Codex's
5-hour rolling limit is back
The 5-hour rolling limit, suspended for a stretch, returned on July 30, 2026. Here is what happened, what users are actually reporting, and how to keep working after you hit the ceiling.
As of July 30, 2026, Codex has re-enabled the 5-hour rolling limit for paid subscribers. The interim period of repeated quota resets is over.
Updated July 30, 2026 — we refresh this page when the official position changes.
From suspension to restoration
The dated facts. Where OpenAI has not published a number, we say so rather than guess.
Sol burned quota too fast, so the 5-hour limit was paused
How quickly the GPT-5.6 Sol tier consumed quota drew widespread complaints. To gather data — and to let developers work unthrottled — the Codex team suspended the 5-hour rolling limit.
Held together by repeated quota resets
During the pause, paid users' quotas were reset again and again — "reset AGAIN" became a running joke in the community. It was a stopgap, never a lasting mechanism.
The 5-hour rolling limit returns
With the underlying issue described as resolved, the 5-hour rolling limit came back and once again stacks with the weekly limit.
The gap people feel comes down to one thing: during the pause a heavy task could run for hours; since the restoration, many users report hitting the ceiling after roughly half an hour of heavy work.
This is a summary of public user reports, not an official number. OpenAI has not published the quota ceiling for the 5-hour window — treat any claim of an exact figure with caution.
Four ways to keep working once you hit the ceiling
From least effort to most thorough — pick by how urgent the task in front of you is.
Drop to a cheaper tier
Move work that does not need top-tier reasoning from Sol to Terra or Luna. It is a model-id change inside the same Codex CLI, and quota burn falls sharply.
Switch to the Claude side
Codex's 5-hour window and Claude's quota are two independent budgets. When a task stalls, handing it to Opus 4.8 or Sonnet 5 usually beats waiting for a window to roll over.
Route around the window via API
The 5-hour rolling limit is a subscription-plan mechanism. On an API route there is no such rolling window — usage counts against the daily limit of the plan you bought. One QCode key covers Codex, Claude and Gemini.
Shift your peaks and watch usage
Move batch work to just after a window resets, and get in the habit of checking usage — far cheaper than firefighting once you are already capped.
How to check your usage →Tired of being cut off by a 5-hour window?
A subscription's rolling window is enforced by the clock. An API route counts against the daily limit you purchased — there is no 5-hour reset to wait out. Check the live rates and the plans before deciding whether to move the heavy work over.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Codex 5-hour rolling limit, and when did it come back?
It is a usage ceiling measured over a rolling 5-hour window: exhaust it and you wait for the window to roll forward. The mechanism had been suspended and was restored on July 30, 2026, where it once again stacks with the weekly limit.
Why was it suspended in the first place?
How fast the GPT-5.6 Sol tier consumed quota drew heavy complaints. The Codex team suspended the 5-hour limit and repeatedly reset quotas through the interim so people could work unthrottled while the issue was diagnosed. With that described as resolved, the limit returned.
People say heavy tasks hit the cap in half an hour. Is that accurate?
That is a widespread community report, not an official figure. OpenAI has not published the quota ceiling for the 5-hour window, and how far you get depends on the tier you use, how long your context is, and how well caching hits. Treat it as directional, not as a precise promise.
What can I do once I have hit the ceiling?
Four directions: drop to a cheaper tier such as Terra or Luna; hand the task to Opus 4.8 or Sonnet 5 on the Claude side; move to an API route, which is not bound by the subscription's 5-hour rolling window and counts against the daily limit you purchased; or shift your peaks and watch usage. QCode is that third route — one key across Codex, Claude and Gemini.
One key, not hostage to a single subscription window
Codex, Claude and Gemini share one QCode key and one quota. Plans from $8.57/mo; the key goes live the moment payment clears.