Guide
OpenAI Codex usage limits, explained.
What the limits are, how the two windows work, when they reset, and how to see where you stand before you hit the cap.
What are Codex usage limits?
Codex usage is included with a ChatGPT plan rather than billed per token. Instead of an invoice, your plan comes with an amount of Codex usage, and OpenAI enforces it with rate limits: once you use up a window's allowance, Codex stops accepting new work until that window resets. Higher tiers include more usage, but every plan has limits.
The two windows: short and weekly
Codex tracks usage against two limits at the same time:
- A rolling short window that covers your recent activity (on the order of hours). This is the one heavy sessions run into first - a long agentic task can consume a lot of it quickly.
- A weekly window that caps total usage over a longer period. Even if the short window keeps recovering, sustained daily use draws this one down.
You can be blocked by either window independently. CodexBar Lite surfaces them as primary and secondary usage, each with its own percentage and reset time.
Resets and credits
Each window refills on its own schedule: the short window recovers on a rolling basis a few hours after usage, while the weekly window resets on a longer cycle. Codex also has credits, which can extend usage when a window is exhausted. Because both clocks run independently, "when can I code again?" has two answers - which is why seeing both reset timers at once matters.
What happens when you hit the cap?
Codex declines new turns until the relevant window resets. Your options at that point are to wait for the reset, use available credits, or upgrade to a plan with more included usage. The frustrating version of this is finding out mid-task; the better version is knowing you were at 90% before you started.
How to check where you stand
You can run /status inside the Codex CLI or open the usage dashboard on the web - our guide to checking your Codex usage walks through every method. Both require going to look, though.
CodexBar Lite keeps both windows - percentages and reset times - live in your macOS menu bar, and notifies you at 80%, 90%, exhaustion, and credit reset. Free, open source, and it needs nothing but the Codex login already on your Mac.