[BUG] Claude Opus 4 limit reached, now using Sonnet 4
Status Fixed / completed
Maintainer reply ✓ Yes — dicksontsai
Workaround ✓ Mentioned in thread ↓
Activity 9 comments · opened Jun 6, 2025 · closed Jun 9, 2025
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (dicksontsai, collaborator)
responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.
Environment
- Platform (select one):
- [ ] Anthropic API
- [ ] AWS Bedrock
- [ ] Google Vertex AI
- [ X] Other:MAX 100$
- Claude CLI version: 1.0.16 (Claude Code)
- Operating System: MacOS 15.5
- Terminal: iTerm2
Bug Description
Getting on the first request, already the limit reached message, was not like this before, happening since two days.
I am aware of limitations, but please, on first request in first session of the day ?
Steps to Reproduce
- Not that complicated task
2.no MCP's used
Expected Behavior
Would love to use opus 4 a little bit longer on a 100$ subscription
Actual Behavior
Claude Opus 4 limit reached, now using Sonnet 4
9 Comments
Can you share a screenshot (if possible) of when you saw the fallback and the output of
/status?While I'd say this is unexpected, there could be a variety of other factors based on input/output tokens, like what you include in CLAUDE.md, what files you read, what output you're having the model generate.
@dicksontsai @wysiecki
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⏺ Task(Analyze security warnings)
⎿ Done (10 tool uses · 37.1k tokens · 1m 33.7s)
⏺ Task(Check Ghost alignment)
⎿ Done (11 tool uses · 43.1k tokens · 3m 52.5s)
claude.md has 192 line: structured like this
!Image
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I hope this helps, didn't use today Claude app or browser with Opus, is strange since on the app it doesn't show the the limit was reached, also I don't think that this 3 commands or the tokes used are 20%, or if I'm wrong can you provide more details. Thank you!
I also uninstalled it and installed it again today, before starting this session
Thanks for your detailed response @hazmyr . Based on what you have provided, I am not surprised that you would hit 20% of your Claude Max 5x usage limit with Opus 4. I do not see anything wrong with how the client is functioning.
Opus 4 is an expensive model, and it will use up your rate limits approximately 5x faster than Sonnet 4. That said, the performance can be well worth it.
The https://www.anthropic.com/pricing#api page can give you an idea of the true cost of these queries relative to what you are paying with your current plan.
You can avoid the 20% fallback by running
/model opusto use Opus all the time.UI note: When you see
It is just reporting the number of tokens consumed by the Task (subagent) tool call. Your screenshots show other usage like the file writes for your planning and utility scripts, the tool calls to process the bash test output and subsequent file edits, etc.
@dicksontsai thank you for your quick reply! I'm a little bit confused about this "You can avoid the 20% fallback by running /model opus to use Opus all the time." Opus and Opus 4 are not the same?
They are the same for now, but say there's a future Opus X, where X > 4. Then, Claude Code will use that newer Opus instead of staying pinned on Opus 4.
/model opus(which we resolve for you) vs./model claude-opus-4-20250514(full model name, not recommended)@dicksontsai got it, thank you for the quick response and the explanation! Solved on my side!
Closing this issue because there are no other details that we can evaluate or take action on.
Our general advice is that:
/model opus), and this defaults to Opus 4. Note that Opus reaches usage limits ~5x faster than Sonnet.This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.