Possible Codex usage metering anomaly on Plus (very small tasks consuming large 5h + weekly quota)

What version of Codex CLI is running?

v.0.106.0

What subscription do you have?

Plus

Which model were you using?

gpt-5.3-codex

What platform is your computer?

Linux 6.18.8-3-cachyos x86_64 unknown

What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?

Kitty

What issue are you seeing?

Codex usage/quota appears to be draining abnormally fast on my Plus account. On March 1, 2026, very small tasks seem to consume a disproportionately large amount of my 5-hour limit. Example: a tiny one-line Kitty config change appeared to consume about 2% of my 5h budget. This feels inconsistent with normal behavior, and especially surprising during the expected 2x allowance period through April 2, 2026.

Other tasks today also decreased my 5hourly and weekly rapidly - usually I have to go nuts on xhigh to get to around 50% but today it just plummeted without even doing a huge amount of usage (no compaction or anything).

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Open Codex CLI (v0.106.0) on Plus.
Use model gpt-5.3-codex with reasoning medium and summaries auto.
Perform a very small request (example: add one config line to Kitty: scrollback_lines -1).
Check the usage meter in-session (5h/weekly limits).
Observe a large 5h drop (around 2% for this tiny change).

What is the expected behavior?

I'd probably not expect it to drop even 1% on the 1x usage, nevermind 2% on 2x usage allowance.

Small, low-complexity edits should consume only a small amount of the 5-hour quota. Usage drain should feel proportional to task size, and promo/multiplier behavior should be reflected correctly.

Additional information

Date observed: March 1, 2026
Account plan: Plus
Session ID: 019cab03-5403-7d53-96d5-3808d40d607b
Environment snapshot at time of report:
- Model: gpt-5.3-codex (reasoning medium, summaries auto)
- Context window: 14.6K used / 258K (99% left)
- 5h limit: 37% left (reset shown at 20:38)
- Weekly limit: 46% left (reset shown at 18:53 on 3 Mar)
Please verify whether my account is correctly receiving the expected 2x allowance through April 2, 2026 and whether metering is functioning normally.

Note - as I see there's a few other similar threads, I was using subagents, but only to breakdown tasks into smaller tasks as this should've reduced context usage. While I appreciate nothing has obviously been changed - the above example should be pretty clear it's not a 2% usage on 2x limits. I'd be disappointed if it was 2% usage on 1x limits - it was a minor change. It's definitely not normal.

Similar reports found here - similar behaviour to what is shown above.

https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1rhso58/did_sam_slashed_codex_limits_7x_faster_usage_burn/
https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1rhw43o/my_codex_tokens_suddenly_have_been_exhausted_over/

Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

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As I mentioned on other threads, we have not changed anything on the server side related to usage accounting or metering. If you're noticing a change in usage, it's likely in how you're using Codex.

If you suspect this might be a client-side regression, you could try downgrading to an earlier version of the CLI to see if you observe the same behavior.

As I mentioned on other threads, we have not changed anything on the server side related to usage accounting or metering. If you're noticing a change in usage, it's likely in how you're using Codex.

If you suspect this might be a client-side regression, you could try downgrading to an earlier version of the CLI to see if you observe the same behavior.

Is there no chance a bug has developed that has impacted this in some way unintentionally, as opposed to a direct change?

You can surely agree that the above example (I can screenshot the entire session) should not use 2% on gpt-5.3-codex-medium, especially on 2x?

Usually I'm messaging on high/xhigh with tools, recursive tasks etc. and I'm surprised to see it go below 90% after extensive use. Today I've taken it to below 35% in a 5 hour window of pretty casual usage and with lower reasoning.

I'll see if I can downgrade, but I think there's been enough people suddenly comment on the issue in the last 24-48 hours that something might be playing up somewhere - even if unintentionally. I just don't want to assume "it's me" and it lead to a bigger issue as right now I feel loathe to use it because it decimates my usage allowance. Prior to today, even on Plus it felt like I had near unlimited usage based on the stats.

I'm also noticing a strange synchronisation issue with my weekly % which I haven't previously noticed for some time. In the attached screenshot, for example Codex CLI initially said 56% which is aligned with the website, then less than a minute later while processing my prompt it suddenly changes to 53% weekly in Codex CLI (screenshot), while the website still says 56% weekly, and then Codex CLI moments later also goes back to 56% weekly. I'm not sure if this in some way related to some issues others are reporting about a sudden change in consumption of the quota, but thought I'd share this in case it's useful or important in some way.

I'm on Pro plan.

As I mentioned on other threads, we have not changed anything on the server side related to usage accounting or metering. If you're noticing a change in usage, it's likely in how you're using Codex.

If you suspect this might be a client-side regression, you could try downgrading to an earlier version of the CLI to see if you observe the same behavior.

Im really tired of your useless replies in every similar issue when this is full of users reporting the same thing here and on Reddit... so STOP with your 0 help and say to your supreme leader Sam Altman to stop laugh at his customers because we are paying big amounts of money and restore back our normal usage limit and fix your apps... this is unaceptable and reading people like you is annoying.

正如我在其他帖子中提到的，我們沒有對伺服器端與使用量統計或計量相關的任何設定進行更改。如果您發現使用量發生變化，很可能是您使用 Codex 的方式改變了。

如果您懷疑這可能是客戶端回歸問題，您可以嘗試降級到早期版本的 CLI，看看是否會出現相同的行為。

You only need to fix this bug where there's remaining credit but it can't be used; you don't need to worry about whether our usage method has changed.

Going to add, Using Win 10/vscode extension. Usage of 5h/weekly was insanely high compared to previous week. There's clearly something wrong.

I also ran into this problem. On February 24, everything was fine. And the next time I used Codex on February 28, the limits started to be used up very quickly. Today I also tried to install an older version of the Codex CLI, but the problem still remains. Apparently, the problem is on the server side, the principle of counting tokens/limits has changed.

Same here.

Definitely something going on here - what used to last 2/3 days now lasts 2/3 hours.

same here

seems likely? https://www.reddit.com/r/codex/comments/1rhw43o/my_codex_tokens_suddenly_have_been_exhausted_over/
i consumed 30 credits on an rg and two reads totalling 800 loc and a git diff earlier.

@etraut-openai

Token usage regression between `codex-cli 0.102.0` and `0.106.0` (same model/settings)

I tested both versions with the same setup:

Model: gpt-5.3-codex
Reasoning effort: xhigh
Same prompt/workflow style

What I found

Per-request overhead increased in 0.106

Request payload is about +6.6% vs 0.102 (same model + same reasoning setting).

Total weekly burn can increase much more than 6.6%

In practice, 0.106 also increases request fan-out (more child-agent related calls in my workload).
Effective total increase looked closer to ~+21% to +32% in real usage.

Why this likely happens

0.106 exposes larger tool schemas in prompts.
With multi_agent=true and sqlite enabled/default, extra agent-job tooling (e.g. spawn_agents_on_csv) can be
included.
That increases prompt/tool overhead and can increase multi-agent call frequency.

Easy workaround (recommended)

Run 0.106 but disable costly features by default:

codex --disable multi_agent --disable sqlite

Or set permanently in ~/.codex/config.toml:

[features]
multi_agent = false
sqlite = false

Enable them only when needed:

codex --enable multi_agent --enable sqlite

Is this a bug?

Maybe not a functional bug, but it does look like a cost/performance regression for users who care about weekly token
limits.

Optimization opportunities (for maintainers)

Avoid injecting heavy tool schemas unless needed.
Lazy-register multi-agent/batch-agent tools.
Decouple sqlite default behavior from tool exposure where possible.
Provide a “low-token mode” preset for budget-sensitive users.

@etraut-openai

@etraut-openai

@etraut-openai The limits of my account have not been restored; it seems the solution has been erratic

Thanks for the confirmation. We are now confident that we have identified and fixed the issue. It was causing the 2X promotional increase in limits to not be applied for an estimated 9% of plus and pro users. We have now fixed this issue and are reseting the rate limit for all plus and pro users to compensate for the trouble. Thank you all for reporting.

That sounds wrong.
I have never used up my quota ever before. While this bug was active, I could use the entire quota in a day (I even purchased 40 USD of credits, which was all consumed in a couple of hours) - so it was way more than just a 2x.
So no, something else was wrong.

if it was only the campaign, it means I cant use Codex anymore after the campaign.

I have been using Pro since it came out.
Edit: Consumption seems fine now though, way less than factor of 2 compared to previous days - so its looking good, but something with the story doesn't seem to add up - must be a missing piece somewhere.

I can confirm this. This issue is still happening on my side as well, though it has slowed down a bit. Something is still wrong.

Yes, that's what it looks like. Just by seeing the explanation they've given, it's clear that the solution was a hack to increase the tokens, but the underlying problem is still there

@etraut-openai

@etraut-openai I confirm that after reverting to 5.3-codex (from 5.2), the unusual consumption is still present, to a lesser extent but it's there. Additionally, the tokens have not been restored on my account. Please clarify what OpenAI's stance is on this, whether this is going to stay as it is now, because we can't work like this and we have decisions to make

Thanks for the confirmation. We are now confident that we have identified and fixed the issue. It was causing the 2X promotional increase in limits to not be applied for an estimated 9% of plus and pro users. We have now fixed this issue and are reseting the rate limit for all plus and pro users to compensate for the trouble. Thank you all for reporting.

This is a really confusing response. I would have thought that by now it was clear that the issue was not that a 2x promotional increase wasn't being applied. The issue for many of us was that the token burn rate had significantly increased from normal. We're not talking about a slight increase, like a 10x + increase and a user even took the time to demonstrate this above.

The limits in my account were not reset either. And today, I'm having heavy usage consumption which doesn't make sense.

the heavy token draining has been fixed for me. weird that it still happens for other people.

pro and 5.3 xhigh

Regressed - my account got reset this morning, I've never had this issue prior to this, suddenly my Pro account consumed 10% weekly within a couple of hours.

@etraut-openai

5.3-codex is burning through tokens like an idiot. I'm blowing through the weekly limit in a single afternoon, which, by the way, hasn't been reset for me like it has for other users. Meanwhile, this issue remains closed and @etraut-openai nor anyone else is making any comment. It's clear they're comfortable with the situation. Luckily, our accounts are on monthly billing

I'm on plus, gpt-5.3-codex medium just ate 50% of my 5 hour limit in 2 prompts

@etraut-openai

Update: yesterday I confirmed usage seemed normal again. Today, the token burn is back to “unreasonably high.”
@etraut-openai something is still not right here. Let us know what diagnostics you need, because this keeps flipping between “fixed” and “broken.”. I would not consider this issue as closed at least for now.

@VasilisTako

Seeing the same as @VasilisTako, @etraut-openai. Quota consumption seemed normal (or close to it) for part of a day. Today, I'm back to consuming quota significantly higher than what was historically offered.

Went down 33% weekly limit in one day on the Pro account with relatively light use throughout the day. Same level of usage yesterday barely made a dent. Something is definitely broken

Went down 33% weekly limit in one day on the Pro account with relatively light use throughout the day. Same level of usage yesterday barely made a dent. Something is definitely broken

This is completely unacceptable, the whole day without even bothering to respond. They care more about announcements than the usability of their product.

I've confirmed that the issue that caused this problem for most users in this thread has been addressed. It sounds like there is at least one more issue that affects some of you. We're tracking that in #13568. Please follow along there for updates.

I'm going to lock this thread.

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Possible Codex usage metering anomaly on Plus (very small tasks consuming large 5h + weekly quota) #13186

What version of Codex CLI is running?

What subscription do you have?

Which model were you using?

What platform is your computer?

What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?

What issue are you seeing?

What steps can reproduce the bug?

What is the expected behavior?

Additional information

Token usage regression between `codex-cli 0.102.0` and `0.106.0` (same model/settings)

What I found

Why this likely happens

Easy workaround (recommended)

Is this a bug?

Optimization opportunities (for maintainers)

77 remaining items

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Possible Codex usage metering anomaly on Plus (very small tasks consuming large 5h + weekly quota) #13186

Description

What version of Codex CLI is running?

What subscription do you have?

Which model were you using?

What platform is your computer?

What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?

What issue are you seeing?

What steps can reproduce the bug?

What is the expected behavior?

Additional information

Activity

github-actions commented on Mar 1, 2026

etraut-openai commented on Mar 1, 2026

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finanzenkutz-tech commented on Mar 2, 2026

isekaishy-jpg commented on Mar 2, 2026

yf-river commented on Mar 2, 2026

Token usage regression between codex-cli 0.102.0 and 0.106.0 (same model/settings)

What I found

Why this likely happens

Easy workaround (recommended)

Is this a bug?

Optimization opportunities (for maintainers)

77 remaining items

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Token usage regression between `codex-cli 0.102.0` and `0.106.0` (same model/settings)