Look, I'll be honest — if I'd read my own posts more carefully, I probably would have caught this sooner. But here we are. This likely affects maybe .01% of you, but if you're in that .01%, you've been quietly paying for something your Max subscription already covers. Check your credit card statement and your Anthropic console billing. If you see API charges and you're on Max, keep reading. I just burned API credits I didn't need to spend. Here's what happened and how to fix it. Quick context: Claude Code is the terminal-based version of Claude. It runs right in your Mac terminal and can read/write files, run scripts, and build things directly. If you're not using it yet, worth looking into. The problem: When Claude Code first launched, you had to set it up with an Anthropic API key. That key goes into your environment and Claude Code uses it for billing -- separate from your claude.ai subscription. When Anthropic added Claude Code to the Max plan, it didn't automatically switch over. If you had an API key configured, Claude Code kept hitting that instead of your Max account. So you could be paying for Max AND getting charged API credits on top of it. Two billing systems. Neither one tells you the other exists. How to check: echo $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY If that returns anything, your Claude Code is running on API billing, not your Max plan. If it returns blank, you're already good. How to fix it: Open your shell config: nano ~/.zshrc Find and delete the line that sets ANTHROPIC_API_KEY. To save and exit nano: Ctrl+O, then Enter, then Ctrl+X. Then reload your config and clear the variable from your current session: source ~/.zshrc unset ANTHROPIC_API_KEY Using bash instead of zsh? Check ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile instead. Next time you open Claude Code, it'll show Claude Max in the header instead of API Usage Billing. That's how you know you're good. Why this matters: Claude Code with agents and parallel tasks burns through API credits fast. If you're running automations, multi-agent workflows, or any heavy usage, you could be spending real money on something your subscription already covers.

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Claude March 2026 usage promotion Updated today We're offering a limited-time promotion that doubles usage limits for Claude users outside 8 AM-2 PM ET/5-11 AM PT. This promotion is available for Free, Pro, Max, and Team plans. Enterprise plans are not included in this promotion. What is the promotion? From March 13, 2026 through March 27, 2026, your five-hour usage is doubled during off-peak hours (outside 8 AM-2 PM ET/5-11 AM PT). Usage remains unchanged from 8 AM-2 PM ET/5-11 AM PT. Eligibility No action is required to participate. If you’re on an eligible plan, the doubled usage is automatically applied. Where does this apply? The 2x usage increase applies across the following Claude surfaces: - Claude (web, desktop, and mobile) - Cowork - Claude Code - Claude for Excel - Claude for PowerPoint Frequently asked questions Do I need to do anything to get the extra usage? No. The promotion applies automatically. You’ll see higher limits reflected in your usage outside 8 AM-2 PM ET/5-11 AM PT without any changes to your account settings. Does bonus usage count against my weekly usage limit? No. The additional usage you get during off-peak hours doesn’t count toward any weekly usage limits on your plan. What happens when the promotion ends? After March 27, 2026, usage limits return to their standard levels at all hours. There’s no change to your plan or billing. Terms and conditions This offer is valid from March 13, 2026 through March 27, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT. It applies to Free, Pro, Max, and Team plans only and excludes Enterprise plans. This offer has no cash value and is not transferable. It may not be combined with other offers.

You can now set your prompt bar to red, blue, green, yellow, purple, orange, pink, or cyan. I run multiple Claude Code sessions at the same time. Different projects, different repos, different contexts. Before this, they all looked identical. Tab back to the wrong terminal and you're talking to the wrong session about the wrong codebase. Now I color-code them. Red for the client build. Blue for internal ops. Green for experiments I might throw away. One glance and I know exactly which session I'm in. Single terminal? Skip it. Multiple sessions? Try it. /color red