Real-Time Desktop Overlay for Monitoring Claude Code Usage Limits
A new open-source tool allows developers to monitor Claude Code usage limits with a real-time desktop overlay. This widget, built to stay always-on-top, provides immediate visibility into your session and weekly usage without having to run the /usage command manually.
Key Details
- Session and Weekly Tracking: Displays current session usage within a 5-hour window, including reset times, and tracks weekly usage for all models as well as Sonnet-only usage.
- Alerts: The usage bars turn red and pulse when approaching limits, providing a clear visual alert to avoid hitting these limits during use.
- Customization: The widget is draggable, can be placed anywhere on the screen, and supports a cyberpunk light/dark mode toggle. It also features opacity controls via the system tray.
- Persistence and Refresh: Remembers its position between sessions and auto-refreshes every 5 minutes to provide up-to-date information.
- Technical Implementation: Utilizes Electron and node-pty to run the Claude Code’s /usage command within a pseudo-terminal, leveraging your existing authentication without needing an API key.
- Platform Support: Currently available for Windows 11, with opportunities for macOS and Linux contributions from the community.
Setup
Installation is straightforward: clone the repository, run npm install, and then npm start. Alternatively, Windows users can double-click the start.bat file. The tool is MIT licensed, ensuring it's free to use indefinitely.
📖 Read the full source: r/ClaudeAI
👀 See Also
OpenBridge: Free Open-Source Remote Control for Claude Code via Slack/Discord
OpenBridge is a free, open-source tool that lets you control Claude Code from Slack or Discord, organizing projects as channels and conversations as threads. It runs locally or on a VPS and works with existing Claude Code/Codex subscriptions without extra API fees.
ClaudeOrb: Chrome Extension Monitors Claude API Usage in Real-Time
A developer built ClaudeOrb, a free Chrome extension that displays Claude session percentage, weekly limits, countdown timers, Claude Code costs, and 7-day spending trends. The tool was created using Claude Code after hitting rate limits without warning.
SuperHQ: Run AI coding agents in isolated microVM sandboxes
SuperHQ is an open source Rust/GPUI app that runs AI coding agents (Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Pi) in isolated microVM sandboxes. Each agent gets a full Debian VM, mounts project dirs read-only, and never sees host API keys — they're injected via an auth gateway proxy.
Context-Engineered Study System for Claude Code Acts as Persistent Tutor
A developer built a study system using Claude Code that tracks progress across sessions, probes understanding, works through exercises, and adapts to learning styles. The system uses structured markdown files to shape agent behavior and includes tools for extracting textbook pages from PDFs.