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OnlyLimits

See the usage limits of all your Codex accounts at once - right in the macOS menu bar.

One job, done well. Native. Tiny. Zero background load.

⬇ Download OnlyLimits 1.1 (.dmg)

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I made this app for myself, because I couldn't find an alternative without a pile of extra functionality. I just wanted to see how much of my limits I had left - and not weigh my Mac down with junk I don't need.

What it is

A focused macOS menu-bar app that shows how much of your Codex (ChatGPT) usage limit is left - for every account you own, simultaneously. No account switching, no dashboards, no accounts buried behind clicks. Glance at the menu bar, see what's left, get back to work.

It does exactly one thing, and it stays out of your way while doing it.

Why another usage tracker?

Most trackers read the local Codex CLI, which is logged into one account at a time - so they can only ever show that one. Switchers show one active account and make you rotate. OnlyLimits keeps each account's own credentials and polls them independently, so all of your accounts are visible at the same time - the thing that's surprisingly hard to find.

And it's built to disappear into the system: a 940 KB binary, no external dependencies, and ~0% CPU at idle (it only wakes to refresh every few minutes).

Features

🧮 All accounts at once	Every Codex account you add is polled independently and shown together - remaining %, reset time, per account.
🔐 Sign in with ChatGPT	Add accounts straight from the app via the official browser OAuth flow (PKCE). No codex login juggling, no pasting tokens. Add as many as you like.
📊 Custom menu-bar mini chart	A hand-drawn status graphic - like a system monitor - not a mashed string of numbers. Three display modes (below).
🟢 Remaining, not used	Bars show what's left: full & green = plenty, empty & red = almost out. The number you actually care about.
⏱️ Live refresh countdown	See exactly how long until the next automatic update; refresh now with one click.
🌍 4 languages	Русский · English · 日本語 · 中文 - switch instantly from the gear menu.
🪶 Featherweight	Native SwiftUI, zero dependencies, no Electron/Node/Python. Negligible CPU, tiny binary.
🔒 Local & private	Talks only to OpenAI's endpoints. Credentials never leave your Mac; no analytics, no servers, no telemetry.

Three menu-bar modes

Pick from the segmented toggle at the bottom of the panel:

Icon	Mode	Menu bar shows
👤	Active	The account the Codex CLI is currently logged into - one gauge + its %
📊	All (bars)	One gauge per account, compact, no numbers
☰	All + numbers	One gauge per account, each with its remaining % beside it

The menu-bar graphic is a template image, so macOS tints it automatically - crisp white on a dark menu bar, black on a light one. Inside the panel the bars stay colored (soft green → amber → red) so status reads at a glance without being garish.

Install

Requirements

• macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later
• Xcode 16+ / Swift 6 toolchain (to build from source)
• The Codex CLI installed and logged in at least once (used to seed your first account; further accounts are added in-app)

Build from source

git clone <your-repo-url> codex-usage-bar
cd codex-usage-bar
./build.sh                 # → OnlyLimits.app (ad-hoc signed, dock-less)
open OnlyLimits.app

Install it like any app and enable auto-start:

cp -R OnlyLimits.app /Applications/
# System Settings → General → Login Items → add OnlyLimits

Usage

1. Launch it. On first run it imports whatever account the Codex CLI is logged into now.
2. Add more accounts. Click Add account → sign in with ChatGPT in your browser → done. Repeat for each account.
   • The login forces a fresh sign-in (prompt=login), so you can add a different account each time.
   • Changed your mind mid-login? The button turns into a cancel - one click and it's back.
3. Read your limits. Each account shows its window (e.g. Weekly) as a remaining bar plus the reset countdown.
4. Pick a menu-bar mode (👤 / 📊 / ☰) and language (⚙️) - both are remembered between launches.
5. Remove an account by clicking the 🗑 on its row.

How it works

• Accounts are snapshots of a Codex login: access_token + refresh_token + account_id. Keeping each account's own refresh token is what makes independent, simultaneous polling possible - regardless of which account the CLI is on.
• Usage comes from GET https://chatgpt.com/backend-api/wham/usage (Authorization: Bearer …, ChatGPT-Account-Id: …). The response carries email, plan_type, and the rate-limit windows, so each account labels itself.
• Tokens refresh via POST https://auth.openai.com/oauth/token - proactively near expiry and reactively on a 401 with one retry.
• Windows are labeled by their actual duration, so the app always reflects reality (Codex currently exposes a weekly window; if a 5-hour window returns, it shows up correctly).

Performance & footprint

Measured on the built app, idle:

Metric	Value
Binary size	940 KB
App bundle	~1 MB
External dependencies	0
CPU at idle	~0% (wakes only to refresh, every few minutes)
Runtime	Native SwiftUI / AppKit - no Electron, Node, or Python
Dock icon	None (LSUIElement) - lives purely in the menu bar

Privacy & security

• Talks only to chatgpt.com and auth.openai.com. No third-party servers, analytics, or telemetry.
• Credentials are stored locally at ~/Library/Application Support/OnlyLimits/accounts.json with 0600 permissions - the same class of secret already in ~/.codex/auth.json on your machine.
• Nothing is uploaded anywhere. Everything runs on your Mac.
• Future hardening: move token fields into the Keychain.

Project structure

Sources/OnlyLimits/
├── OnlyLimitsApp.swift    # @main - MenuBarExtra + status-bar image
├── MenuContentView.swift     # the panel UI (rows, bars, modes, countdown, language)
├── StatusBarImage.swift      # hand-drawn menu-bar mini bar chart + color palette
├── UsageStore.swift          # polling, timer, modes, orchestration
├── CodexLogin.swift          # Sign in with ChatGPT (browser OAuth, PKCE)
├── OAuthCallbackServer.swift # localhost callback listener
├── PKCE.swift                # PKCE codes
├── CodexClient.swift         # usage + token-refresh requests
├── AccountStore.swift        # persistence
├── AuthImport.swift          # read ~/.codex/auth.json, detect active account
├── Models.swift              # API response + normalized model
└── Localization.swift        # ru / en / ja / zh strings

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial, independent tool. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by OpenAI. It uses the same public OAuth client and usage endpoint as the official Codex CLI, and is intended for personal use with accounts you own. Endpoints may change at any time.

License

MIT - see LICENSE.