FULL STORY

Codex Quota Glitch: From User Complaints to OpenAI Confirmation

Weeks of user complaints about rapidly draining Codex quotas culminated on Sept 10, when usage suddenly reset and OpenAI confirmed an incident and launched an investigation.

2026-08-25 ~ 2026-09-10 · 4 episodes · 26 posts

Episode 1 · Users Suspect OpenAI Silently Cut Codex Plus Limits (2026-08-25, 4 posts)

Multiple users report Codex Plus weekly limits draining abnormally fast, some exhausting quota in two days despite unchanged workflows, and suspect OpenAI silently reset or cut quotas without any official announcement—an employee only admitted they "forgot to mention it."

Episode 2 · OpenAI Codex Usage Limits Force Open Source Dev to Pause Work (2026-09-06, 2 posts)

Developer cnakazawa reported that after his OpenAI Codex OSS grant expired, Premium Business usage limits left him with only 60% weekly quota and no way to buy resets, prompting him to halt Codex-related open source work for a week.

Episode 3 · Codex Users See Usage Meters Wiped from 92% to Zero (2026-09-10, 2 posts)

Codex users report their usage meters dropping abruptly from 92% to 0%, suspecting a billing glitch; OpenAI staff attributed it to a display issue amid earlier similar anomalies.

Episode 4 · OpenAI Confirms Bug Behind Abnormal Codex Usage Limit Resets, Fix Underway (2026-09-10, 18 posts)

On September 10, multiple users reported that their OpenAI/Codex usage quotas dropped abnormally within a short period, across different subscription tiers and use cases, suggesting a serious problem in billing or usage tracking.

Confirmed

  • User koltregaskes said their OpenAI usage quota dropped from 30% straight to 0 without warning, questioning why OpenAI tightened usage limits without notification.
  • User DimitrisPapail reported that while running routine tasks with Codex and Astra that had been ongoing for weeks, remaining usage fell from 75% to 1% within minutes; a similar anomaly had previously seen it drop from 75% to 1% in one minute, and he believes Codex usage billing has serious problems.
  • User AIandDesign, on the MEDIUM tier using Astra (Codex), saw remaining usage fall from 55% to 8% in 30 minutes and tagged the OpenAI lead.
  • User gpt2chatbot reported their Codex Pro subscription quota fell from 70% to 17% within two hours, with screenshots as evidence; they noted that even running 5 Astra Max Fast agents over the weekend didn't burn through quota this fast, and called on OpenAI to add usage charts and quota alerts for visibility.
  • User jamesbrooksco said they had just received a full Codex usage reset and hadn't used Astra, yet the quota was entirely consumed in under 30 minutes; they directly tagged OpenAI engineer Thibault Sottiaux demanding an explanation.
  • User carlosdponx reported that after a morning reset the quota was 100%, but 10 minutes later showed only 36% remaining, with the reset cycle shown as 3 days away; they sought help from Codex team members @thsottiaux and @ajambrosino.

Unconfirmed

  • OpenAI has not yet responded, and the root cause of the quota drops (usage tracking bug, billing anomaly, or policy tightening) remains undetermined.

Why it matters

  • The incident affects paying and high-tier users (including the 20x plan and Codex Pro), and the reports erupted in a concentrated burst over a very short time, pointing to a systemic anomaly rather than isolated cases.
  • Users generally lack usage charts and quota alert tools, making it hard to self-audit where their consumption goes; this product gap was thrown into sharp relief, and gpt2chatbot has publicly called on OpenAI to add visualization features.