Claude Usage Barometer
A compact, battery-style menu-bar gauge for your Claude usage. Watch your 5-hour and 7-day windows drain in real time — right from the macOS menu bar.
Your Claude limits, always in sight
Claude Usage Barometer is a free, open-source plugin for SwiftBar (or xbar) that lives in your macOS menu bar. It shows two battery-style bars — one for Claude's rolling 5-hour window and one for the 7-day window — so you can see exactly how much quota is left at a glance. It is pure Bash with zero build step, reads your Claude Code token locally from the macOS Keychain, and never sends your data anywhere.
Usage limits are invisible until you hit them
Claude enforces rolling usage windows, but nothing on your desktop tells you how close you are — until work stops mid-task.
No native indicator
There is no built-in gauge for the 5-hour and 7-day windows, so a limit can arrive without warning in the middle of a session.
Context-switch cost
Checking usage means leaving your work and digging through a dashboard — friction you pay every time you wonder how much is left.
Surprise interruptions
Hitting a limit unexpectedly breaks flow and stalls whatever you were shipping. A glanceable gauge prevents the surprise.
A battery for your Claude quota
Two bars in the menu bar, a detailed dropdown, and color that tells the story without a single click.
A filled segment shows what's left and an empty segment what's used. Each bar drains as you consume the 5-hour and 7-day quota.
Green up to 69% used, amber from 70%, red from 90% — the menu-bar bar follows the more-constrained window.
Click to see each window's percentage left and the exact reset countdown, plus the last update time.
It reads the Claude Code OAuth token from your Keychain on this Mac. No accounts, no servers, nothing leaves your machine.
Small gauge, thoughtful details
Everything you want from a menu-bar tool, and nothing you don't.
5-hour & 7-day gauges
Both rolling windows at a glance, with percentage left and reset countdowns in the dropdown.
Color-coded status
Green to amber to red as you approach the limit, so status is obvious without opening anything.
Rate-limit friendly
Caches the last good reading and throttles API calls at least 3 minutes apart, surviving brief 429s gracefully.
Update-aware
Checks GitHub once a day and surfaces an "update available" link in the dropdown when a newer release ships.
Adjustable refresh
Pick a 1, 3 or 5-minute refresh interval from the dropdown to balance freshness against API calls.
Zero build, pure Bash
Easy to read, audit and tweak. Private by design and released under the MIT license.
One line in Terminal
The installer adds jq and SwiftBar via Homebrew, drops in the plugin, and launches it. On first run, choose "Always Allow" for the Keychain prompt.
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/taka-avantgarde/claude-usage-barometer/main/install.sh | bashRequires macOS 12+, Homebrew, and Claude Code signed in on this Mac.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Usage Barometer free?
Yes. It is open source under the MIT license and free to use. It only needs the Claude Code session you already have on your Mac.
What do I need to run it?
macOS 12 or later, SwiftBar (or xbar), jq and curl, and Claude Code signed in on the same Mac. The one-line installer sets up jq and SwiftBar for you.
Is my Claude token safe?
Yes. The plugin reads the Claude Code OAuth token locally from your macOS Keychain and uses it only to fetch your own usage. It is pure Bash, sends nothing to third parties, and has no telemetry.
What do the colors mean?
The bar is green while under 70% used, amber from 70% to 89%, and red from 90% to 100%. The menu-bar color follows whichever of the two windows is closer to its limit.
Does it support xbar as well as SwiftBar?
Yes. It runs as a SwiftBar or xbar plugin. SwiftBar is recommended and is what the one-line installer sets up.
Put your Claude limits in the menu bar
Install in one line, then never be surprised by a usage limit again. Free and open source.