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Two-Account Switching Guide

You have two Claude Code accounts. The widget manages the whole lifecycle automatically — this doc is the reference for your first time through.

Accounts

Account Command Plan Role
Primary claude Max 20x ($200/mo) Daily driver, Mon-Tue
Overflow claude2 Max 20x ($200/mo) Relief valve, Tue-Fri

What happens each week

Monday-Tuesday: normal mode

You use claude as usual. The widget Row 3 shows:

pro · overflow   switch ~tue 6:58am (43h) · sess 0% · wk 1%

That "tue 6:58am" is a live countdown — the exact minute the primary account will hit 100% at your current pace. It recalculates every 60 seconds. If you slow down, the time pushes later. If you speed up, it pulls earlier.

Tuesday (or whenever primary hits ~95%): SWITCH

The widget changes:

  1. Row 3 flashes: ▶ SWITCH NOW claude2
  2. Rows 1+2 flip to show the overflow account's data — full sparklines, pacing, today stats. The header shows "claude code · max 20x".
  3. Row 3 becomes: max 20x · capped resets fri 6:00am → switch back

What you do:

  1. Open a new terminal tab
  2. Type claude2
  3. That's it. Work normally. Your existing primary sessions won't respond — just close them.

claude2 is an alias for CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.claude-alt claude. It uses a completely separate login, keychain entry, and JSONL history. Your projects, CLAUDE.md files, and git repos are shared — only the account and quota are different.

Tuesday-Friday: running on overflow

The overflow account is now your daily driver. The widget shows its full instrument panel (session%, weekly%, MTWTFSS sparkline, pacing).

Row 3 shows the capped primary account with a countdown to its reset:

max 20x · capped   resets fri 6:00am (2.4d) → switch back to claude

Friday 6am: SWITCH BACK

The primary account's weekly quota resets to 0%. The widget signals:

max 20x · capped   ▶ SWITCH BACK  claude

What you do:

  1. Open a new terminal tab
  2. Type claude (the normal command — no "2")
  3. You're back on Max 20x for the new week

If the overflow account also caps out (fumes mode)

Both accounts are Max 20x ($200/mo) with identical allotments. If you burn through both in the same week, the widget escalates through two stages:

Stage 1: Running low (overflow weekly ≥80%)

Row 3 changes to amber and shows the overflow burn rate:

max 20x · capped   resets fri 6:00am (2.4d) · overflow 83% running low

This is your heads-up — you have a day or less of overflow left.

Stage 2: BOTH CAPPED (overflow weekly ≥95%)

Row 3 flashes:

▶ BOTH CAPPED — WAIT OR PAY

Hover for the tooltip with your two options:

  • Option A: Wait for whichever account resets first (usually primary — Friday 6am). Switch back with claude once it does.
  • Option B: Re-enable extra usage on whichever account resets sooner (claude.ai → Settings → Usage → toggle on). This charges at API rates ($1=$1, ~50x worse than subscription tokens) — last resort only. By the time both Max 20x accounts are capped you've already consumed roughly $10k of API-equivalent value that week.

Quick reference

Situation Widget shows You type
Normal (Mon-Tue) switch ~tue 6:58am claude
Primary capped ▶ SWITCH NOW claude2 claude2
Running on overflow resets fri 6:00am claude2
Overflow running low overflow 83% running low claude2 (keep going)
Both near cap ▶ BOTH CAPPED — WAIT OR PAY Hover for options
Primary resets ▶ SWITCH BACK claude claude

How tracking works

Both accounts are tracked in the same SQLite database. The 15-minute launchd agent polls both accounts' usage APIs. The backfill scans both ~/.claude/ and ~/.claude-alt/ JSONL files. Everything is tagged with an account column so the per-account stats never mix.

The widget's switch ETA is computed from: (100% - current%) / burn_rate, where burn_rate is the average %/hour across the current weekly window. It updates every 60 seconds on the widget refresh cycle.