How to Check Claude Code Usage and Limits

Run /usage inside Claude Code. On a subscription it shows plan usage bars, activity stats and a usage breakdown; with an API key it shows the session’s token usage and an estimated cost. For a permanent view, Tegaro shows the same windows in the menu bar with their reset times.

Claude Code counts usage against windows, and hitting one stops your session until it resets. The built-in command answers the question in a few seconds; the rest of this guide covers what the numbers mean.

1. Run /usage in Claude Code

Anthropic’s documentation describes /usage as the place to look. For Pro and Max subscribers, the screen shows plan usage bars, activity stats and a usage breakdown. The Session block at the top shows token usage for the current session and is meant for API users, because subscription usage is included in the plan.

2. If the bars say “last-known usage”

When the request for your plan limits fails, most often because the usage endpoint is rate limited, /usage shows the last bars it loaded on this machine within the past 60 minutes and says how old they are. Press r to retry.

3. Understand the windows

Claude reports a rolling five-hour window and a seven-day window. On some plans there are also separate seven-day windows for particular models. The bar shows how much is used; the reset time tells you when you are allowed to continue. Read both together.

4. API key or subscription?

With an API key, you pay per token. The dollar figure in the Session block is computed locally from token counts and list prices, so treat it as an estimate and use the Usage page in the Claude Console for billing.

5. Tools that read your logs

Community tools such as ccusage read local session logs to report token spend by day and project. That answers “how much did I use”, a different question from “how much of my window is left”. See Tegaro vs ccusage for the difference.

Where Tegaro fits

Tegaro AI usage shows the Claude windows next to Codex in the menu bar.

• The 5-hour and weekly windows each show “N % left” and “resets in 42 min”. Separate model windows show when Anthropic reports them.
• It uses the sign-in Claude Code already saved on your Mac and sends it to Anthropic, not to Tegaro, to fetch the limits. Provider credentials are not sent to Tegaro.
• If you use the Claude desktop app without a Claude Code sign-in, it reads the desktop app’s own usage history on this Mac, with no network. The card then says “Desktop” with a time, a 5-hour reset reads “≈”, and the weekly window shows no reset time because that file has none.
• A quiet notice when a window passes 80 % (once per window) and when it resets. No permission prompt appears.
• “Task finished” notices for Claude Code tasks that ran a minute or longer.

AI usage stays free after the 14-day trial and can be turned off at any time.