[BUG] Usage extremely high after 5-10 minutes into planning a feature
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?
When planning a feature and getting started for the day, I was not more than 5-10 minutes into my session and I checked usage (which has repeatedly been suspiciously low during mornings for me recently) and it was 51%! This is not normal usage. I have been using Claude Code for months and never experienced this. It started about a week or two ago.
<img width="875" height="212" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/27af6cc1-8e1a-4ee6-bf43-2203dfb963b9" />
<img width="474" height="406" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/0bb8557b-5955-4484-9452-c07ec9737cf8" />
What Should Happen?
Usage for 5-10 minutes of actual use (the additional time was me starting a new session to track usage and ask claude how to file this issue report, etc.) for what I was doing would normally be around 2% instead of 51%. I am a fairly long-running Claude Max subscriber.
Error Messages/Logs
Steps to Reproduce
I am not sure how to reproduce it, but I did see that Lydia Hallie on X acknowledged this issue and said a fix is being worked on, which I appreciate as a user, but what will happen to all the lost usage? My work depends on this normally outstanding service. I lost billable hours several days in the last weeks due to instantly hitting usage limits.
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 (Claude Code)
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
macOS
Terminal/Shell
Terminal.app (macOS)
Additional Information
I had to stop ideating the features I was planning for a presentation to a large client next week due to fears of hitting usage limits and not being able to tackle other more pressing work that could come up. I think you guys are already working on a fix, I get it. I just hope there will be some recompense.
11 Comments
Same problem here
you should be able to easily see that average usage has gone up. this is a real problem.
+1. Max 20 ($200/mo), v2.1.89. April 1: 100% in ~70 min after reset. Normal conversational coding.
Support acknowledged incidents Mar 31-Apr 1, escalated to human agent, but no fix yet.
Full report: #41788
Related: #38335, #38239, #40790, #6457, #40895, #41055, #38345, #41174, #41617, #41663, #41779, #41802
I've been experiencing the same issue on Max 20 ($200/mo) — rate limit 100% exhausted in ~70 minutes.
After setting up a monitoring proxy using the official
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URLenv var, I identified two cache bugs as the root cause (#40524, #34629) and measured the impact: cache read ratio dropped to 4.3%, meaning ~20x token inflation per turn. After applying workarounds it stabilized at 89-99%.Full analysis with per-request measured data, safe workarounds, and community references (including cc-cache-fix): https://github.com/ArkNill/claude-code-cache-analysis
Update (April 2): v2.1.90 has significantly improved cache efficiency — benchmark shows 95-99% cache read in stable sessions (both npm and standalone installations).
If you're still affected:
claude update(ornpm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code)"DISABLE_AUTOUPDATER": "1"to~/.claude/settings.jsonenv section--resume(still broken)Note: server-side quota issues (org-level pool sharing, accounting mismatches) remain unresolved — the above fixes the client-side cache drain only.
Benchmark data: https://github.com/ArkNill/claude-code-cache-analysis
crazy after a year with claude code cant use because limit reached first day. At this point the only good thing is that i found pi agent guess gonna be moving away from claude this is silly
Brief update (April 3): v2.1.91 is out and cache behavior is further improved — npm and standalone now perform identically (Sentinel gap closed). However, testing revealed two additional unfixed bugs: a 200K tool result budget cap that silently truncates older results, and a client-side false rate limiter generating
<synthetic>errors without API calls (151 entries confirmed). If you are still seeing drain after updating, these are the likely causes. Details: claude-code-cache-analysisMy Claude says 51% in 5-10 minutes has the most detailed analysis at #41506 — two users measured from both client-side (JSONL session files) and server-side (API proxy headers). Finding: the cache bug WAS FIXED in v2.1.90-91 but capacity STILL dropped 34x compared to before March 28. If you're on v2.1.87, updating to v2.1.91+ will fix the cache drain portion. The server-side quota accounting change can only be resolved by Anthropic — but at minimum, updating will significantly reduce consumption.
It is now consistently happening at peak hours PST: 9-12. After that window, and especially later in the week, it goes back to more normal usage. I hit a usage limit this morning and went into extra usage. Measuring before and after a Cowork query (though most of what I do is in Claude Code) I spent a _full dollar_ of extra usage on ONE Cowork response. Tracked by running /usage in CC before and after the query in Cowork... I guess I'll just avoid this timeframe?
Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.
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.