[BUG] Claude Desktop shows "Usage limit reached" with 11% session / 29% weekly usage — CLI works fine, resuming from CLI clears Desktop error

Bug Description

Claude Desktop (Windows) shows "Usage limit reached" blocking sessions, while actual plan usage is 11% (current session) and 29% (weekly). Claude Code CLI works normally on the same account at the same time. Resuming the affected session from CLI clears the Desktop UI error.

Environment

• App Version: 1.5354.0 (updated from 1.4758.0 on April 29)
• Platform: Windows 11 Enterprise (10.0.22621)
• Plan: Max (usage well within limits)
• Date: 2026-05-01

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Claude Desktop with existing sessions
2. Try to send a message in a session
3. Observe "Usage limit reached" error
4. Verify actual usage in profile: 11% session, 29% weekly
5. Resume the same session via claude CLI — works normally
6. Return to Desktop — error is now cleared

Evidence from Local Logs

1. remoteManagedSettings fetch timeout

2026-04-29 16:08:02 [warn] [remoteManagedSettings] fetch failed: DOMException [AbortError]: This operation was aborted

The settings endpoint used to check plan limits is timing out.

2. api/claude_code/settings returning 404

Sentry breadcrumbs show this endpoint called every ~30s, consistently returning 404:

{"url":"https://api.anthropic.com/api/claude_code/settings","method":"GET","status_code":404}

3. Stale buddy-tokens.json

{"tokens-today":{"date":"2026-04-29","tokens":168385}}

Date is stuck on April 29 despite the app running on May 1.

4. main.log stopped writing after app update

The log file ends at the April 29 quit event. The new version (1.5354.0) is running but writing zero log entries — a separate logging regression.

5. The only rate-limit error in logs was server-side

API Error: Server is temporarily limiting requests (not your usage limit) · Rate limited

This is a transient server 429, NOT a plan limit — yet Desktop surfaces it as "Usage limit reached."

Hypothesis

When remoteManagedSettings and /api/claude_code/settings fail (timeout + 404), Desktop cannot verify current plan usage and falls back to showing "Usage limit reached" even though the user is well within limits. The CLI bypasses this by using a different code path for usage checks.

Workaround

Resume the affected session from Claude Code CLI (claude --resume). This clears the Desktop UI error.

Related Issues

• #51219 (parent — "Usage limit reached despite UI showing low consumption percentages")
• #51442, #52467, #50237