Code Notch is a free macOS widget that sits in your screen notch and shows remaining usage across Claude, Claude Code, and Cursor. When your agent is working, the notch spins. When it's waiting on you, it turns amber. You know which state you're in from any window, all the time.
Free. Open source. Two minutes to set up.
You're running an agent on a client project. You switch windows to handle something else. Claude Code was at 74% usage when you left. You come back ten minutes later. Finished? Still running? Cut off at 85%?
You can't tell without switching back.
That's the default loop for anyone running AI agents. You check constantly. You interrupt your own focus to find out whether you need to interrupt something else.
Code Notch removes that loop.
The Tool
Code Notch pins a live usage display to the top of your screen. It reads session data from your active tools and updates in real time.
What it tracks:
| Tool category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Claude family | Claude Code, Claude (web) |
| Coding assistants | Cursor, Codex, GitHub Copilot, OpenCode |
| Other AI tools | DeepSeek, GLM, Kimi, Qwen, Grok |
| Local models | Ollama, LM Studio (auto-detected when server is running) |
Sixteen tools covered in total. Free on macOS 15+, with a Windows port available.
The agent state indicator is separate from the usage ring. The ring shows remaining quota. The indicator shows what your agent is doing right now: spinning arc means active, pulsing amber means waiting on your response or a file or a next instruction.
Setup: 2 Steps
Step 1. Go to https://github.com/vinzdg/codenotch/releases. Download Codenotch.dmg. Open it, drag the app to Applications, and launch it.
macOS will ask for screen recording permission to read your active tools. Grant it. The notch populates within 30 seconds.
Step 2. Drag the notch to your preferred screen position if needed. It defaults to top-center on your primary display. On external monitors without a physical notch, it pins to the top bar.
Done.
The app signs and ships its own updates daily. You install once and it stays current.
What You Actually See
The usage ring shows remaining quota at a glance. Hover over it for the exact percentage and the reset time for each tool.
When your agent is making active API calls, the notch spins. When the agent finishes its current step and is waiting on you, the notch pulses amber. You stop guessing which state you're in.
If you run separate work and personal accounts for the same tool, Code Notch shows separate rings for each. You're not pooling the numbers.
Alerts fire at 80% and again at 100%. You can mute per-provider if one tool's alerts are too frequent.
Where It Changes the Way You Work
Running an agent on a client codebase while handling calls and email. You're not checking Claude Code every few minutes. The spinning notch tells you it's still working. The amber tells you it needs something.
Parallel sessions. You have Claude Code running one task and Cursor running another. Each ring shows you which tool has headroom and which is close to the wall.
Planning around limits. You hit 95% at 3pm. The ring tells you before the cutoff. You either finish the session cleanly or break the remaining work across the reset. No surprise stops.
The Limits You Should Know
macOS 15 is the minimum version for the native app. Older macOS needs the Windows-port workaround, which runs but isn't the same experience.
Local model detection only works when the model server is running. If you haven't started Ollama or LM Studio, there's nothing for Code Notch to read from those providers.
The agent state indicator tracks API call activity, not task completion. The notch tells you whether Claude Code is making calls right now. It doesn't know whether the task you assigned is semantically done. You still check the terminal to confirm the output.
The phone companion requires your phone and Mac on the same local network. It doesn't work over cellular or a remote VPN unless you bridge the network yourself.
If the Notch Stops Updating
Go to System Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Screen Recording. Confirm Code Notch is listed and enabled. macOS resets this permission after some system updates. Re-grant it and restart the app.
If a specific tool isn't showing data, check that the tool is running. Code Notch reads live session data. An idle Cursor with no project open has nothing to report.
One Task for the Next 10 Minutes
Install Code Notch before your next Claude Code session. Run one task with it active.
Watch the ring drop in real time. Watch the notch spin while the agent works, then go amber when it waits. Check whether you switch back to Claude Code less often than you normally would.
If it changes your focus pattern, you'll keep it. If it doesn't, uninstall takes 30 seconds.