[BUG] Excessive Token Consumption Preventing Work - Max Subscription Unable to Complete 2 Hours of Development

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?

As a Max subscriber, I'm experiencing extreme token consumption that prevents me from completing even 2 hours of work on a single application. The token usage has become unusually heavy in the past week, exhausting my quota much faster than before.

Expected Behavior:

• Max subscription should allow substantial development work throughout the day
• Token consumption should be reasonable for typical coding tasks

Actual Behavior:

• Cannot complete 2 hours of development work before hitting limits
• Total usage consumed very heavily compared to previous weeks
• Token burning appears excessive even for simple tasks

Impact:

• Unable to use Claude Code productively
• Workflow completely disrupted
• Max subscription benefits not accessible

What Should Happen?

It should serve me for 5 hours

Error Messages/Logs

- Subscription: Claude Max
- Time Period: Started approximately one week ago (early November 2025)
- Platform: macOS

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start a development session with Claude Code
2. Work on typical application development tasks
3. Observe token consumption rate
4. Hit usage limits within ~2 hours

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.0.36

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

This issue started suddenly about a week ago. Previously, Max subscription allowed full-day development. Now unable to work productively due to rapid quota exhaustion. Other users have reported similar issues in GitHub issues #2446 and #2745.

Request urgent investigation as this makes the Max subscription unusable for its intended purpose.