# Show HN: AI Gauge, a desktop monitor for Claude/Codex/Copilot usage limits > Source: > Published: 2026-06-04 02:18:46+00:00 If you pay for multiple AI subscriptions and frequently check your usage, AI Gauge might help. It shows session and weekly usage, reset times, account balances, and spend in a compact always-visible view, so you can get the most out of what you're paying for. Compact monitor for **Claude.ai**, **ChatGPT Codex**, **GitHub Copilot**, and **OpenRouter** usage. Manual + auto refresh, with a platform-native UI on each OS: **Windows / Linux**— always-on-top draggable frameless widget plus a system-tray icon.** macOS**— Stats-style menu-bar item (`● 42% ● 78% ● 15%` ); the panel opens as a popover when you click it. Requires Python 3.11+.Secrets live in the OS-native credential store (Windows Credential Manager / DPAPI, macOS Keychain, Linux Secret Service). Auto-start uses the platform's standard mechanism (Run key / LaunchAgent /`~/.config/autostart` ). Current version: **0.5.9**. See [CHANGELOG.md](/jpajak/ai-gauge/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md) for release notes. AI Gauge is an independent open-source project and unofficial local desktop utility. It is not affiliated with Anthropic, OpenAI, GitHub, Microsoft, OpenRouter, or any other provider. Provider pages and APIs may change without notice. **Windows / Linux** — always-on-top floating widget, in full panel and collapsed pill modes: **macOS** — Stats-style menu-bar item with per-provider tinted dots; click to open the panel as a popover: Pre-built binaries for each release are published on the [Releases page](https://github.com/jpajak/ai-gauge/releases). Pick the archive for your OS, extract, and run: | OS | Archive | Run | |---|---|---| | Windows | `ai-gauge--windows.zip` | extract, run `ai-gauge.exe` | | macOS | `ai-gauge--macos.tar.gz` | extract, drag `ai-gauge.app` to Applications | | Linux | `ai-gauge--linux.tar.gz` | extract, run `./ai-gauge/ai-gauge` | SHA256 sums are published alongside each archive. Builds are unsigned — see the [first-launch warnings](#build-a-standalone-binary) section below for SmartScreen / Gatekeeper handling. **Windows (PowerShell):** ``` py -m venv .venv .\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install -e .[dev] .\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m aigauge ``` **macOS / Linux (bash):** ``` python3 -m venv .venv ./.venv/bin/python -m pip install -e '.[dev]' ./.venv/bin/python -m aigauge ``` On first launch the widget appears with enabled provider tiles. Claude and Codex use a **Sign in** flow; GitHub Copilot and OpenRouter are configured from Settings with API credentials. Open Settings to disable providers you don't use or to add more Claude/Codex accounts. | Provider | Setup | |---|---| Claude.ai | Sign in (recommended): opens an embedded browser. Don't click "Continue with Google" — Google refuses to authenticate inside embedded browsers. If your account is Google-linked, just type that same email into the Enter your email box and use the magic link sent to your inbox. Paste cookie: fallback if magic-link is unavailable; see below. Add extra Claude subscriptions from Settings → Claude. | ChatGPT Codex | Same as Claude — use email + magic link in the embedded browser, or paste cookie as a fallback. If your OpenAI account routes through Google or a passkey, use Paste cookie; embedded browsers often cannot complete those flows. Add extra Codex subscriptions from Settings → Codex. | GitHub Copilot | Create a fine-grained PAT at Account permissions → Plan → Read. Paste into Settings; set your monthly AI credit allowance (Pro=1,500, Pro+=7,000, Max=20,000). If Copilot is billed through an organization, enter the billing org and use a token/account with org billing access and Organization permissions → Administration → Read. | OpenRouter | Create an inference API key at | Claude and Codex can track more than one subscription at a time. Open **Settings → Claude** or **Settings → Codex**, click **Add another**, give the account a short name, then use **Sign in** or **Paste cookie** for that specific row. The default account displays as `Claude` or `Codex` ; named accounts display as `Claude (Work)` , `Codex (Account 2)` , etc. The **General** tab controls provider groups. If Claude is checked, all configured Claude accounts appear; if Codex is checked, all configured Codex accounts appear. Secondary accounts can be removed from their provider tab. Each Claude/Codex account uses separate cookie storage, browser profile data, widget tile state, and history records. Sessions persist between runs under the per-OS app-data directory: | OS | App data | Secrets backend | |---|---|---| | Windows | `%APPDATA%/ai-gauge/` | Credential Manager (GitHub PAT + OpenRouter keys) + DPAPI-encrypted `secrets.dat` (cookies, since the Credential Manager blob limit is too small for ChatGPT JWTs) | | macOS | `~/Library/Application Support/ai-gauge/` | Login Keychain | | Linux | `~/.config/ai-gauge/` | Secret Service (GNOME Keyring / KWallet) | AI Gauge does not include telemetry or a backend service. Provider requests are made from the local app to the configured providers. See [SECURITY.md](/jpajak/ai-gauge/blob/main/SECURITY.md) for security and privacy notes. If the embedded-browser sign-in doesn't work for you (e.g. your account requires Google sign-in, passkey authentication, or you can't use the magic-link path), copy your existing session cookie from your normal browser into the app. Cookies last weeks before they need re-pasting. - Sign into [https://claude.ai](https://claude.ai)(or[https://chatgpt.com](https://chatgpt.com)) in**Chrome / Edge / Firefox** as you normally do. - For ChatGPT, press **F12**→** Network**, reload the page, click a`chatgpt.com` request, and copy the full**Request Headers → Cookie:** value. This includes split session cookies plus companion auth cookies such as`__Secure-oai-is` . - For Claude, press **F12**→** Network**, reload`https://claude.ai/new#settings/usage` , click a`claude.ai` request, and copy the full**Request Headers → Cookie:** value. It must include`sessionKey` . - In the app: Settings → Claude or Settings → Codex → click **Paste cookie** next to the account, paste, Save. **Windows / Linux:** the widget floats above other windows by default. Drag anywhere to move; close (✕) hides to tray. Right-click the tray icon for Refresh / Settings / Quit. Left-click toggles widget visibility. Tray icon turns yellow ≥75% / red ≥90% based on the highest tile reading.**macOS:** the menu-bar item shows tinted status dots for enabled provider/account tiles. Click it to open the panel as a popover; click outside to dismiss. Right-click for the same Refresh / Settings / Quit menu.**Linux without a system tray**(stock GNOME): the floating widget stays visible and serves the same Show / Refresh / Settings / Quit menu via right-click on the widget.**Collapse / expand:** click the**−** button in the widget header to shrink to the compact pill view. Enabled provider/account chips wrap onto additional rows when needed, with named secondary Claude/Codex accounts using just the account name to save space.**Hide unused providers:** uncheck Claude / Codex / Copilot / OpenRouter in Settings to remove their group from the widget — useful if you only use one or two of them.- Auto-refresh is adaptive: manual refresh or changed usage enters the active cadence, then unchanged results back off toward the configured max interval. Defaults are 5 min active and 60 min idle max. - Enable **Start at login** in Settings if you want it to run as a daily utility. For most users the [pre-built downloads](#download) are easier — this section is for building locally or for maintainers cutting releases. The build machine needs Python 3.11+ and a `.venv` with `pip install -e .[dev]` already run; the resulting binary does **not** require Python on the target machine. | OS | Command | Output | |---|---|---| | Windows | `.\build.ps1` | `dist/ai-gauge/ai-gauge.exe` | | macOS | `./build.sh` | `dist/ai-gauge.app` | | Linux | `./build.sh` | `dist/ai-gauge/ai-gauge` | Tagged commits matching `v*` automatically run [the release workflow](/jpajak/ai-gauge/blob/main/.github/workflows/release.yml), which builds all three platforms in CI and uploads them as a draft GitHub Release for the maintainer to publish. Bundles are ~150-200 MB because the Chromium runtime ships inside. User data still lives outside the bundle, under the per-OS app-data directory. For a single-file binary (slower first launch), pass `-OneFile` (PowerShell) or `--onefile` (bash). On macOS the `.app` bundle is recommended over the single-file form. **First-launch warnings on signed-OS-bundle systems** — release artifacts are unsigned: **Windows:** SmartScreen → "More info" → "Run anyway".**macOS:** Gatekeeper blocks on first launch. Either right-click the`.app` → Open the first time, or run`xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ai-gauge.app` once.**Linux:** no signing layer; just make`ai-gauge` executable if it isn't already. See [RELEASING.md](/jpajak/ai-gauge/blob/main/RELEASING.md) for maintainer release steps. ``` .\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pytest # Windows ./.venv/bin/python -m pytest # macOS / Linux ``` Tests cover: config round-trip, Copilot and OpenRouter REST helpers (with mocked HTTP), widget behavior, and snapshot models. Provider scrapers (Claude/Codex) require a live browser session and are validated manually. Bug reports, provider-layout fixes, and PRs are welcome. See [CONTRIBUTING.md](/jpajak/ai-gauge/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md) for environment setup, test commands, and the issue templates to use. **Why an embedded browser instead of reading Chrome cookies?** Chrome 127+ added App-Bound Encryption (mid-2024) that blocks every external Python library from decrypting Chrome/Edge cookies. Owning the browser session ourselves is the only reliable workaround.**Claude / Codex layouts may change.** If a provider tile shows "error" after a UI update upstream, the page-extractor JS in`src/aigauge/providers/{claude,codex}.py` needs adjusting — the rest of the app keeps working.- The Copilot REST endpoint returns the *current calendar month*of billing usage. The widget tracks gross AI credits consumed against the included allowance; net quantity/amount is only the billable overage. Reset is computed as the 1st of the next month. GitHub does not currently expose a reliable personal-plan allowance field, so Settings uses a plan dropdown with a Custom fallback. Annual/request-based accounts are handled with a legacy premium-request fallback. **Copilot usage lags upstream.** The Copilot REST endpoint updates noticeably slower than Claude or Codex — credit counts can take hours to reflect recent activity. The widget shows the most recent value GitHub returns; treat the Copilot tile as a trailing indicator, not real-time.**Copilot AI credits.** GitHub moved Copilot from per-request quotas to token-based AI credits. Code completions and next edit suggestions remain included for paid plans, while Chat, CLI, cloud agent, Spaces, Spark, and third-party coding agents consume AI credits. The app shows the credit usage GitHub returns; if your account is org-billed, enter the billing organization so AI Gauge reads the organization billing pool.**OpenRouter uses two key types.** The inference key is used for`/key` spend data. The management key is required for`/credits` account balance and`/activity` model history. Without a management key, AI Gauge still shows key-level spend but cannot show balance or model activity.**OpenRouter time windows are UTC.** Today/month spend come from OpenRouter's current UTC day and month fields. Model activity comes from OpenRouter's default`/activity` history window: the last 30 completed UTC days, excluding the current UTC day.