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OpenAI· Quota & billing

Codex “You've hit your usage limit” — how to fix

You've hit your usage limit. Try again later.
Quick answer

Codex usage on ChatGPT plans is metered in rolling windows (roughly 5-hourly plus weekly). Heavy agent sessions exhaust the window; it clears on reset. Codex CLI can also run on your own API key or any custom OpenAI-compatible provider — which removes the plan meter entirely.

What causes it

How to fix it

  1. Wait for the window to reset, or upgrade to a higher ChatGPT tier for bigger windows.
  2. Split work into smaller, scoped tasks instead of one giant session.
  3. Switch Codex CLI to API-key billing (pay-per-token, no plan window).
  4. Or add a custom model provider in ~/.codex/config.toml with an OpenAI-compatible base URL — no meter at all on flat-rate endpoints.
Running an agent?

Cloud tasks and parallel runs multiply usage silently — three parallel tasks is three windows' worth of burn.

The permanent fix

Stop hitting this entirely

Codex CLI supports custom providers natively: add a [model_providers] entry with base_url https://api.stdcmpt.com/v1 and model "standardcompute", and Codex runs unlimited at a flat monthly price — no 5-hour window, no weekly cap. Setup guide: /integrations/codex-cli.

Get a free API key →How it connects →

FAQ

Does the Codex limit reset on its own?

Yes — windows are rolling and clear automatically; the message usually indicates when. Weekly caps reset weekly.

Is API-key Codex unlimited?

It's unmetered by the plan but billed per token — heavy use gets expensive. A flat-rate OpenAI-compatible provider gives unmetered *and* fixed-cost.

Related errors

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