GUIDE
Claude Code rate limits, explained
Claude Code enforces two separate limits at once - a 5-hour rolling window and a longer 7-day cap - and hitting either one stops your agent cold. Knowing which is which is the difference between pacing a big run and walking into a wall.
The 5-hour window
Claude Code counts your usage in a rolling five-hour block. The clock starts on your first message and, five hours later, that block resets. This is the limit most people meet: a heavy afternoon of autonomous runs can drain it well before the day is done. Because it rolls rather than resetting on the hour, the exact moment it frees up depends on when you started - which is easy to lose track of mid-flow.
The 7-day window
Sitting on top of that is a weekly cap measured over a rolling seven-day period. It exists to smooth out usage across a whole week, so a few very intense days can quietly eat into it even when each individual 5-hour block looked fine. You can be nowhere near your 5-hour limit and still be throttled because the 7-day one is nearly spent.
How to tell you’re near a limit
Claude Code will warn you as you approach a cap and refuse once you cross it, but by then the interruption has already happened - often halfway through a long agent run. The useful signal is the one you can read before you kick off: how much of each window is left right now. Both numbers live in your own Claude account; the trick is surfacing them without breaking your flow. See how to check Claude Code usage on Mac for the concrete steps.
How NapCat shows both, live
NapCat borrows Claude Code’s own login (with a Keychain prompt the first time) and fills your 5-hour and 7-day usage windows as two bars right in the notch. A glance tells you whether you have room for a 40-minute autonomous run or whether you’re about to start it into a wall. It reads your login locally, the check is optional, and one toggle turns it off - it is the only thing NapCat ever sends over the network.
Questions
What are the two Claude Code rate limits?
A rolling 5-hour window that resets five hours after your first message, and a rolling 7-day weekly cap that smooths usage across the week. You can hit either one independently.
Why did I hit a limit when my 5-hour window looked fine?
The 7-day weekly cap is separate. A few very heavy days can spend it even when each 5-hour block still had room, so Claude Code throttles you on the weekly limit instead.
How do I know when the 5-hour window resets?
It resets five hours after your first message in the block, so the reset time depends on when you started - not on the top of the hour. NapCat shows the live remaining amount so you don't have to track it yourself.
Does checking my usage send my data anywhere?
NapCat reads your existing Claude Code login locally to fill the usage bars. That optional usage check is the only network call it makes, and one toggle turns it off. There is no telemetry.
Related
Read how to check Claude Code usage on Mac, or see the full Claude Code support page.
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