Usage limits

Purpose

Coding agents work against a plan limit on your account, for example a limit for every 5 hours or for every week. Orkestra reads these numbers from the provider and shows them in the status bar. Use this display to see when you near a limit, before an agent stops because of it.

The numbers are read only. Orkestra shows them. It does not change them.

Where to find it

The gauges are at the bottom left of the Status bar, next to the Getting started item. Click them to open the Usage limits panel. The panel opens upward from the status bar, at the left edge of the window.

The gauges are not shown when no provider is chosen. You choose the providers in Settings, under Appearance & Behavior, then Appearance, in the Status bar usage group. See Settings: the window, appearance, terminal, workbench and notifications.

Four providers can show their limits: Codex, Claude Code, Cursor and Antigravity. Codex and Claude Code are chosen by default. Other agents have no usage display.

What you see

In the status bar

• Gauge button — one button holds all chosen providers. Each provider has a small block in this order: Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, Antigravity.
• Provider mark — a two-letter chip: CX for Codex, CC for Claude Code, CU for Cursor, AG for Antigravity.
• Window readout — for each limit window of the provider: a short name, a percent and a small bar. The short names are 5h (5-hour window), wk (weekly), mo (monthly) or the number of hours or minutes.
• wk — — a note that shows when the provider gives a 5-hour value but no weekly value.
• +N — the number of chosen providers that do not fit in the bar. Make the window wider to see them. They stay in the panel.
• Tooltip — move the pointer over one provider block. It shows the provider name, each window with "NN% used", and the reset time of each window.

In the Usage limits panel

• Usage limits — the panel title.
• Close button — an X icon at the top right (name "close Usage limits").
• Provider row — one row for each chosen provider. It has the provider mark, the provider name and the plan name when known, for example "Claude Max".
• Increase limit — a link with an external-link icon (tooltip "Increase your Codex limit", with the provider name). It opens the provider's page for plans and billing in your web browser.
• Window line — for each window: its name (for example "5-hour", "weekly", "monthly"), a bar, the value, and a clock icon with the reset time ("resets in 2h 41m").
• Updated … — at the bottom left of the panel. It tells you the age of the numbers.
• Refresh — a button with a refresh icon at the bottom right. It asks for new numbers.

How to

Check your usage at a glance

1. Look at the gauges at the bottom left of the status bar.
2. Read the percent next to each window name.

Result: you see how much of each limit you have used, for example "5h 27%" and "wk 44%".

See the details of one provider

1. Move the pointer over a provider block in the gauges.

Result: a tooltip shows the provider name, the percent used for each window, and when each window resets.

Open the Usage limits panel

1. Click the gauge button at the bottom left of the status bar.

Result: the Usage limits panel opens above the status bar. It has one row for each chosen provider.

Refresh the numbers

1. Click the gauge button to open the Usage limits panel.
2. Click Refresh at the bottom of the panel.

Result: the button changes to Refreshing… and is disabled. When it ends, the Updated … text shows the new age.

Open the page to raise a limit

1. Click the gauge button to open the Usage limits panel.
2. Click Increase limit on the row of the provider.

Result: your web browser opens the provider's page. For Claude Code it is the billing settings. For Codex it is the ChatGPT pricing page. For Cursor it is the billing tab of the Cursor dashboard. For Antigravity it is the Antigravity pricing page.

Close the panel

1. Click the close button (X icon) at the top right of the panel.

Result: the panel closes. You can also press Esc, click outside the panel, or click the gauge button again.

Choose which providers show usage

1. Click the gear Settings button at the right of the top bar.
2. Click Appearance under Appearance & Behavior.
3. Find the Status bar usage group.
4. Click the check box of a provider: Codex, Claude Code, Cursor or Antigravity.
5. Click OK at the bottom of the Settings window.

Result: the provider appears in, or leaves, the status bar after OK. (Apply does the same and keeps the window open.) The note under the check boxes shows "Amber from 80%, red at 100%." or, when no box is checked, "The status bar shows no usage." See Settings: the window, appearance, terminal, workbench and notifications for the rest of this pane.

States and messages

Colours and thresholds (gauge bars, gauge percents, panel bars, panel values)

• Below 80% — the normal accent colour.
• From 80% — amber.
• At 100% or more — red.
• The bar stops at full width. The number can go above 100%, for example "104%".
• The colour uses the exact value, not the rounded number you see.

Loading

• Gauge: a grey placeholder in place of the numbers.
• Tooltip: "Loading usage".
• Panel row: "Loading usage…".
• This shows until the first numbers arrive after start.

Live reading — the bars and percents show. The reset time shows for each window: "resets in 2h 41m", "resets in 3d 4h", "resets in 5m" or "resets now".

Stale reading — a refresh failed, but Orkestra still has an older reading.

• The gauge turns grey.
• The tooltip shows "Refresh failed (reason), last known 09:05". The reason part is optional.
• The panel row is slightly dimmed. Per-window reset times are hidden. It shows "last known 09:05 — reason" instead.
• The reasons are: "rate-limited", "server error", "network error", "timed out", "credentials rejected", "no credentials", "unreadable response" and "reader could not start". A number follows when the provider gave one, for example "rate-limited, HTTP 429".
• The Updated … text at the bottom of the panel ends with " · stale".

Unavailable

• Gauge: "unavailable". Tooltip and panel row: "Temporarily unavailable".
• It means Orkestra has no usable numbers for the provider now. It can come back after Refresh.
• The panel row shows no reason text for this state. Orkestra shows no separate "signed out" message.
• If the request for the first numbers fails, every provider without numbers shows this state.

No usage source

• Gauge: "no source". Tooltip and panel row: "No usage source".
• It means the provider has no way to report usage. The four providers you can choose all have a source today.

Weekly limit missing — the tooltip adds "Weekly limit not supplied by this provider" and the gauge shows "wk —".

Footer text (left of Refresh)

• "Updated less than a minute ago", "Updated 3 minutes ago", "Updated 2 hours ago" or "Updated 1 day ago". The age is the oldest numbers among the chosen providers.
• "Last update unavailable" when no chosen provider has numbers.
• " · stale" is added when a chosen provider shows an old reading or is unavailable.

Limits and tips

• Orkestra reads the numbers of each chosen provider in the background, about every three minutes, and shows new ones as they arrive. When the provider refuses too many requests, Orkestra waits longer before it asks again. Refresh asks for new numbers at once. The age text counts up while the panel is open.
• A provider can give a window of its own length. The panel then names it by length, for example "3-day" or "2-hour".
• Some windows count an amount, not a percent. The panel then shows the amount and its unit in place of a percent, for example credits. The bar and the gauge still show percent used.
• A provider with no plan name shows no plan line. A provider with no reset time shows no clock line for that window.
• Increase limit shows on every row, also for an unavailable provider. A provider that still has no row (while loading) has no link yet.
• The panel shows only chosen providers. To see another one, choose it in Settings.
• Orkestra can act on these limits per terminal. See Budget protection.
• The screen reader name of the gauge button starts with "Usage limits:" and lists each provider and its numbers.

Related

• Window layout: top bar, sidebar and status bar — where the status bar and its other items are.
• Settings: the window, appearance, terminal, workbench and notifications — the Status bar usage choice.
• Budget protection — per-terminal actions that use these limits.