Open the Codex usage dashboard to see which limit you hit and when it resets. Then wait, buy credits if your plan allows, sign in with an API key for pay-as-you-go use, or hand the task to another coding agent. Friday, a free MIT app, can move it to Claude Code or Cursor with a record of what Codex did and changed.
What should you do right now?
- Open the usage dashboard at chatgpt.com/codex/settings/usage, or run
/statusin the Codex CLI. OpenAI says the dashboard shows your current limits and reset times. - If you were mid-turn, let it finish. OpenAI says the agent can continue working on the turn it is on, subject to fair use limits.
- Decide: wait for the reset, add credits, use an API key, or move the task to another agent.
- Before you stop, commit what works and write down what is left, so the next agent starts from a clear state.
What are the Codex limits and windows?
OpenAI’s Codex pricing page describes five-hour windows for Plus and Standard Business plans and says weekly limits may also apply. It says Pro plans currently have no five-hour limit.
How fast you reach a limit depends on the model and the task. OpenAI says cloud tasks can use more of your allowance than local messages. The page gives estimates for local messages per window and says they are estimates, not fixed limits. We do not repeat them here, because they differ by model and change.
OpenAI’s pricing page does not show the exact wording of the limit message, so we do not quote one. Check the dashboard for which allowance ran out.
What are your options?
| Option | What it costs | The trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Wait for the reset | Nothing | The dashboard shows the reset time. You stop until then. |
| Buy credits | Per OpenAI’s pricing page, Plus and Pro users can buy credits once included limits run out; Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces with flexible pricing can buy workspace credits | Work carries on, but it is billed. Free and Go plans are for lighter use, so check the page for what applies to yours. |
| Sign in with an API key | Billed at standard API pricing instead of your plan’s included credits | No plan window, but you pay per use. Codex cloud needs a ChatGPT sign-in, and some features that depend on ChatGPT workspace access are limited with a key. |
| Upgrade your plan | The higher monthly price | Pro plans currently have no five-hour limit, though an included allowance still applies. Check the pricing page for the plan you are on. |
| Move the task to another tool you already have | Nothing extra if you already have a plan for it | That tool has its own limits and its own way of working, and it needs to know what was done. |
Last checked: 2 November 2026
To switch to an API key, run codex login with the key piped in, or choose the API key option on the signed-out screen of the app or the IDE extension. Codex docs list the exact commands. codex login status shows which method is active.
How does Friday hand the task to another agent?
Friday is a free, open-source (MIT) desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux that runs Codex, Claude Code, Cursor and other coding agents on your own computer. When Codex hits its usage limit mid-task, the task moves to another agent with a record of what Codex did and changed. If you also run Claude Code or Cursor in Friday, either can take it. Friday picks an agent that can carry on now, not Codex.
The record is built from the session log. It holds what Codex was asked, its last answer, the files it read, its searches and commands, and the list of files it changed, with the patch when it is short. So you can read what happened, and so can the next agent.
When an agent takes over work that was cut off, Friday tells it to check the code as it is now, finish or undo any half-made edit and run the tests before going on.
- Codex keeps running on your own ChatGPT plan or API key. Friday never switches your accounts and does not raise your limit.
- It needs a second agent you already have. With only Codex, there is nowhere to hand the task, and it waits for the reset or for you.
- It is not unlimited. If every agent you have is out of usage, the task waits.
- No account. Friday sends anonymous usage counts you can turn off, never your code or prompts.
Install it from GitHub or see the current release. The mechanism is in how an agent hand-off works and usage-limit hand-off. Friday Team is the hosted version for several people in one session, by arrangement: contact us.
What if you do the hand-off by hand?
Write a short note first: what is done, what is left, the files touched and the next command to run. Commit it, then tell the next tool to read it before it starts. It saves most of the re-explaining, though it is only as good as what you remember to write.
What if it was Claude Code that stopped?
See Claude Code usage limit reached: what to do now. To compare how the two tools’ limits work, see Claude Code vs Codex usage limits.
Sources
Checked against OpenAI’s Codex documentation on 2 November 2026. The pricing page shows no update date, and plans and models change often, so check the latest version before you rely on a detail. OpenAI’s help center pages on Codex usage returned an error to us, so nothing here comes from them.
- Pricing, Codex docs (developers.openai.com/codex/pricing redirects here)
- Authentication, Codex docs