Excessive weekly usage limit consumption (71% in 2 prompts)

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 weekly usage limit jumped from 13% to 84% after just 2 prompts discussing the usage limit itself. The conversation was minimal (no code generation, no file operations, just talking about quota usage), yet it consumed 71% of my weekly limit in ~30 minutes.

What Should Happen?

What Actually Happened

1. I noticed my usage limit has been filling up faster recently
2. I asked Claude Code about why my limit went from 13% to 84%
3. We only discussed the usage limit problem itself - no coding, no file reads, minimal conversation
4. After this short discussion, the weekly limit was completely exhausted

This is ironic: Talking about high usage caused the highest usage spike yet.

## Steps to Reproduce

1. Start new session on 2025-11-22 (daily limit just reset)
2. Send 2 short prompts asking about usage limit consumption
3. Check usage: Weekly limit increased by 71% in ~30 minutes
4. No code generation, no file operations, no agents launched intentionally

## Expected Behavior

• A brief conversation about usage limits should consume minimal tokens
• Maybe 2-5% of daily limit for 2 simple prompts
• Weekly limit should reflect accumulated daily usage

## Actual Behavior

• Weekly limit: 13% → 84% (71% increase)
• Daily limit: Still has capacity (not full) ⚠ This is the red flag
• Conversation content: Just discussing the usage limit issue
• Session duration: ~30 minutes
• Number of prompts: 2

Mathematical impossibility: How can weekly limit be 84% full when daily limit is not exhausted?

## Environment

• Platform: Linux (Nobara FC42, Kernel 6.17.4)
• Claude Code Version: [Latest as of 2025-11-22]
• Model: Claude Sonnet 4.5
• Working Directory: /run/media/sxc/Volume/Projekte/Server/WerkstattDashboard/
• Project Context: ~15KB CLAUDE.md file loaded
• Subscription: Pro

## Conversation Context
The prompts were:

1. Asking why usage limit jumped from 13% to 84% in one session
2. Expressing frustration about weekly limit being full after 30 minutes of work

No coding tasks, no file operations, no complex queries - just a discussion about usage.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start new session on 2025-11-22 (daily and week limit just reset)
2. Send 2 short prompts asking about usage limit consumption
3. Check usage: Weekly limit increased by 71% in ~30 minutes
4. No code generation, no file operations, no agents launched intentionally

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude Code v2.0.50

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Other Linux

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

## Additional Context

• CLAUDE.md file is ~12,000 words (loaded as project context)
• No agents were intentionally launched (didn't check /tasks yet)
• Interleaved thinking mode is enabled
• This was my first session after daily quota reset on 2025-11-22

## Possible Causes

1. Token counting bug: Project context being counted multiple times per prompt?
2. Background agents: Agents spawned without user knowledge consuming quota?
3. Thinking tokens: Internal thinking tokens being miscalculated?
4. Weekly vs daily limit logic: Quota buckets are desynchronized?
5. Context reloading bug: CLAUDE.md being reloaded repeatedly?

## Impact

• Severity: Critical (tool becomes completely unusable)
• User Impact: Weekly quota exhausted in single 30-minute session with minimal conversation
• Workaround: None found - even removing project context doesn't explain the discrepancy
• Business Impact: Forces users to consider switching to alternative tools