WHAT HAPPENED AT MIDNIGHT
● The 50 percent boost ended at 11:59pm PT on 13 September, after being extended four times.
● Reported replacement: a permanent 25 percent increase over the pre-May baseline.
● Documented replacement: limits "return to their standard levels". No percentage stated.
● What to do: run /usage today. Do not assume either number.
The gap between reported and documented
Every outlet covering this, including us, has reported a permanent 25 percent increase. That figure comes from the ClaudeDevs post on 29 August.
Anthropic's own Help Center page documents the 50 percent promotion ending on 13 September at 11:59pm PT. For what follows, it states that weekly usage limits in Claude Code return to their standard levels. It does not mention 25 percent.
THOSE ARE TWO DIFFERENT CLAIMS
"Standard levels" could mean the pre-May baseline of 100. "A permanent 25 percent increase" means 125. The difference is a quarter of your weekly capacity.
The social post is presumably accurate — it came from the official account and Anthropic later reposted a clarification about the 17 percent figure. But a number that exists only in a social post is not a number you should plan around. Check what you actually have.
The arithmetic, once more
| Period |
Indexed weekly limit |
| Before 13 May 2026 | 100 — the baseline all percentages refer to |
| 13 May to 13 September | 150 — the promotion |
| From today, as reported | 125 — 25% above baseline, 17% below yesterday |
| From today, as documented | "Standard levels" — unspecified |
Four extensions is the part worth remembering
The promotion was originally documented to end on 13 July. It moved to 31 August, then to 13 September. That is four extensions of a temporary measure.
Which is worth knowing for a practical reason rather than a critical one: anyone who built a workflow around the 1.5x window had four separate chances to be reassured it would continue. Temporary means temporary even when it keeps getting extended, and that is the lesson rather than the complaint.
What is not affected
| If you are... |
What changed today |
| On Pro, Max, Team or seat-based Enterprise | Weekly limit moved. Check /usage |
| Hitting five-hour limits | Nothing. That was a separate policy change in May and is unaffected |
| On the API or usage-based tier | Nothing. The promotion never applied |
| On the free plan | Nothing. Never eligible |
| Rarely near your ceiling | Nothing you will notice |
What to do today
- Run /usage. It tells you what you actually have rather than what was announced. That is the whole point of this article.
- Compare against last week. If you were regularly above 83 percent of the promotional level, you are now over the new ceiling.
- Remember the shared pool. On Pro and Max, chat, Claude Code and Cowork draw from one weekly allowance. A heavy Cowork week costs you coding capacity.
- Trim before you upgrade. Capping diff sizes and context length usually recovers more than 17 percent, and costs nothing.
- Do not panic-migrate. Claude Code still ranks first among agent harnesses. A capacity change is not a capability change.
Sources
FAQ
Did Claude Code limits go up or down today?
Up against the pre-May baseline, down against what you had yesterday. Indexed, the baseline is 100, yesterday was 150, and today is reported as 125.
Is the 25 percent figure official?
It comes from the official ClaudeDevs account on X. It does not appear on any Anthropic-owned documentation page, which states only that limits return to standard levels. Run /usage rather than relying on either.
Does this affect my five-hour limits?
No. The five-hour rate limits were doubled separately in May and are unaffected by this change.
Does it affect API usage?
No. The promotion applied to subscription plans only. API and usage-based billing are unchanged.
How do I know if I am affected?
Run /usage. If you were regularly above 83 percent of last week's weekly bar, you will hit the new ceiling.
Why was the promotion extended four times?
Anthropic has not said. The documented end date moved from 13 July to 31 August to 13 September. The practical lesson is that a temporary measure is temporary even when it keeps being extended.
Should I switch to something else?
Not on capacity alone. Claude Code still ranks first among agent harnesses, and trimming context usually recovers more than the change took away.