{"slug": "claude-pacer-a-menu-bar-that-says-if-your-claude-session-will-last-till-reset", "title": "Claude Pacer: a menu-bar that says if your Claude session will last till reset", "summary": "Developer dkremsa released Claude Pacer, a free macOS menu-bar tool that projects whether a user's Claude subscription usage will last until the reset, showing the projected percentage at reset for each limit window and offering advice on adjusting model usage. The tool measures per-model weights from the user's own account data, calculates API-equivalent costs, and sends notifications when pace crosses thresholds. It requires macOS 13+, Node 18+, Xcode Command Line Tools, and a Claude Code login, and is available via Homebrew or from source on GitHub.", "body_md": "A macOS menu-bar number that tells you whether your Claude subscription will last until the reset — and what to change if it won't.\n\n**⏱ 133** — the worst limit window's projected % at its reset, at the speed you've shown so far.\n100 = you run out exactly at reset. Green ≤ 80, amber ≤ 100, red above.\n\nClick it:\n\n```\n● Session      44% used     54  at reset\n● Week         16% used    133  at reset\n● Fable week   12% used    116  at reset\n──────────────────────────────────────────\nTo fit the week: use Fable about 58% less\n──────────────────────────────────────────\nOn the API this would have cost  $62 today · $410 this week\n```\n\nEvery other menu-bar tool shows the percent. Pacer shows the **speed**: where you land at reset if you keep going like this. 16% used sounds fine — until you notice it's 10% into the week.\n\n**One sentence of advice.** Computed from your actual model mix: stop/reduce Fable, move X% of Opus work to Sonnet, or do less. \"On pace — nothing to change\" when you're fine.**Per-model weights measured on your own account.** Anthropic doesn't publish how Opus/Sonnet/Fable count against the limits. Pacer joins the official usage % with your local transcripts and fits the weights from the data (and whether cache reads are discounted). Until there's enough data it uses API price ratios.**API-equivalent cost**, so you know what the subscription is worth to you.** Notifications**when the pace crosses 100, when it comes back, and when any window passes 90%.- Tiny. One Node script (no dependencies) + one Swift file. The data is a JSON file other tools can read.\n\nRequires macOS 13+, Node ≥ 18, Xcode Command Line Tools (`xcode-select --install`\n\n), and a Claude Code login (it reads the same credential `/usage`\n\nuses).\n\n```\nbrew install dkremsa/tap/claude-pacer\nbrew services start claude-pacer          # samples every 10 min, survives reboots\ncp -R \"$(brew --prefix)/opt/claude-pacer/Claude Pacer.app\" /Applications/ && open \"/Applications/Claude Pacer.app\"\n```\n\nOr from source: `git clone https://github.com/dkremsa/claude-pacer.git ~/.claude/pacer && cd ~/.claude/pacer && ./build.sh`\n\n— compiles the app into `/Applications`\n\nand installs a launchd agent that samples every 10 minutes.\n\n**Start at login:** System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → **+** → pick **Claude Pacer** from Applications. The sampler already runs at boot; this is for the menu-bar icon.\n\n`~/.claude/pacer/status.json`\n\nis refreshed every 10 minutes: `pace`\n\n, `level`\n\n, `advice`\n\n, `windows[]`\n\n(used %, speed, projected, hours left), `cost`\n\n, `fit`\n\n. `node pacer.mjs status`\n\nprints the same.\n\n- Week windows:\n`projected = used% / fraction of the window elapsed`\n\n. - The 5-hour session: rate over the last 45 minutes, projected to the reset (a session is bursty; an average since it opened lags).\n- The headline is the worst window.\n\nWorks on Pro, Max and Team. Claude only. Nothing leaves your machine.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/claude-pacer-a-menu-bar-that-says-if-your-claude-session-will-last-till-reset", "canonical_source": "https://github.com/dkremsa/claude-pacer", "published_at": "2026-08-23 14:17:46+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-23 14:44:46.806378+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["dkremsa", "Claude Pacer", "Anthropic", "Claude", "Opus", "Sonnet", "Fable", "Homebrew"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/claude-pacer-a-menu-bar-that-says-if-your-claude-session-will-last-till-reset", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/claude-pacer-a-menu-bar-that-says-if-your-claude-session-will-last-till-reset.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/claude-pacer-a-menu-bar-that-says-if-your-claude-session-will-last-till-reset.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/claude-pacer-a-menu-bar-that-says-if-your-claude-session-will-last-till-reset.jsonld"}}