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Opus 4.6 on Max plan: usage seems disproportionately high per prompt #40895

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Opus 4.6 on Max plan: usage seems disproportionately high per prompt#40895
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area:costquestionIssue is asking a question about how Claude Code works, or similarstaleIssue is inactive

Description

@Akakmax
Akakmax
opened on Mar 30, 2026

What happened

On the Max plan, 2 prompts in a new session consumed ~20% of my 5-hour rate-limit window. At that rate I'd hit the limit after ~10 prompts, which feels too low for a productive session.

Setup

  • Plan: Claude Max ($170/month)
  • Model: Opus 4.6 (1M context)
  • Claude Code version: 2.1.86
  • OS: macOS 15.7.5 (Apple Silicon)
  • Context: Project CLAUDE.md, MEMORY.md, several MCP servers (GitHub, Playwright, Chrome DevTools, Telegram, Context7), skills/superpowers loaded

What I expected

I understand Opus + large context is token-heavy, but 2 prompts using 20% of a window surprised me. I'd expect the Max plan to comfortably support a working session of at least a few dozen prompts.

Questions

  • Is this expected behavior given the context size, or could there be a metering issue?
  • Is there guidance on how much loaded context (MCP servers, skills, CLAUDE.md) impacts the rate limit?
  • Any recommendations for optimizing usage without gutting the setup?

Thanks for looking into it.

Activity

  1. github-actions
    added
    questionIssue is asking a question about how Claude Code works, or similar
    area:cost
    on Mar 30, 2026

  2. github-actions commented on Mar 30, 2026

    @github-actions
    github-actionsBot
    on Mar 30, 2026 – with GitHub Actions

    Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

    1. [BUG] Abnormal rate limit consumption — 1-2 prompts exhausting 5-hour window #38345
    2. [BUG] 5x Max non-peak: 10% of 5h window consumed by 2 lightweight questions (6% context), 1% by a single 3-tool-call request #40881
    3. [BUG] Abnormal / inflated rate limit / session usage #38350

    This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

    • If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
    • To prevent auto-closure, add a comment or 👎 this comment

    🤖 Generated with Claude Code

  3. TheAuditorTool commented on Mar 30, 2026

    @TheAuditorTool
    TheAuditorTool
    on Mar 30, 2026

    Yeh, im hitting abnormal usage too...
    Normally 1x 5 hour limit is 8% for my total week.. During promo it was 5-6%...
    Today? Its 14 fking percent... Thats HALF my usage per week...
    What the actual fk is going on here???????
    Max20 here...
    Now im also getting this...
    Ive always, for over a year worked in 10+ terminals without a single issue...
    Its also not consistent, sometimes its on 7 terminals sometimes on 10... the only thing that is consistent is that it kills ALL MY terminals AND ALL my work.... blanket on every single client...
    "API Error: Rate limit reached".... Cant even find info on it...

  4. selfdefiant commented on Mar 31, 2026

    @selfdefiant
    selfdefiant
    on Mar 31, 2026

    Found a contributing factor on my end that others should check: my ~/.claude/settings.json was bloated with redundant permission entries. This caused ~100k tokens of overhead on every single prompt just from the config being sent as context.

    How to check: Open your settings.json and look at the permissions section. If you've been using Claude Code for a while, it accumulates allow/deny rules over time — many of which are duplicates or overly broad. Cleaning up the redundant entries significantly reduced my per-prompt token usage.

    This isn't documented anywhere and likely affects anyone who's been hitting usage limits unexpectedly fast.

  5. Akakmax commented on Mar 31, 2026

    @Akakmax
    Akakmax
    on Mar 31, 2026
    Author

    Follow-up — still no official response

    It's been 2 days since this was filed. No acknowledgment from the Anthropic team — not even a "we're looking into it."

    This is a wider issue

    Other Max plan users are reporting the same problem:

    The comment from @TheAuditorTool above confirms this isn't isolated — Max 20x users are seeing the same disproportionate consumption.

    What we've done on our end

    Following the thread, we've already:

    • Audited and trimmed MCP servers (removed unused ones)
    • Disabled unnecessary plugins (reduced from 12 to 8 active)
    • Cleaned up settings.json overhead

    Usage improved marginally, but the core issue remains — Max plan limits feel closer to Pro-level limits, especially with Opus 4.6.

    What we're asking for

    1. Acknowledgment that this is being investigated
    2. Transparency on whether Max plan limits were intentionally adjusted post-Opus 4.6 release
    3. Guidance on expected token budget per 5-hour window for Max plan users

    Paying $170/month and running out of capacity after a handful of prompts is not sustainable. Even a quick "we're aware and investigating" would help.

  6. Camj78 commented on Apr 1, 2026

    @Camj78
    Camj78
    on Apr 1, 2026

    Yeah, this usually happens when the visible prompt looks small, but the actual payload being sent each round is much bigger than expected.

    Things like CLAUDE.md, MEMORY.md, MCP config, tool manifests, and prior session state can quietly stack up and get resent over and over.

    So the prompt itself can look lightweight while the real token load isn’t.

    Have you checked whether most of the cost is coming from the actual message vs. everything being attached around it?

  7. ArkNill commented on Apr 1, 2026

    @ArkNill
    ArkNill
    on Apr 1, 2026

    Confirming this. Max 20 ($200/mo), Opus 4.6, v2.1.89. April 1: 100% in ~70 minutes after reset.

    Usage per prompt has clearly increased dramatically — same workflow that lasted full sessions for months now burns through the entire quota almost immediately.

    Full report: #41788
    Related: #38335, #38239, #40790, #6457, #41055, #38345, #41174, #41550, #41617, #41663, #41779, #41802

  8. peterhaehnel-codes commented on Apr 1, 2026

    @peterhaehnel-codes
    peterhaehnel-codes
    on Apr 1, 2026

    We need a fix for that, Claude Code is virtually unusable for days!! We rely on that and cannot afford to loose even more time!

  9. ArkNill commented on Apr 1, 2026

    @ArkNill
    ArkNill
    on Apr 1, 2026

    I've been experiencing the same issue on Max 20 ($200/mo) — rate limit 100% exhausted in ~70 minutes.

    After setting up a monitoring proxy using the official ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL env var, I identified two cache bugs as the root cause (#40524, #34629) and measured the impact: cache read ratio dropped to 4.3%, meaning ~20x token inflation per turn. After applying workarounds it stabilized at 89-99%.

    Full analysis with per-request measured data, safe workarounds, and community references (including cc-cache-fix): https://github.com/ArkNill/claude-code-cache-analysis

  10. TheAuditorTool commented on Apr 1, 2026

    @TheAuditorTool
    TheAuditorTool
    on Apr 1, 2026
    Image

    Done in ~3 days and i slowed down the last day and i was on .88. and .89...
    Zero difference for me... Thats about HALF my usage this week...

    This is max20... 200 usd per month... Unacceptable....

    Everyone should cancel their sub, even if you intend to resume it in x weeks? Cancel it... If 10-100k of us do it? It will be statistically big enough to force their hand... Its the only way at this point...

  11. ArkNill commented on Apr 2, 2026

    @ArkNill
    ArkNill
    on Apr 2, 2026

    Follow-up — precautions (April 2, 2026)

    Additional drain accelerators beyond the cache bug:

    Avoid: --resume (token bomb), /dream & /insights (background drain), v2.1.89 (unresolved bugs)
    Careful with: sub-agents (Haiku = 0% cache read, 317K/31 calls), multiple terminals
    Recommended: v2.1.81 fixed + fresh sessions + lean CLAUDE.md + proxy monitoring

    Ref: https://github.com/ArkNill/claude-code-cache-analysis

  12. ArkNill commented on Apr 2, 2026

    @ArkNill
    ArkNill
    on Apr 2, 2026

    Update (April 2): Much of the perceived Opus 4.6 consumption spike was likely compounded by the cache bug (Sentinel regression in standalone binary). v2.1.90 fixes this — benchmark shows 95-99% cache read in stable sessions, dramatically reducing effective token cost.

    Update to v2.1.90 to isolate actual model cost from cache bug overhead: https://github.com/ArkNill/claude-code-cache-analysis

  13. ArkNill commented on Apr 3, 2026

    @ArkNill
    ArkNill
    on Apr 3, 2026

    April 3 update: v2.1.91 fixes the cache regression that caused the worst drain. If you are still hitting limits after updating, there are additional unfixed mechanisms: a 200K tool result budget cap, a client-side false rate limiter, and silent context stripping — all confirmed via proxy testing. Anthropic acknowledged peak-hour tightening on X (Lydia Hallie) but stated "none were over-charging you." Measured data and analysis: claude-code-cache-analysis

  14. Filament61 commented on Apr 8, 2026

    @Filament61
    Filament61
    on Apr 8, 2026

    👍 #45333

  15. sarob commented on Apr 8, 2026

    @sarob
    sarob
    on Apr 8, 2026

    The problem is back and worse than ever. Token consumption on max $100 at 20x. I was forced to upgrade to max $200. Very unhappy as this appears to be punishment for max users that attempted to manage token use. I will be experimenting with Codex now as a alternative as Anthropic has broken my trust.

  16. TheAuditorTool commented on Apr 11, 2026

    @TheAuditorTool
    TheAuditorTool
    on Apr 11, 2026

    Can one of you number crunching guy check a theory i have....
    Does any of the numbers correlate to cache read (the 90% discount) being removed.
    Thinking since they said to "clear often", "dont run resume idle chats".... maybe they just stopped discounting it, thats why there is so wild jumps seemingly random...
    Would tie into what i saw below earlier today....

    Ive noticed that pretty much any prompt with meat on it (i.e more than "hello") costs a consistent 10% on the 5 hour limit but working within that problem space has the normal consumption... switching between sonnet/opus is a death sentence as it reloads entire context for entire chat, costing 10-15% of the 5 hour limit....

    Its weird because 50% is normal usage and then consitently on new chats/topic eats 10-15% just to "load the convo" up...and then eats 1% slowly and normally and repeat until limit is gone...

    I believe there is couple things happening... they lowered limits for everyone, that is obvs but there is also some bug in calcuöation which they are to incompetent to see is happening and think everyone is just complaining over their intended lowered limits and are ignoring it full stop as "noise"

  17. sarob commented on Apr 11, 2026

    @sarob
    sarob
    on Apr 11, 2026 via email

  18. sarob commented on Apr 13, 2026

    @sarob
    sarob
    on Apr 13, 2026 via email

  19. junaidtitan commented on Apr 13, 2026

    @junaidtitan
    junaidtitan
    on Apr 13, 2026

    Context bloat compounds silently — each turn re-sends accumulated tool outputs, progress entries, and metadata. Cozempic strips this automatically so you get more turns per rate limit window. Lossless — nothing meaningful is removed.

    pip install cozempic && cozempic init

    Feedback welcome.

  20. sarob commented on Apr 13, 2026

    @sarob
    sarob
    on Apr 13, 2026 via email
  21. github-actions
    added
    staleIssue is inactive
    on May 9, 2026

  22. github-actions commented on May 24, 2026

    @github-actions
    github-actionsBot
    on May 24, 2026 – with GitHub Actions

    Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.

  23. github-actions
    closed this as not plannedon May 24, 2026

  24. github-actions commented on Jul 17, 2026

    @github-actions
    github-actionsBot
    on Jul 17, 2026 – with GitHub Actions

    This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.

  25. github-actions
    locked as resolved and limited conversation to collaborators on Jul 17, 2026
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