Overview
- Anthropic said it changed how five-hour sessions are counted during peak hours (05:00–11:00 PT / 13:00–19:00 GMT), which can cause access to run out faster when demand is high.
- Session time is tied to tokens used rather than a clock, and Anthropic has not disclosed the token-to-time formula, so subscribers cannot predict how fast their allowance will drain.
- The company said weekly usage caps remain the same and estimated about 7% of users, especially on Pro plans, will now hit session limits more often.
- Developers reported sudden and sometimes idle depletion in Claude Code that they described as a bug, though a few said their usage returned to normal after a day.
- Anthropic expanded off-peak capacity to stretch sessions for background jobs, a load-shaping move as Claude’s popularity grows and users look for reliable, transparent limits.