[BUG] Usage draining

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

My 5-hour session limit filled up twice while I wasn't using any Claude product, and my weekly usage went up both times.

Timeline (Oct 15, 2026, EDT / UTC-4), from local transcripts in ~/.claude/projects/:

| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| ~00:04 | Hit 5-hour limit during normal use |
| 00:23 | Last assistant reply with non-zero output_tokens (all sessions) |
| ~05:00 | Window should have reset |
| ~11:00 | Logged on, limit already at 100% |
| 11:51 | Request returned "You've hit your session limit · resets 4pm", 0 tokens |
| ~19:00 | Logged on, limit full again |
| 19:42 | Request returned "You've hit your session limit · resets 9pm", 0 tokens |

A reset time of 4pm means a new window opened around 11am, and a reset time of 9pm means another opened around 4pm. Both windows filled with no usage. Weekly usage rose to 94% over the same period.

What I ruled out:

• I scanned every transcript in every project folder. There were no assistant replies with tokens between 00:23 and 21:00, and the only entries were the limit errors above.
• No scheduled tasks, cron jobs or loops were set up.
• No sessions were running (all idle).
• claude.ai web, desktop chat and mobile had no conversations in those hours.

What Should Happen?

An idle account should not use up its 5-hour or weekly limit. After the limit is hit, the 5-hour window should reset about 5 hours later and stay unused until I send a request.

Error Messages/Logs

2026-10-15T15:51:10Z  isApiErrorMessage: true  output_tokens: 0  "You've hit your session limit · resets 4pm (America/New_York)"
2026-10-15T15:51:14Z  isApiErrorMessage: true  output_tokens: 0  "You've hit your session limit · resets 4pm (America/New_York)"
2026-10-15T23:42:00Z  isApiErrorMessage: true  output_tokens: 0  "You've hit your session limit · resets 9pm (America/New_York)"
Last assistant entry with output_tokens > 0 before these: 2026-10-15T04:23:30Z

Steps to Reproduce

I haven't been able to reproduce this on demand. Here's what happened:

1. Use Claude Code (desktop app) on a Pro plan until the 5-hour session limit is hit.
2. Stop all use: close nothing in particular, but send no further requests from any Claude product.
3. Come back 10+ hours later and check usage. The 5-hour limit shows 100% again and weekly usage has increased.
4. Send any request. It's rejected with "You've hit your session limit," with a reset time that implies a new window opened while idle.
5. The same thing happened again in the next window that day.

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.299

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

• Plan: Pro. I have an open support case about this but haven't had a substantive response yet.
• I can share a redacted transcript analysis (per-hour token counts across all sessions) if the team wants it.
• Several sessions were left open but idle in the desktop app's sidebar during the affected period.