[BUG] Rate limit persists on Claude Desktop (Cowork) after Pro → Max 20x upgrade until re-login

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?

After upgrading from Claude Pro to Max 20x plan, the rate limit from the Pro plan persisted on Claude Desktop (Cowork mode). The upgrade was confirmed by Anthropic receipt ($192.96 charged, including Pro unused time refund of -$7.04), but the application continued to display "You've hit your limit · resets 5am (Asia/Seoul)" as if still on the Pro plan.

System reboot alone did NOT resolve the issue. Only logging out and logging back in within Claude Desktop forced a credential refresh and restored the correct Max plan rate limits.

What Should Happen?

When a plan upgrade completes (payment confirmed), the new plan's rate limits should take effect immediately without requiring the user to manually log out and log back in. At minimum, a notification or prompt to re-authenticate should appear if cached credentials cannot be refreshed automatically.

Error Messages/Logs

You've hit your limit · resets 5am (Asia/Seoul)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Use Claude Desktop (Cowork mode) on a Pro plan until rate limit is reached
2. Upgrade to Max 20x plan via claude.ai billing page
3. Confirm payment is processed (receipt received, $192.96)
4. Return to Claude Desktop — rate limit message persists
5. Reboot the system — rate limit message still persists
6. Log out of Claude Desktop, then log back in — rate limit is cleared, Max plan limits now correctly applied

Timeline of actual occurrence (2026-03-22 KST):

• 03:17 — Rate limit hit on Claude Desktop Cowork (Pro plan)
• 03:17~21:12 — Upgraded to Max 20x to resolve the limit
• 21:12 — Payment confirmed (receipt #2216-0698-5438, invoice #17KLDHFQ-0002)
• After payment — Rate limit persisted despite Max plan active
• Reboot — No effect
• Logout → Re-login on Claude Desktop — Issue resolved

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

N/A

Claude Code Version

2.1.81 (estimated — latest available on 2026-03-22, exact version not recorded at incident time)

Platform

Other

Operating System

Windows 11 Home 10.0.26200

Terminal/Shell

Claude Desktop (Cowork mode) — Windows, internal shell: PowerShell

Additional Information

Billing Evidence

• Receipt #: 2216-0698-5438
• Invoice #: 17KLDHFQ-0002
• Amount: $192.96 ($200.00 Max 20x - $7.04 Pro unused time refund)
• Payment date: 2026-03-22
• Payment method: card ending 3689

Root Cause Hypothesis

Cached credentials (likely subscriptionType and rateLimitTier in local auth state) are not refreshed when the server-side plan changes. The client continues to enforce the old plan's limits until a full re-authentication cycle (logout → login) forces a credential refresh.

This is consistent with #29579 where credentials.json showed subscriptionType: null after a plan change.

Related Issues

• #31655 — Same symptom (Pro→Max, rate limit persists), Claude Code CLI, stale/no resolution reported (OPEN)
• #29579 — Max plan, credentials.json shows subscriptionType: null, re-login partially helps but limit persists at 16% (OPEN)
• #33293 — Cowork-specific rate limit, account-level server-side issue (CLOSED)

Differentiation from Existing Issues

1. Platform: Claude Desktop Cowork — not CLI or VS Code
2. Complete workaround documented: reboot alone fails, logout→re-login resolves
3. Windows environment: existing reports are macOS/Linux
4. Billing evidence included: exact payment timestamp enables server-side log correlation