[BUG] Max Plan 5x Phantom Consumption and Large Token Usage Increased Without Config Changes

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?

Description

Summary

I'm experiencing what appears to be the same underlying bug as #41506, but in my case it happened on a local Ubuntu 24 machine rather than a Debian remote server over SSH.

The main issue is phantom usage / phantom consumption of my Claude Code limit even when I was not actively using it. It looked like usage was being consumed in the background while everything appeared idle. In practice, my available limit would drop by about 1% every 10 minutes with no real activity.

This ended up consuming a very large portion of my weekly limit. Before the bug, my weekly usage was around ~10%. After the phantom consumption incident, it jumped to around 70%. I effectively lost more than 50-60% of my weekly quota due to this behavior, and that usage was not restored.

Uninstalling Claude Code stopped the phantom consumption. I reinstalled it later, but the lost weekly limit was never credited back.

Before

• Normal usage behavior
• No phantom/background consumption while idle
• Weekly limit was at roughly ~10% (resets on Friday)
• 5-hour sessions behaved as expected

Now

• Limit was being consumed while apparently idle
• Usage dropped by about 1% every aprox. 10 minutes without active use
• A 5-hour session could fully consume the 5-hour window
• Weekly usage jumped from ~10% to ~70%
• More than 50-60% of my weekly limit appears to have been lost due to this bug

Key observation

The phantom consumption stopped after I uninstalled Claude Code.

That strongly suggests the issue was tied to Claude Code itself rather than actual usage on my machine.

What changed?

Nothing meaningful on my side in terms of intentional usage that would explain this.

Important differences from #41506:

• I was not using Debian
• I was using Ubuntu 24
• I was not on a remote server via SSH
• This happened on my local machine

So this may indicate the bug is not limited to Debian or SSH-based environments.

Impact

This issue was particularly frustrating because I've been a strong supporter of Claude for a long time and have spoken very positively about it since earlier versions.

Because of this bug, I feel materially harmed as a paying user:

• I lost a large portion of my weekly quota
• The quota was not restored
• I may run out of weekly limit entirely before the next reset

Environment

• OS: Ubuntu 24
• Deployment: local machine
• SSH: not used
• Claude Code version: 2.1.87
• Plan: Max USD 100 (5)

Request

Could the team please investigate:

1. whether background / phantom usage accounting is occurring on local Ubuntu setups,
2. whether this is related to the same root cause as #41506,
3. and whether wrongly consumed weekly quota can be restored for affected users?

What Should Happen?

Expected behavior

• No background / phantom consumption while Claude Code is idle
• Usage should reflect actual interaction, not invisible consumption
• If a billing / accounting bug causes wrongful usage depletion, the lost quota should be restored
• Reinstalling should not leave the user permanently penalized for consumption caused by the bug

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Just use Claude Code and you will see

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.87

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

_No response_