpt-5-pro-2025-10-06` → **gpt-5.6-sol** (with `reasoning.mode: pro`), `o3-2025-04-16` → **gpt-5.6-sol**, and `o3-pro-2025-06-10` → **gpt-5.6-sol** (with `reasoning.mode: pro`). Search for the literal dated strings, not the bare `gpt-5`/`o3` aliases — an alias call is already on a supported model, and it is the pinned snapshot that is the exposure. Because a swapped model can change output shape, latency and cost, treat this as a change to test: re-run your evals against the replacement before the date rather than discovering the difference in production on 11 December. If reproducibility is the reason you pinned the snapshot in the first place, re-baseline your golden outputs against the gpt-5.6 replacement as part of the switch.
- gpt-5.6-sol — replacement for gpt-5-2025-08-07, gpt-5-pro-2025-10-06 (reasoning.mode: pro), o3-2025-04-16 and o3-pro-2025-06-10 (reasoning.mode: pro)
- gpt-5.6-terra — replacement for gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
- gpt-5.6-luna — replacement for gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07
OpenAI runs a rolling deprecation schedule, and this wave is aimed squarely at the current generation. On its deprecations page, OpenAI states that on 11 June 2026 it notified developers using older GPT-5 and o3 model snapshots that they would be removed from the API on 11 December 2026. Six dated snapshots are on the list, each with a named replacement in the gpt-5.6 family:
gpt-5-2025-08-07→gpt-5.6-solgpt-5-mini-2025-08-07→gpt-5.6-terragpt-5-nano-2025-08-07→gpt-5.6-lunagpt-5-pro-2025-10-06→gpt-5.6-sol(withreasoning.mode: pro)o3-2025-04-16→gpt-5.6-solo3-pro-2025-06-10→gpt-5.6-sol(withreasoning.mode: pro)
The important nuance is alias versus snapshot. Calling the plain gpt-5 or o3 model name means OpenAI keeps you on a current model automatically, and nothing about this date affects you. The exposure is the opposite habit — pinning the exact dated snapshot so your outputs stay reproducible. That is exactly where a removal hurts, because the pin is usually buried in an eval harness, a regression baseline, a batch pipeline, or a config file nobody has opened since they set it. After 11 December 2026 those calls return an error instead of a completion.
Because this is a model swap and not a hostname change, the safe move is to re-point the pinned ids to the gpt-5.6 replacement and re-run your evals against it before the date — output shape, latency and cost can all shift when the underlying model changes. If you pinned the snapshot precisely to keep results stable, plan to re-baseline your golden outputs as part of the migration rather than discovering the drift in production.
This is one wave of a longer schedule: OpenAI removes the older GPT-4, GPT-3.5 Turbo, o1 and o3-mini batch on 23 October 2026, and older audio, realtime and transcription models on into 2027. If you pin OpenAI model ids anywhere, it is worth reading the deprecations page top to bottom once rather than reacting one date at a time.
Entry changelog
- — last reviewed.
- — Entry created from OpenAI's official API deprecations page, which records the 11 June 2026 notification and the single 11 December 2026 shutdown date for the six GPT-5 and o3 dated snapshots (gpt-5-2025-08-07, gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07, gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07, gpt-5-pro-2025-10-06, o3-2025-04-16, o3-pro-2025-06-10) and names the gpt-5.6 replacement family per model. detect fingerprints are the six exact dated snapshot ids — OpenAI-exclusive model names called against OpenAI's own API, so a text match is a true signal. Deliberately omitted: the bare `gpt-5`/`gpt-5-mini`/`gpt-5-nano`/`o3` aliases (they resolve to supported models and are not part of this removal), and the `gpt-5.6-sol`/`gpt-5.6-terra`/`gpt-5.6-luna` replacements (never fingerprint what is arriving). This wave is separate from the 23 October 2026 GPT-4/GPT-3.5/o1/o3-mini removal, which has its own entry.
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