Your Claude usage limits, always visible — right on your taskbar.
A tiny desktop widget that shows your live session & weekly usage, so you never hit a limit by surprise.
Unofficial — not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Anthropic. Details ↓
Claude's Pro / Max / Team plans enforce a rolling 5‑hour session limit and weekly limits. Use Claude Code heavily and it's easy to burn through them mid‑task — then get rate‑limited at the worst moment. Checking today means opening the /usage panel and remembering to look.
Claudometer keeps that number on‑screen all the time, as clean floating text that sits on your taskbar by default — sampling its color so it blends right in:
The strip is a free‑floating, always‑on‑top widget — not locked to the taskbar. Drag it to a screen edge, over a window, or onto a second monitor, and it remembers the spot. (On macOS the native menu‑bar item is the default; the same floating widget is available with
app.py bar— see Platform support.)
Session 61%— your current 5‑hour window, with a live countdown to reset.Weekly 18%— your 7‑day, all‑models usage.- A color dot (🟢 <50% · 🟡 50–80% · 🔴 >80%) that flips to a clear "limit reached" when you're maxed out, plus a graceful offline state:
Click it for the full breakdown — per‑meter reset times, per‑model usage, light/dark:
- 🎯 Pace yourself — spot a limit before you hit it.
- ⚡ Zero context‑switch — the number's already there; no panel to open.
- 🔒 Zero setup — reuses your existing Claude login. Nothing to configure.
- 🪶 Featherweight — ~0.03% CPU idle, ~50 MB RAM. You won't notice it.
- 🔔 Alerts — optional desktop toast when you cross 80% / 90%.
- ⏭️ Resume — one click picks up interrupted work when your limit resets (auto‑resume optional).
- 🖥️ Out of the way — auto‑hides over fullscreen movies/games (or set it to always show).
- ⚙️ Tunable — a built‑in settings panel (no file editing) for theme, meters, alerts, accent, cost view, and more.
Windows — the strip on the taskbar with the details popover open:
macOS — native menu‑bar item with a dropdown breakdown:
Threshold alerts — a desktop toast the moment you cross a limit you set:
Estimated cost (opt‑in) — today's tokens + a rough dollar figure in the popover (a local estimate, not a bill):
Always‑visible mode — keep it readable even over a fullscreen movie or game:
Requires a Claude Pro / Max / Team subscription, signed into Claude Code at least once (that's where the login lives).
Easiest — one command, any OS:
pipx install claudometer # no pipx? → python -m pip install --user pipx
claudometerUpdate later with pipx upgrade claudometer.
Windows:
scoop install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ali-dev178/claudometer/main/packaging/scoop/claudometer.json…or download the installer (ClaudometerSetup.exe, offers "start on sign‑in") or the portable Claudometer.exe from Releases.
macOS:
brew install --cask ali-dev178/claudometer/claudometer…or download Claudometer.dmg from Releases and drag it to Applications.
From source (Python 3.9+):
git clone https://github.com/ali-dev178/claudometer.git && cd claudometer
pip install -r requirements.txt
pythonw.exe app.py bar # Windows (no console) · python3 app.py # macOSUnsigned downloads: on first launch, Windows ("More info → Run anyway") or macOS (right‑click → Open) may ask you to confirm. Installing via
pipx/scoop/brewskips that.Windows 11 tip: new taskbar items can get tucked away — drag Claudometer where you want it; it remembers the spot.
Hit the session limit mid‑task and everything stalls? Claudometer watches your usage recover and helps you pick right back up.
- Tier 1 — notify + one click (default, safe). On reset, a notification appears; click Resume to open a terminal in the interrupted session's folder running
claude --resume— you stay in control. - Tier 2 — auto‑resume (opt‑in, off by default). After a "resuming in 20s — click to cancel" window, it resumes unattended so work continues while you're away.
⚠️ Tier 2 runs Claude Code with nobody watching. It's off unless you setresume_auto = true, and it's guard‑railed: a turn cap plus the saferacceptEditsmode by default (full--dangerously-skip-permissionsonly if you also opt in). Enable it only for work you trust to run on its own.
In‑app (recommended): click ⚙ Settings in the popover (or right‑click the strip → Settings…). Adjust theme, meters, accent, poll interval, alerts, cost view, fullscreen behavior, and resume — changes apply instantly and save to ~/.claudometer.toml for you.
Or edit the file by hand — copy claudometer.example.toml to ~/.claudometer.toml:
poll = 90 # seconds between polls (60–300)
theme = "auto" # auto | light | dark
metrics = ["session", "weekly"] # which meters on the strip
hide_on_fullscreen = true # false = stay visible, even over fullscreen apps
alerts = true # desktop toast on threshold crossings
alert_thresholds = [80, 90]
show_cost = false # estimated token/$ line in the popover
# accent = "#d97757" # override the accent color
resume_notify = true # one-click resume when the session limit resets
resume_auto = false # Tier 2: unattended auto-resume (opt-in, risky)
resume_prompt = "Continue where you left off."
resume_max_turns = 30 # Tier 2: cap agentic turns
# resume_skip_permissions = false # Tier 2: --dangerously-skip-permissions (else acceptEdits)Optional environment overrides:
| Env var | Purpose |
|---|---|
CLAUDOMETER_CONFIG |
Path to the config file (default ~/.claudometer.toml). |
CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR |
Where to read Claude credentials (default ~/.claude). |
CLAUDE_WIDGET_POLL |
Poll interval in seconds (60–300), for the tray/menu‑bar. |
CLAUDE_WIDGET_FAKE |
Testing: "95,40,0" = session,weekly,scoped % (skips the network). Try $env:CLAUDE_WIDGET_FAKE="95,40,0"; py app.py bar to preview the red state. |
On macOS / Linux the default menu‑bar / tray shows live usage; the full feature set (alerts, cost, resume, themes, settings panel) runs in the floating widget —
app.py bar(see Platform support).
Run modes: app.py bar (Windows taskbar strip — default & recommended) · app.py tray (tray icon) · app.py both · app.py (auto per platform). Strip: left‑click = popover · drag = move it anywhere on screen (remembered) · right‑click = menu.
Want to see every feature without waiting to hit a real limit? Click Settings → ▶ Try a demo (or right‑click the strip → Try a demo, or run
app.py demo). Your widget switches in place (one window, not a second) into a ~50‑second offline tour covering every state — all clearly badged DEMO:
- the color dot cycling green → amber → red
- session and weekly threshold alerts (80% / 90%)
- the limit‑reached and rate‑limited states
- resume‑on‑reset — both Tier 1 (notify + one click) and Tier 2 (auto‑resume countdown)
- the estimated cost line (click the strip to see it) and the graceful offline state
Pick ◼ Exit demo to snap back to your real usage. No network, no credentials, nothing real touched.
Start on login: flip the Start on login toggle — in Settings → Display on the Windows/floating widget, or Settings → Start at login in the macOS menu bar. It wires up the native per‑user autostart for you (Windows Run key · macOS LaunchAgent · Linux XDG autostart) and reproduces however you launched the widget, so there's nothing to hand‑edit. To do it manually instead:
Manual auto-start (advanced)
Windows: add a shortcut to pythonw.exe "…\app.py" bar in shell:startup.
macOS: add the standalone Claudometer.app to System Settings → Login Items, or use a LaunchAgent for a source install —
~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.claudometer.plist:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0"><dict>
<key>Label</key><string>com.claudometer</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array><string>/usr/bin/python3</string><string>/absolute/path/to/claudometer/app.py</string></array>
<key>RunAtLoad</key><true/>
</dict></plist>Then: launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.claudometer.plist
Claudometer reads the OAuth token Claude Code already stores locally (~/.claude/.credentials.json, or the macOS Keychain) and polls Anthropic's server‑reported usage endpoint — the same source the /usage panel uses:
GET https://api.anthropic.com/api/oauth/usage
So it shows true plan % from Anthropic's backend — not a local token‑cost guess (unlike tools that tally *.jsonl transcripts). Tokens refresh automatically when they expire.
- Privacy — your token is read locally; the only network call is the authenticated request to
api.anthropic.com. No third‑party servers, no telemetry, no analytics. - Footprint — ~0.03% CPU idle, ~50 MB RAM. The strip only redraws when a value changes; the popover only while it's open.
It shows offline right after I start it, then starts working once I open Claude Code in a terminal.
Expected. Claudometer has no login of its own — it reads the OAuth token Claude Code stores in ~/.claude/.credentials.json on every poll. If that token has expired and Claudometer can't refresh it at that moment (or the first poll hits a brief network blip at login), it degrades to a graceful offline state instead of nagging you to re‑login. Opening Claude Code refreshes the token and rewrites the credentials file, so Claudometer's next poll picks up the fresh token and stats appear. It also self‑heals on its own — it proactively refreshes a soon‑to‑expire token — so you don't strictly need to open a terminal.
How soon do stats appear? Within one poll interval — up to ~90s by default (CLAUDE_WIDGET_POLL, clamped 60–300s) — once a usable token is on disk and the account has active limit windows. A grey - (no data) means the token is fine but there's no usage to show yet; that's different from offline.
It says offline and never recovers. Confirm Claude Code itself works (claude in a terminal), check your internet connection, and make sure ~/.claude/.credentials.json exists (or CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR points at the right folder). If Claude Code has fully logged out, re‑login there and Claudometer will follow.
| Platform | UI | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 10/11 | Taskbar strip + click‑to‑open popover — full feature set | ✅ Full |
| macOS | Menu‑bar item (default) or the full floating widget via app.py bar |
✅ Full |
| Linux | Tray icon (default) or the floating widget via app.py bar |
🧪 Experimental |
The floating widget is one cross‑platform codebase — the same strip, drag, popover, alerts, resume, settings panel, cost and demo run on every OS. On macOS the default is the native menu bar; python3 app.py bar gives you the full floating widget.
Shipped: desktop alerts · config file + in‑app settings panel · estimated‑cost view · standalone binaries + release CI · pipx / Scoop / Homebrew installs · cross‑platform floating widget (macOS/Linux) · one‑click Check for Updates · Start on login toggle.
Next: usage sparkline over the session · per‑model cost breakdown · published winget listing.
Ideas and PRs welcome — open an issue.
pip install -r requirements.txt && py app.py bar # run it
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt && pytest # run the tests (also in CI)usage_core.py = data/auth (no UI deps) · render.py = all the Pillow drawing · settings.py / cost.py / resume.py = config, cost estimation, session‑resume · the platform adapters (widget_bar.py, menubar_mac.py, tray_windows.py) are thin. The tests/ suite (~385 checks on the core logic) runs on every push via CI; regenerate the README images with py assets/make_assets.py (stills), py assets/capture_settings.py (the Settings window) and py assets/make_hero_gif.py (the animated hero).
Claudometer is an independent, unofficial tool — not affiliated with, authorized, or endorsed by Anthropic. It relies on an undocumented usage endpoint that may change or break at any time, and reads your local Claude Code credentials on your own machine. Use at your own risk and in accordance with Anthropic's Terms of Service. "Claude" is a trademark of Anthropic, PBC.
MIT © 2026 Muhammad Ali