If you use more than one AI tool daily — Claude, Codex, Cursor, Gemini, Copilot — you've probably hit this:
You're in the middle of a deep coding session. Flow state. Everything clicking. Then: "You've reached your usage limit."
No warning. No countdown. Just a wall.
The worst part isn't the limit itself. It's that you had no idea it was coming. You could have paced yourself, switched providers, or front-loaded the heavy work. But the information wasn't there.
The Problem
Every AI provider handles limits differently:
- Claude has session windows and weekly caps
- Codex has credits that deplete at variable rates
- Cursor has monthly request limits with fast/slow tiers
- Gemini has RPM and daily limits
- Copilot has monthly completions caps
None of them show you a unified view. You're expected to check each dashboard separately, remember reset times, and somehow mentally track where you stand across all of them.
For devs who use 3-4 of these tools daily, it's a real workflow problem.
What I Built
TokenBar is a macOS menu bar app that tracks your AI usage across providers in real time.
It sits in your menu bar and shows:
- Session/weekly/credit meters with reset countdowns
- Pace intelligence — are you on track to last until reset, or burning through too fast?
- Budget mode — set a target number of days and track live
- Threshold alerts — get notified at custom percentages before you hit limits
- Status monitoring — see if a provider is having incidents
Supported Providers
Codex, Claude, Cursor, Gemini, Copilot, OpenRouter, Vertex AI, Augment, Amp, JetBrains AI, Ollama, Warp, Kimi, Kiro, and more (20+ total).
How It Works
TokenBar uses a mix of auth methods depending on the provider: CLI tokens, OAuth, API keys, browser cookies, and local file probes. Everything is processed locally on your Mac — no telemetry backend, no cloud sync.
Key technical details:
- Native Swift/SwiftUI (not Electron)
- WidgetKit widgets for desktop
- Bundled
tokenbarCLI for terminal automation and CI - JSON output for scripting
- Refresh cadence from 1min to 30min (or manual)
- Global keyboard shortcut
The Feature That Changed My Workflow
The pace indicator is what made this worth building. It's not just "you've used 60%" — it tells you whether your current usage rate will get you to the reset window or not.
Seeing "deficit" at 2pm when your session resets at midnight means: slow down now, or switch to a different provider for the heavy stuff. That signal alone has prevented probably 30+ surprise limit hits for me.
Pricing
$4.99 one-time payment. No subscription. No recurring charges. You buy it once and it's yours.
If you've been frustrated by the same quota-surprise problem, I'd love to hear how you currently handle it. And if you try TokenBar, feedback is genuinely welcome — especially on which providers matter most to you.
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