When does Claude Code usage reset? The five-hour and weekly windows explained
Claude Code's session limit resets on a rolling five-hour window and the weekly limit at a fixed time per account. How to find your exact reset time.
- CLI
- 0.2.17
- Preview ref
- a2c45c8
TL;DR
Claude Code on a Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise seat has two limits, and they reset differently:
- The session limit resets on a rolling five-hour window. It isn't tied to the clock hour or to midnight, so your reset time moves from day to day.
- The weekly limit resets at a fixed day and time assigned to your account. Anthropic's help center says it stays the same regardless of when you started using Claude or when your subscription began.
To see your exact times, run /usage in Claude Code, or open Settings → Usage on claude.ai. The limit message itself names the time too, as in You've hit your session limit · resets 3:45pm.
The problem
You hit the limit mid-refactor, the message says it resets at 3:45pm, and the obvious questions follow. Is that the five-hour limit or the weekly one? Does switching models help? Does waiting five hours do anything if it's the weekly cap? And why did yesterday's reset happen at a different time?
The two windows run at the same time and count the same usage, which is where most of the confusion comes from.
How the two Claude usage windows work
From Anthropic's help center pages on usage limits, Pro and Max, read on 26 October 2026:
| Window | Resets | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Session limit | Every five hours, on a rolling window | All paid plans, and the free plan for chat |
| Weekly limit | A fixed day and time per account | Paid plans, across all models |
| Model limits | Shown in the message | Some plans have separate weekly limits for specific models, such as Fable on Max |
Three facts from the docs explain most of what people see:
- Every surface counts. Claude on the web, desktop and mobile, plus Claude Code in the terminal and IDE, draw from the same limits.
- Usage counts against both windows at once. Anthropic's error reference says a single burst of heavy activity, such as a large workflow fanout, can exhaust the weekly allowance before the session window resets.
- Anthropic can apply other caps. The plan pages say usage may also be limited in other ways, such as weekly and monthly caps or model and feature usage.
A common reading of "rolling" is that the five-hour clock starts with the first message after a reset. Anthropic's pages say "rolling five-hour session window" without spelling out the start point, so treat the time /usage shows as the source of truth.
Find your exact Claude Code reset time
In Claude Code
Run:
/usageOn a subscription, /usage shows plan usage bars for the session and weekly windows with their reset times. If the request for your plan limits is rate limited, it shows the last bars it loaded on this machine in the past hour with a Showing last-known usage note. Press r to retry.
In the limit message
When a window runs out, the message names which one and when it resets:
You've hit your session limit · resets 3:45pm
You've hit your weekly limit · resets Mon 12:00am
You've hit your Opus limit · resets 3:45pmBefore that, Claude Code can warn you with a line like You've used 85% of your session limit · resets 3:45pm.
On claude.ai
Open Settings → Usage. It shows the current session and your next weekly reset.
In a status line
The rate_limits object in a custom status line carries five_hour and seven_day windows, each with used_percentage and resets_at as a Unix timestamp. It's present for Pro and Max subscribers after the first API response. How to check Claude Code usage has a working script.
What each message means for waiting
- Session limit: waiting until the time shown restores access. Switching models doesn't help, because the session limit covers all models.
- Weekly limit: waiting five hours does nothing. Access returns at the weekly reset in the message.
- Opus or Sonnet limit: this one is per model family. Switching to a model outside that family with
/modelkeeps you working. The next request re-reads the whole conversation without cache hits, so it costs more than a normal turn. - A spend limit message: on a plan with usage credits, this means your credit spend reached the limit you or your admin set. It isn't the five-hour window.
Server is temporarily limiting requests: a server-side throttle. Anthropic's error reference says it isn't your plan quota.
Let Claude Code continue after the reset
On Claude Code v2.1.234 or later, an interactive session signed in with a claude.ai subscription can wait for the reset and continue on its own. Automatic continue is on by default. While it waits, the bottom of the session shows:
Usage limit reached · limit resets 3:45pm
Continuing automatically at 3:45pm · esc to cancelKeep the session open. At the reset, Claude Code prompts Claude to pick up where it stopped. It doesn't resend your last message. If the computer slept more than about 30 minutes and the limit reset during that time, it asks you to press Enter instead. Press Esc at an empty prompt to cancel, or use /rate-limit-options.
The continued turn still asks for permissions as usual, so a session can reset at 3:45pm and then sit on a prompt until you're back.
Following the reset from another device
The reset happens on Anthropic's side, and the session that's waiting for it lives on your computer. If you're away from that computer, the practical questions are when the limit clears and whether the session picked the work back up.
If you want to follow that from your phone, Happier is an open-source app that lets you run and orchestrate Claude Code, Codex and other agents cross-device, from your phone, desktop or the web.
What it does around a reset:
- A usage limit banner in the session. When a provider asks a session to wait, Happier shows Usage limit reached with the reset time it was given, and actions such as Resume when limit resets, Stop waiting and Check limit now.
- One reset time per account. Providers report several kinds of reset or cooldown time. Happier resolves them into one reset time per account in a pool, so the banner and the pool view agree.
- Notifications. Happier can notify you when a session is blocked on quota and when quota recovers. The toggles are under Settings → Notifications, in the Provider recovery section.
- Permission prompts reach the phone. If the continued turn stops on a prompt, you can answer it there. See approving Claude permissions from your phone.
What it doesn't do: Happier can't make a window reset sooner, and it can't continue work while the computer that runs the session is off. Setup is in Run Happier from your phone. It's on GitHub, you can download it here, and there's a Discord.
Common mistakes
- Waiting five hours on a weekly limit. Read which limit the message names first.
- Switching models on a session limit. It's shared across models, so the switch doesn't help. It does help for an Opus or Sonnet limit.
- Forgetting chat counts. A long claude.ai conversation uses the same limits as the terminal.
FAQ
What time does Claude Code usage reset?
There's no single time for everyone. The session window rolls every five hours and the weekly reset is fixed per account. /usage and Settings → Usage show yours.
Does the weekly limit reset on Monday?
Only if your account's assigned reset falls on Monday. Anthropic assigns a fixed day and time per account.
Does upgrading reset my limit?
Anthropic's help center says a new plan's limits apply right away when you upgrade.
Do Claude chat and Claude Code reset separately?
No. They share the same session and weekly limits, so they reset together.
Is there a Claude Code reset for API users?
API billing has no five-hour or weekly plan windows. It has rate limits and any spend limits set on the Console workspace.
Get Happier
Happier is an open-source app that lets you run and orchestrate Claude Code, Codex and other agents cross-device, from your phone, desktop or the web.