What to do when you hit the Codex or Claude usage limit
Updated 2026-10-13
Hitting a usage limit mid-task is annoying regardless of which product you're on. None of this changes how the limit works — it's just a checklist for what to do about it right now.
Global-reset totals via whenreset.app as of the latest build: Codex has 56 recorded global resets (last on 2026-10-26), plus 8 banked credits not counted in that cadence; Claude has 14 recorded global resets (last on 2026-10-21), plus 1 banked credit not counted in that cadence. These numbers are pulled fresh at build time, not typed into this guide by hand.
Confirm it's actually the limit
Before assuming you're capped, check /status (Codex) or /usage / Settings > Usage (Claude) directly — an error that looks like a limit hit is sometimes something else, like a network issue or a wider outage. Ruling that out first saves you from planning around a limit that was never actually the problem.
See how close the next reset actually is
Check the Codex or Claude history page for time since the last reset and the current “Typical gap” figure, or use the reset-odds tool for a same-page probability estimate over the next 24 hours, 48 hours, or 7 days. None of this is a schedule — it's a frequency estimate based on what's actually been recorded — but it's a better anchor than guessing.
Reprioritize what's left of your budget
If you're waiting on a reset, put whatever headroom you do have toward the highest-value task rather than spreading it thin. A well-scoped prompt gets more done per unit of usage than a vague one — the prompt library has ready-to-copy prompts for common tasks (cleanup, audits, test coverage, and more) built to make each remaining run count.
Set a low-effort way to notice the reset
Frequently asked questions
What is a usage limit?
A usage limit is the cap on how much you can use Codex or Claude inside a rolling window. Both subscriptions have a rolling 5-hour limit and a weekly limit. Separately, the vendor sometimes clears everyone's usage at once; those announced resets are what this site tracks.
Will switching accounts get around the limit?
This site doesn't have guidance on account-management workarounds — check each vendor's own terms of service before doing anything along those lines.
Does upgrading my plan reset the limit immediately?
That depends on the vendor's own billing and plan-change behavior, which this site doesn't track. Check the account or billing settings inside the product itself, since it can vary by case.
How do I know if a reset already happened while I wasn't looking?
Check the relevant product's history page, its Atom feed, or the JSON API — all three reflect exactly what's been recorded, updated as new announcements come in.
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