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Keep going when a runtime runs out

Plans such as Claude Max, ChatGPT and Copilot come with a generous allowance, and then stop you for a few hours. When a chat's allowance runs out, the chat stops on its runtime and says so. To go on, let the chat carry on by itself when the allowance is back. Or, to go on now, start a new chat on a runtime that isn't out and ask it to continue the first one. The new agent reads what the first chat asked, said and did, and carries on from there. The first chat stays as it was.

Before you start

  • At least two runtimes installed and signed in. See Sign a runtime in.
  • Recognising a spent allowance works for Claude, Codex, Gemini, Antigravity, Copilot, Cursor and Grok. See Runtimes.

When a chat runs out

The turn ends, and a note in the conversation says so: Claude's allowance ran out, until 07:00. The time is there only when the runtime gave one. The chat moves to Paused, with Its allowance ran out under its name. Nothing else happens: no other runtime is started, and the chat does not carry on until you ask it to.

The runtime is marked out for every chat, so you can see it before you pick it again. Other chats on it are not stopped. You can still send one a message. If that turn works, the runtime is back.

Carry on when the allowance is back

  1. Open the chat. Under its head, choose Continue at 07:00. When the runtime gave no time, the button is Continue when it is back.
  2. The chat moves to Waiting, and its row says Continues at 07:00. When the runtime gave no time, it says Continues when it is back · tries at 11:00: the app's next check.
  3. At that time, the app sends "continue" in the same chat. It goes sooner when another turn on that runtime works, or when you choose Mark available on the Runtimes page.

If the allowance is still out when the chat tries, the chat waits again, for the next time. To stop waiting, choose Cancel in the chat. A message you send, Stop or Archive also cancels it. The wait is kept over a restart of the Mac.

A rate limit is different. The same chat tries again on the same runtime after a short wait, and says when. Three rate limits in ten minutes on one chat count as the allowance running out.

See which runtimes are out

  1. Open Runtimes, under Activity. Every runtime is on it, whether or not it is on this Mac.
  2. Read where each one stands: Available, Rate limited · trying again at 02:21, Out · reset 07:00 · checking after 09:00, Out since 22:27 · checking after 02:27 or Credit used up · checking after 02:27.
  3. Where the runtime says so, a second line shows what is left of its plan: 28% left this week · resets Sun 20:39 · as of 14:02. Grok is asked each time the page opens, at most every five minutes. Claude says it during a turn, usually once a limit is near.

On the iPhone and iPad, Runtimes is at the foot of Spending, with a red dot while a runtime is out.

A new chat about to start on a runtime that is out says so above the prompt: Claude is out. The app checks it again at 02:27. You can still send.

The runtime chooser above the prompt is in two runs, so you can see this before you pick. A runtime that is out is under Out, with the same line under its name, and you can still choose it. A new chat you start on one begins there.

Continue the work in a new chat

  1. Start a new chat in the same project, on a runtime that isn't out.
  2. Ask it to continue the other chat by its title: Please continue the work of Login redirect.

The agent finds that chat in the project and reads its history: what you asked, what it said, the tools it ran and the files they touched, and its plan as it last stood. A long chat is shortened from the middle, and the history says how many turns were left out. The files are already as the first chat left them.

If two chats have that title, the agent is told and shows you each, and you say which. It can also list the chats in the project, or be given a chat's id.

Bring a runtime back

The app checks an out runtime every four hours: a short conversation on a small model, in a read-only mode, asked to reply "OK". If it answers, the runtime is back. A provider's reset time is shown, but the runtime is not treated as back until a check or a turn works.

If you know it is back sooner, because you bought more credit or a new month started, choose Mark available on the Runtimes page, or swipe the runtime on the phone. If you were wrong, it costs one refused turn, and it is marked out again.

On servers

A server's Codex and Claude sign in through this Mac, so they spend this Mac's plans. When a plan runs out on either side, the other knows while the Agents window is open.

See also