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Use case

See how much of your Claude Code limit is left, without running /usage

Pairbar is a macOS app that shows how much of your Claude plan's usage limit is used, as a ring in the header of its sidebar over the Claude desktop app. The ring follows whichever of the 5-hour and weekly windows is fuller, turns orange at 50% and red at 80%, and opens a card with each window and when it resets. Pairbar normally reads the numbers from Claude Code's own status line, so it doesn't start claude to check. It works with Claude Code alone; if you use only Codex, you get Codex's ring instead, and both if you use both.

Last updated

42%Claude68%CodexOrange from 50%, red from 80%:whichever window is fuller.ClaudeCurrent session (5-hour)resets 16:40Weekly, all modelsresets Mon 09:00Codex5-hour windowresets 15:10Weekly windowresets Thu
The usage ring in the sidebar header with the limits card open: the 5-hour session window and the weekly windows, each with its reset time.

The problem

Claude's subscription plans cap use in two rolling windows: a five-hour session window and a weekly one, shared by claude.ai, Claude Code and the Claude desktop app (see Anthropic's help centre for your plan's details). You can run out of either first. Checking means opening the usage page in Claude's settings or typing /usage in a session, so most people find out they're close when a long task stops halfway.

How Pairbar solves it

  1. Look at the ring
    The ring in the sidebar header shows how much of your plan's tightest limit is used right now: whichever of the 5-hour and weekly windows is fuller. Orange from 50%, red from 80%.
  2. Hover or click it for the limits card
    The card shows the current session (5-hour) window, the weekly window for all models, and the weekly windows for specific models, each with its reset time.
  3. Install live status for Claude
    Settings → Integrations → Live status for Claude (hooks) → Install… also runs Claude Code's status line through Pairbar's small helper, which keeps the 5-hour and weekly percentages Claude Code hands it (on Pro and Max plans, after a session's first answer). Your own status line, if you have one, looks exactly the same. See Where the numbers come from.
  4. Let the context card warn you
    When a limit is low, the focused chat's context line shows a gauge, and its card's Now row says so ("Claude 12% left") once it's under 20%.
  5. Keep scheduled work from eating your plan
    Give a workflow Skip under N% (20% by default) and its scheduled runs are skipped when less than that is left. Run now skips the limit check; required startup answers must still be supplied.

Where the numbers come from, in order

SourceWhen it's usedCost
Claude Code's status lineafter you install live status for Claude; it runs in Claude Code in a terminalnothing: Claude Code hands over the numbers
The Claude app's own record of the 5-hour windowwhen you use the Claude desktop app, whose Code tab may not run the status line; weekly windows from an earlier reading stay until they resetnothing: it's on your Mac
claude -p /usageonly as a last resort, when neither has anything from the last 6 hours; at most every 15 minutesno chat turn, costs nothing

A reading counts as current for 15 minutes (a minute when you open the card). The status line doesn't carry the weekly limits for specific models, so the card keeps those from the last /usage reading until they reset. Pairbar never edits Claude's settings to read them; see Claude's settings stay yours.

Also on the card: this Mac

Under the plan limits, On this Mac shows the memory and CPU the Claude app and everything it started are using, like Activity Monitor, measured only while the card is open. See On this Mac.

If you use only Codex

The header shows a Codex ring instead, from the newest rate-limit report in Codex's local session files, and the card lists each of Codex's windows with reset times and your plan. Use both apps and you get two rings side by side, and Pairbar can suggest which app to start a chat in from the headroom left; see monitoring Claude and Codex limits together, and for the other cross-app extras, switching between Claude Code and Codex.

Without Pairbar

Without Pairbar:

  • Claude's usage page (Settings → Usage in the Claude app or on claude.ai) shows the current session and weekly usage.
  • /usage inside a Claude Code session prints the same numbers.
  • A custom status line in Claude Code can print usage in the terminal, while that terminal is open.

Frequently asked questions

Does checking my Claude Code limit use up my plan?
No. Normally Pairbar reads Claude Code's status line or the Claude app's own record and starts no claude at all. The last-resort claude -p /usage uses no chat turn and costs nothing.
Why doesn't the ring match the 5-hour number?
The ring shows the tightest limit: whichever of the 5-hour and weekly windows is fuller. The card shows each window separately.
Do I need the claude command-line tool?
Not for the 5-hour window when you use the Claude app: Pairbar reads the app's own record. The status line and the last-resort /usage come from Claude Code, and without any reading the card says so and links to install it.
I only use Codex. Does this work for me?
Yes, with Codex's numbers: the ring reads Codex's own local session files. Pairbar works with Claude Code alone, Codex alone, or both.

Related

Try Pairbar free for 7 days

One sidebar for the Claude and Codex desktop apps. Everything on for 7 days, no card needed; then $49/year ($39 first year with LAUNCH), $9/month or $129 lifetime (first 200 buyers). macOS 26 or later, Apple silicon.

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