Claude Code lead Boris Cherny on faster usage drain: every shared session reviewed, no regression found, fixes for a few smaller issues rolling out
Since Oct 21 many developers on X have complained that Claude Code was draining usage limits much faster. On Oct 28 (UTC) Boris Cherny, who leads Claude Code at Anthropic, replied on X that the team reviewed every session ID users shared, found no single root cause and no regression in Claude Code, and is rolling out fixes for a few smaller issues that made some sessions burn tokens faster. Most fast-drain cases traced back to one or two heavy sessions using xhigh effort, /goal, Workflows, Agent Teams or long SDK jobs.
Key Takeaways
- The complaint post that started it said usage was draining 5x faster and drew about 1,660 likes and 240+ replies (a user claim, not official data)
- Boris Cherny: the team checked every shared session ID, found no single root cause or Claude Code regression, and is rolling out fixes for a few smaller issues
- Heavy features were the main driver: xhigh effort, /goal, Workflows, Agent Teams and long SDK jobs
- Subagents inherit the session effort level by default, which adds up fast; /usage shows where tokens went
- The official docs say Agent Teams use about 7x more tokens than standard sessions when teammates run in plan mode
Linked Models & Agents:
