Usage meter showed 28% minutes before hitting rate limit

Summary

The Claude Max usage meter displayed 28% utilization. When I checked whether this was accurate (running two parallel sessions), the displayed value suggested plenty of headroom. Minutes later, the session was terminated for reaching the usage cap.

In the next billing period, the meter jumped to 6% after starting fresh sessions, then remained at 6% despite significant continued work across parallel sessions.

The meter had been accurate for several weeks prior to this.

Environment

• Claude Code CLI (latest)
• Plan: Claude Max
• Platform: macOS
• Model: claude-opus-4-6
• Multiple parallel sessions active

Timeline (2026-03-07)

1. Running two parallel Claude Code sessions
2. Usage meter shows 28%
3. Checked whether this was accurate — displayed value suggested plenty of headroom
4. Minutes later: session terminated, rate limit reached
5. After reset: meter shows 6%, remains at 6% despite continued heavy use in parallel sessions

Prior behavior

The usage meter had been working accurately for several weeks. This is the first time the displayed percentage was significantly wrong.

Impact

• Cannot make informed decisions about session pacing when the meter is unreliable
• False sense of headroom led to unexpected session termination mid-work