Hidden /low-priority mode found in Claude Code

Claude Code (observed in CLI 2.1.263) has a hidden /low-priority mode: after the 5-hour limit is exhausted, the terminal offers “Continue now at lower priority,” and requests are processed in a low-priority queue on Anthropic's spare capacity.

Compiled by Sergey KostenchukPublished 2026-09-18Updated 2026-09-18

2026-09-18 Coding Anthropic

🛠 Hidden /low-priority mode found in Claude Code

After the 5-hour limit is exhausted (CLI 2.1.263), the terminal offers “Continue now at lower priority”: requests go into a low-priority queue and are processed when Anthropic has spare resources. The mode is hidden and not enabled for everyone; requests consume the weekly limit as usual.

🌍 This is load prioritization within subscription limits: instead of a hard reset on the 5-hour window, requests go into a queue and smooth out peak load. The mode is not yet available in the SDK — the lowPriorityOffer field comes through rate_limit_event, but it cannot be invoked from non-interactive sessions.

👤 If you've hit the limit — check whether the “Continue now at lower priority” option has appeared in the dialog. Nuances: the mode may not be available on your account, queue delay is non-deterministic, requests consume the weekly limit.

Source 1: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-agent-sdk-typescript/issues/456

Sources