>>> claude code usage limits, checked Claude Code Usage. Before The Limit Finds You

// Ways to check //

Five Ways To Check Claude Code Usage

Claude Code usage limits come in two windows on Pro and Max: a rolling 5-hour window that starts with your first message, and a weekly one. Claude Code, claude.ai and Claude Desktop all spend from the same pot. Here's where you can read how much is left, and what each way is good for.

// A Claude Code usage status line · 5 minutes //

Your Limits, Always On Screen

The status line gets rate_limits.five_hour and rate_limits.seven_day, each with used_percentage and resets_at (Unix seconds). This setup shows them in Claude Code and saves them to one file, so tmux, or anything else, can show them too. It already handles the traps below. You need jq.

1. 01

   Save the Claude Code status line script

   Put it in ~/bin/claude-usage.sh. Already have a status line? Paste its command into PREV and it keeps working, with your usage added underneath.

   #!/bin/sh
   # ~/bin/claude-usage.sh: a Claude Code status line that shows your plan usage
   # and saves it where tmux (or anything else) can read it.
   input=$(cat)
   cache="$HOME/.cache/claude-usage.json"
   now=$(date +%s)
   mkdir -p "${cache%/*}"
   [ -s "$cache" ] || echo '{}' >"$cache"
   
   # Merge this reading into the saved one. A window Claude left out keeps its
   # last figure, unless that window's reset time has already passed.
   printf '%s' "$input" | jq -c --slurpfile old "$cache" --argjson now "$now" '
     def pick(w): if .rate_limits[w] then .rate_limits[w]
                  elif (($old[0][w].resets_at // 0) > $now) then $old[0][w]
                  else null end;
     if .rate_limits then {ts: $now, five_hour: pick("five_hour"), seven_day: pick("seven_day")}
     else $old[0] end' >"$cache.tmp" && mv "$cache.tmp" "$cache"
   
   usage=$(jq -r --argjson now "$now" '
     def w(k; name): if (.[k].resets_at // 0) > $now
                     then "\(name) \(.[k].used_percentage | floor)%" else empty end;
     [w("five_hour"; "5h"), w("seven_day"; "7d")] | join(" · ")' "$cache")
   
   PREV=""   # your old statusLine command, if you had one
   if [ -n "$PREV" ]; then
     printf '%s' "$input" | sh -c "$PREV"
     [ -n "$usage" ] && echo "$usage"
   else
     model=$(printf '%s' "$input" | jq -r '.model.display_name // "Claude"')
     echo "[$model]${usage:+ $usage}"
   fi

   you@server: ~/app

   ⏺ Updated 3 files

   › _

   [Opus] 5h 23% · 7d 41%

2. 02

   Point Claude Code at it

   In ~/.claude/settings.json, merged with whatever's already there. The status line shows up after Claude's next reply; rate_limits doesn't exist before the first one.

   {
     "statusLine": {
       "type": "command",
       "command": "sh ~/bin/claude-usage.sh"
     }
   }

3. 03

   Put it in tmux, with its age

   Save this as ~/bin/claude-usage-tmux.sh. It reads the saved file, hides a window whose reset time has passed, and says how old the reading is once it's older than two minutes.

   #!/bin/sh
   # ~/bin/claude-usage-tmux.sh: one short line for the tmux status bar.
   cache="$HOME/.cache/claude-usage.json"
   [ -s "$cache" ] || exit 0
   jq -r --argjson now "$(date +%s)" '
     def w(k; name): if (.[k].resets_at // 0) > $now
                      then "\(name) \(.[k].used_percentage | floor)%" else empty end;
     [w("five_hour"; "5h"), w("seven_day"; "7d")] as $parts
     | if ($parts | length) == 0 then empty
       else "claude " + ($parts | join(" ")) +
         (($now - .ts) as $age
          | if $age >= 3600 then " (\($age / 3600 | floor)h old)"
            elif $age >= 120 then " (\($age / 60 | floor)m old)" else "" end)
       end' "$cache"

   Then in ~/.tmux.conf, and tmux source ~/.tmux.conf:

   set -g status-interval 15
   set -g status-right-length 60
   set -g status-right "#(sh ~/bin/claude-usage-tmux.sh) "

   you@server: ~

   $ tmux source ~/.tmux.conf

   (Claude went quiet ten minutes ago…)

   [agents] 0:claude*claude 5h 23% 7d 41% (10m old)

// The traps //

Four Ways Your Usage Figure Lies

We hit every one of these putting Claude usage on a phone screen, where a wrong number is worse than none. Most usage status lines online fall into the first two.