Pin ai and @ai-sdk/* together: the version matrix that prevents protocol errors

TL;DR

Upgrade ai and every @ai-sdk/* package in the same commit. npm install ai@latest @ai-sdk/react@latest @ai-sdk/openai@latest @ai-sdk/otel@latest. After upgrading, run the codemods: npx @ai-sdk/codemod v7 (or v6/v5 if jumping from older).

Steps

1. AI SDK minor/major drift between ai and its satellite packages produces errors that look like your code is wrong: parse failures, type errors, missing exports.
2. The v7 line-up (verified on npm 2026-09-26):

• ai: 7.0.x
• @ai-sdk/react: 4.0.x (declares ai 7.0.x as a dependency)
• @ai-sdk/svelte: 5.0.x, @ai-sdk/vue: 4.0.x, @ai-sdk/angular: 3.0.x
• @ai-sdk/openai: 4.0.x, @ai-sdk/provider: 4.0.x, @ai-sdk/provider-utils: 5.0.x
• @ai-sdk/otel: pairs with ai 7 for telemetry

3. Rules:
4. Upgrade ai and every @ai-sdk/* package in the same commit. npm install ai@latest @ai-sdk/react@latest @ai-sdk/openai@latest @ai-sdk/otel@latest.
5. Never hand-pin one package to a different major than the rest. ai@7 with @ai-sdk/openai@3 is a broken combo; the LanguageModel spec version will mismatch and you get UnsupportedModelVersionError or Model is not assignable to type LanguageModelV1.
6. The framework UI packages have independent majors, so do not expect @ai-sdk/react@7 to exist. Read the peer/dependency, not the major number.
7. After upgrading, run the codemods: npx @ai-sdk/codemod v7 (or v6/v5 if jumping from older). Codemods cover renames; they do not cover semantic changes like prepareStep carry-forward, so read the migration guide for your jump.
8. Lockfiles are the source of truth. When a teammate reports a stream error you cannot reproduce, diff the lockfile first.
9. zod must be ^4.1.8+ alongside AI SDK 5+. An old zod with a new ai is a TypeScript performance and type-correctness hazard.

When to use

You are seeing this: AI SDK minor/major drift between ai and its satellite packages produces errors that look like your code is wrong: parse failures, type errors, missing exports. Use this skill when you run into "Pin ai and @ai-sdk/* together: the version matrix that prevents protocol errors".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

Versions mentioned in the source: 4.1.8. If you are on something much newer or older, the details may have shifted.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

Verified 2026-09-26 via npm registry metadata ai 7.0.116, @ai-sdk/react 4.0.119 (depends on ai 7.0.116), @ai-sdk/svelte 5.0.116, @ai-sdk/vue 4.0.116, @ai-sdk/openai 4.0.78, @ai-sdk/provider 4.0.18, @ai-sdk/provider-utils 5.0.49. The v7 migration guide documents npx @ai-sdk/codemod v7 and the codemod table; the troubleshooting index lists the LanguageModelV1 assignability and unsupported-model-version entries.