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Claude Code usage limits, explained

On a Claude subscription, Claude Code runs against two windows at once: a rolling five-hour session limit and a weekly limit, both shared with the Claude apps. Here is how they work, how to see where you stand, and your options when a limit stops you mid-task.

By the Dialagram team Updated 4 min read

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The two limits

Pro and Max plans each have a five-hour session limit and a weekly limit. Anthropic's help center is explicit that they are shared: all activity in Claude and Claude Code counts against the same limits. Max also has a separate weekly limit for Fable.

Max 5x and Max 20x give five and twenty times Pro's usage per five-hour session. On Team and Enterprise plans, each member draws on a per-seat allowance that resets on the same rolling five-hour and weekly windows; its size depends on the seat tier.

Anthropic does not publish a fixed number of prompts per window. How far a window goes depends on the model and on how much context each request carries.

How to check your usage

Run /usage in Claude Code. Subscribers see plan usage bars and a breakdown of what used them: skills, subagents, plugins and individual MCP servers, each as a share of the total, with recommendations for anything above 10%. Press d or w to switch between the last 24 hours and the last 7 days.

The breakdown is computed from session history on that machine, so usage from other devices or from claude.ai is not included. In the VS Code extension the same figures are in the Account & usage dialog.

What each limit message means

  • "You've hit your session limit" or "You've hit your weekly limit": the shared window is used up across all models, so switching models with /model will not help. The message shows when it resets
  • "You've hit your Opus limit" or "You've hit your Sonnet limit": a model-specific limit. Switching to a model outside that family keeps you working
  • A context or auto-compact warning is not a usage limit. The conversation is close to the point where Claude Code summarizes older history

Why usage runs out faster than you expect

Claude Code sends your full conversation with every request, and each round of tool calls sends another. A one-line question late in a long session still draws usage for the whole history. Anthropic's docs list the usual causes:

  • Long context that was never cleared between unrelated tasks
  • Cache misses: the first message after a break longer than the cache lifetime reprocesses the full context
  • Subagents and workflows, which send their own requests on top of the main conversation
  • Agent teams, which use roughly seven times the tokens of a standard session when teammates run in plan mode
  • Scheduled tasks and loops, which resend your context each time they fire
  • Compaction itself: /compact reads the whole conversation it summarizes, while /clear costs nothing

What to do when you hit the limit

  • Wait for the reset. From Claude Code v2.1.234, it can wait and continue the interrupted task automatically once the window resets
  • Turn on usage credits with /usage-credits to keep working past the limit, billed on top of your plan
  • Upgrade from Pro to Max 5x, or from Max 5x to Max 20x
  • Switch to a Claude Console account and pay API rates for an intensive stretch
  • Point Claude Code at another Anthropic-compatible provider for the rest of the window; see How to use DeepSeek in Claude Code

How to make your limits last longer

  • Run /clear between unrelated tasks, and /compact with a focus, such as /compact Focus on the failing tests, inside long ones
  • Use Sonnet for most work and save Opus for hard design and reasoning problems
  • Lower the effort level with /effort for routine edits
  • Keep CLAUDE.md short (Anthropic suggests under 200 lines) and move workflow instructions into skills, which load only when used
  • Disable MCP servers you are not using with /mcp, and prefer CLI tools such as gh
  • Send verbose work such as test runs and log reading to a subagent on a smaller model
  • Write specific prompts, and use plan mode before large changes

Frequently asked questions

When do Claude Code limits reset?

The session limit runs on a rolling five-hour window and the weekly limit on a weekly window. The limit message tells you the exact reset time.

Are Claude Code limits shared with claude.ai?

Yes. On Pro and Max, activity in Claude and Claude Code counts against the same five-hour and weekly limits.

Does switching models get around the limit?

Only for a model-specific limit, such as an Opus limit. Session and weekly limits apply across all models.

Can I use Max's monthly API credits in Claude Code?

No. Anthropic says the monthly API credits included with Max cannot be used in Claude Code or the Claude apps, including for usage credits.

Sources

Prices, limits and features were checked against these pages on 2026-10-29.