Check Codex and Claude Code limits (5-hour and weekly)

Why it's confusing

Claude Code and Codex subscriptions each run a 5-hour window and a weekly window side by side, and work stops at whichever fills first. You can have plenty of 5-hour room while the week is nearly gone, and with both tools that's four numbers to watch, each shown by a different command in a different place.

There has also been a run of reports of limits jumping in a short time: a Codex weekly limit rising 67 points in 38 seconds (openai/codex#54677, 40+ comments), one going from 24% to 96% in an hour with no activity (#54704), and Claude Code weekly and session limits draining faster than expected (anthropics/claude-code#100746). Only each company can say why, but checking often at least means you notice early.

Checking it yourself

Claude Code: open claude in a terminal and type /usage to see how much of the 5-hour and weekly limits you've used and when each resets. The JSON your status-line script receives carries the same numbers under rate_limits.

Codex: type /status in a session to see 5-hour and weekly usage with reset times. Codex also writes rate_limits into its session logs (rollout-*.jsonl under ~/.codex/sessions/) after every turn. See the latest with grep -h '"rate_limits"' "$(ls -t ~/.codex/sessions/*/*/*/rollout-*.jsonl | head -1)" | tail -1: inside primary and secondary, window_minutes 300 is the 5-hour window and 10080 the weekly one, used_percent is how much you've used, and resets_at is the reset time in Unix seconds.

Limits: the log holds the numbers from your last Codex turn, so if the 5-hour window has reset since, you're looking at an old value. On some plans, such as credit-based ones, primary and secondary are empty. The log format isn't a documented interface and can change with an update, and either way you only see it when you go and type a command.

Free and open source: Lidnight Limits

Lidnight Limits is a small free app that puts both of those in the menu bar (MIT, Developer ID signed and Apple notarized). For Claude Code and Codex it shows the higher of the 5-hour and weekly windows (e.g. ✳︎ 43% ◇ 31%), and the menu lists both windows with time to reset.

For Claude it runs the official CLI's /usage (no model call, so it doesn't use your limit; every 10 minutes and when you open the menu). For Codex it reads the session-log rate_limits above every minute, and if the 5-hour window has reset since your last turn it shows “reset” instead of the old number. Nothing leaves your Mac. Install: brew install --cask whereisdw/tap/lidnight-limits

With Lidnight: limits and sessions in one place

Lidnight reads the same numbers and shows Claude and Codex 5-hour and weekly limits as bars with reset times, alongside what each session is doing and which one is waiting for approval, in the same menu bar window. Limit display is free.

With Pro, it warns you when a limit is draining faster than usual and looks set to run out before it resets (for example, the 5-hour window climbing more than 12 points in 30 minutes), lets work that stopped at a limit pick up after the reset, and keeps going with the lid closed. All of it is in the 7-day trial. More on Claude Code limits and continuing after a reset