// WHAT IT MEANS
You have used up your current 5-hour session. Claude Code opens that window the moment you send your first message and closes it 5 hours later; the time shown ("resets 5pm", "resets 3am") is when it opens again, already converted to your local time zone.
It is a session limit, not a weekly one. Your weekly allowance may be nearly full — /usage shows both bars side by side.
// WHEN IT RESETS
At the time stated in the message, on the dot. Because the window is anchored to your own first message, there is no universal reset time — someone else's window ends at a different minute.
Anthropic also occasionally resets every account at once, usually around a model launch or after an incident. The most recent one is shown below; if it is very recent, your bar may already be back to 100%.
// WHAT TO DO NOW
- 01 Run /usage to confirm it is the 5-hour bar and not the weekly one — the fix is different.
- 02 Your 5-hour session is exhausted. The message shows its reset time in your local time zone. Switching models does not refresh this allowance. Check /usage for the separate weekly limits; wait for reset or use usage credits.
- 03 Buy usage credits (formerly "extra usage") if you cannot wait — work continues at pay-as-you-go rates until the window reopens.
- 04 Next session, use /compact before the context gets large: a long conversation re-sends more tokens on every turn and empties the window faster.
// DOES IT AFFECT MY WEEKLY ALLOWANCE?
No. The 5-hour session and the weekly allowance are separate gates. Hitting this one does not spend or move your weekly reset. If /usage shows the weekly bar full too, see the weekly-limit page.
// ALSO APPEARS AS
- “5-hour limit reached ∙ resets 3am”
- “You've hit your limit · resets in 2h”
- “Session limit reached”