Claude Code Users Report Webcam, Mic Checks and SSH Throttling After Rate-Limit Reset
Following Anthropic's reset of Claude Code's 5-hour and weekly rate limits, users reported the coding tool had begun prompting for webcam or microphone access to verify that a person was present and severely throttling tokens when accessed over SSH. One user described the webcam prompt as a measure to prevent "programmatic use," while another said the microphone check was meant to determine whether a human was nearby and that SSH access triggered heavy token throttling.
The reports widen a week of changes to Claude Code's usage controls. Anthropic said Friday that it had reset everyone's 5-hour and weekly rate limits after announcing earlier this week that weekly limits would rise 50% for Pro, Max, Team and seat-based Enterprise users through July 13.
From the sources (10 posts)
@claudedevsHappy Friday! We've reset everyone's 5-hour and weekly rate limits.
@yuchenj_uwAnthropic got xAI’s GPUs, and then they immediately started running the Codex playbook. Competition is good for developers.
@sarahzorahRT @ClaudeDevs: Happy Friday! We've reset everyone's 5-hour and weekly rate limits.
@trq212RT @ClaudeDevs: Happy Friday! We've reset everyone's 5-hour and weekly rate limits.
@alexalbert__RT @ClaudeDevs: Happy Friday! We've reset everyone's 5-hour and weekly rate limits.
@scaling01RT @ClaudeDevs: Happy Friday! We've reset everyone's 5-hour and weekly rate limits.
@kimmonismusAnthropic just reset everyone’s 5-hour AND weekly rate limits. Either xAI’s Colossus compute is turning into a big win for all of us, or OpenAI and Codex competition is forcing Anthropic to give users more. Either way: big W for us.
@theoTo prevent "programmatic use", Claude Code may now request webcam access to assure user is present when prompting
@yacinemtbApparently claude code is asking for microphone permissions to check if there is a breathing human in the area, just in case you set up a python script to use it overnight... they're going way too far
@yacinemtbClaude Code detects whether you're accessing it over SSH, and severely throttles your tokens. They are doing this to combat people who are prompting too much. They want you to use their product on a macbook only, using a signed claude code