Codex Banked Reset: Redeem It, the 80% Rule, and Missing Resets
Redeem a saved Codex reset through /usage or Usage settings only when a covered allowance falls below 80% remaining. Check which Go, Plus, Business Standard, or Pro allowance it restores, why weekly refresh dates move, how to inspect 30-day history, and what to do if the November 13, 2026 grant has not arrived. A separate API provider can keep local coding work moving without resetting your subscription quota.
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A Codex banked reset is a free, one-time usage refresh saved to your account until redemption or expiration. To redeem it, open /usage in Codex CLI and select Redeem reset, or use desktop or web Usage settings. You can redeem it only when at least one covered allowance has less than 80% remaining.
On November 12, 2026 at 21:59 UTC (November 13 at 05:59 in Beijing), Tibo Sottiaux announced that the banked reset had been activated and should reach accounts soon.
The announcement did not specify an exact delivery deadline, eligible account list, number of resets per account, or expiration date. As of November 14, 2026, check your own account rather than treating the announcement as confirmation of receipt.
The rules below come from OpenAI’s How resets work in Codex guide and related billing documentation.
Banked, automatic, and paid Codex resets are different
A banked reset stays available for you to use later. An automatic reset applies directly to selected usage limits, while a paid instant reset is purchased for immediate application.
| Reset type | How it works | Do you redeem it? | Cost and availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI-granted banked reset | Saves one usage refresh to your account until use or expiration | Yes, subject to the 80% rule | Free promotional benefit; recipients and terms depend on the offer |
| OpenAI-granted automatic reset | Refreshes the usage limits covered by an announcement | No; it applies automatically | Free promotional benefit for selected accounts and limits |
| Purchased instant reset | Restores eligible usage after checkout and changes the weekly usage schedule | No; purchase applies immediately | Paid offer for selected personal Plus and Pro accounts |
An automatic reset is sometimes called a global reset. That name does not mean every account receives it. It also does not mean every allowance on a selected account is refreshed.
A banked reset does not replenish your usage when it arrives. The entry Reset received means OpenAI added the reset to your saved balance.
Paid resets are different again. OpenAI’s paid-reset policy limits purchases to eligible personal Plus and Pro accounts. Free, Go, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans cannot buy this particular instant-reset product.
None of these resets permanently raises your subscription limits. They also do not create cash, API credits, or transferable balances.
How to redeem a Codex banked reset
First confirm that the reset is listed as available, check its expiration, and inspect which usage limits it covers. Then choose the interface you already use.
Codex desktop app
- Open Settings > Usage & billing.
- Find the usage summary showing
1 reset available,Full reset, or another available-reset count. - Select the summary and review the covered allowances and expiration.
- Choose
Use resetand confirm the redemption. - Reopen Usage to verify the updated percentages and next refresh times.
The desktop app distinguishes Use reset from Buy an instant reset.
Use reset consumes an eligible saved reset. Buy an instant reset opens a separate paid checkout and does not consume your banked balance.
ChatGPT web
Open Usage settings in the ChatGPT web interface. Select the available-reset summary, inspect its conditions, and confirm redemption.
The option is not available in the mobile app. You can use the web or desktop interface if your phone does not show reset controls.
If you are deciding between the available interfaces, see the Codex CLI, desktop app, and extension comparison.
Codex CLI
Start an interactive Codex CLI session using the ChatGPT account that owns the reset. Enter:
/usage
Select Redeem reset from the usage interface, review the details, and confirm.
If your CLI version does not show Redeem reset, OpenAI directs you to the desktop or web interface. The missing CLI menu item alone does not prove your account lacks a reset.
After redemption, inspect Usage again. Compare both the remaining allowance and the next refresh time before starting another long coding task.
Why does Codex say “Your usage does not need a reset right now”?
This message means that every allowance covered by the banked reset still has at least 80% remaining.
The condition uses remaining allowance, not the percentage already consumed.
| Covered allowance remaining | Can you manually redeem? |
|---|---|
| 100% | No |
| 80% | No |
| 79% | Yes, if that allowance is covered |
| 30% | Yes |
| 0% | Yes |
For example, a Plus user with 100% of the weekly allowance and 79% of the five-hour allowance remaining meets the redemption threshold. The banked reset covers both periods, and at least one is below 80%.
If every covered allowance remains at 80% or above, wait until one falls below the threshold. Your saved reset remains available until used or expired.
There is also an assistant-controlled option. In the desktop app, enable Allow your assistant to use resets if you want to ask Codex to redeem one.
This option has a stricter condition: the main five-hour or weekly allowance must have 10% or less remaining. Enabling it does not mean a reset will be spent automatically at the threshold. You still need to request its use.
If you prefer manual redemption, leave this option disabled.
Which usage limits does a banked reset restore?
A full banked reset restores the main Codex allowances covered by your current plan. It does not necessarily reset every meter visible in ChatGPT.
OpenAI’s plan mapping is:
| ChatGPT plan | Allowances restored by a full banked reset |
|---|---|
| Go | Monthly allowance |
| Plus | Five-hour and weekly allowances |
| Business Standard | Five-hour and weekly allowances |
| Pro 100 | Weekly allowance |
| Pro 200 | Weekly allowance |
| Pro 500 | Weekly allowance |
The official reset guide specifies these plans. It does not establish the corresponding full-reset scope for every other workspace seat, including Business Premium.
This table describes what a full banked reset covers if you have one. It is not an eligibility list for the November 13 grant.
On a covered allowance, redemption restores any balance below 100% to 100%. If an allowance is already at 100%, that allowance’s usage period is not restarted.
For Plus and Business Standard, one Codex task can count against both five-hour and weekly allowances. Those periods can end at different times.
A full reset also does not replenish unrelated ChatGPT image-generation, file-upload, or regular Chat Voice allowances. Separate model and feature limits may remain unchanged.
For background on the different Pro plan entitlements, see the October changes to Pro Codex usage limits.
What happens to your five-hour and weekly reset dates?
A banked reset can restart an affected usage period. This changes the next scheduled refresh for that period without moving your subscription billing date.
OpenAI’s documentation provides two examples that explain the effect.
Example 1: Your weekly allowance is already full
Suppose your weekly period ends at noon. Your five-hour period continues until 3 p.m.
After the weekly refresh, but before you make another Codex request, your usage may show:
- Weekly remaining: 100%
- Five-hour remaining: 10%
For a Plus account, a banked reset used at this point restores the five-hour allowance to 100%.
The weekly allowance is already full. Therefore, the banked reset does not restart its weekly period.
This matters when deciding whether to wait until both allowances are almost exhausted. A reset can be useful even when only one covered period is low.
Example 2: A weekly refresh moves from Friday to Tuesday
Suppose your weekly usage period was originally scheduled to end on Friday.
You redeem a banked reset on Tuesday, and that reset restarts the weekly period. The new weekly refresh falls on the following Tuesday.
You do not also receive the original Friday refresh. The reset has moved your usage schedule forward rather than added another full weekly allowance.
The exact next-refresh time should come from Usage settings. OpenAI says the displayed time may be an estimate until the new period begins.
Do not calculate your next refresh solely from the redemption timestamp or the original schedule.
This distinction also matters when planning for the announced December ChatGPT and Codex shared-allowance changes. Use the actual displayed account periods when planning work.
Can a later automatic reset restore usage again?
Yes, if OpenAI grants an automatic reset that covers the same allowance.
The official reset guide gives this example:
- You redeem a banked reset at 10:00 a.m.
- You use 5% of the refreshed allowance.
- A global reset applies at 10:30 a.m.
- The remaining allowance rises from 95% to 100%.
You do not receive 200% of the allowance. The banked reset already used is not returned.
Any other unused banked resets retain their original offer terms and expiration dates. The global reset does not consume those saved resets.
Why hasn’t your November 13 banked reset appeared?
Start with the account’s Available balance and reset history. Do not assume a missing reset is a client bug or that everyone on the same plan must have received the grant.
Check Available and History separately
In the desktop app, open Settings > Usage & billing. Under Usage limit resets, select History.
OpenAI says History shows banked-reset activity from the past 30 days.
The entries have different meanings:
Reset received: A saved reset was granted. Usage was not necessarily refreshed.Reset used: A banked reset was redeemed.Available: The saved resets you can still use, with their expiration information.
An older Reset received entry does not mean the reset is still available. It may have been redeemed or expired.
Paid and automatic resets do not appear in this banked-reset history. Their absence from History does not establish that they failed.
History also does not identify why OpenAI selected your account or exactly who triggered redemption.
Check the correct account, workspace, and offer
Use the account and workspace whose Codex allowance you want to refresh.
OpenAI determines eligibility, covered allowances, delivery times, and expiration separately for each promotional offer. Having the same plan as another recipient does not guarantee inclusion.
The November 13 announcement said delivery should happen soon. It did not publish a completed-delivery time or a complete account eligibility list.
A November 13 reply from @swingtoorich reported no reset on Pro 100. This is an individual report, not proof of a Pro-wide delivery problem.
Another reply from @haydenfm2sn described a subscription lapse and plan change before a missing reset. The report does not establish whether the subscription change caused the missing grant.
If an offer announcement identifies a delivery window, check again within that window. Eligible accounts can receive benefits at different times.
The reset appeared, but your allowance did not change
Check whether you actually redeemed it. Receipt and redemption are separate events.
If History shows Reset received but not Reset used, inspect Available and the covered allowances.
If Reset used appears but your meter looks unchanged, refresh or reopen Usage settings. Confirm the selected account, workspace, and usage limit.
OpenAI says Usage updates can take a short time. Do not spend another saved reset or purchase a paid reset merely to test whether the first one worked.
Also check the refreshed period. A weekly allowance already at 100% would not restart when the reset restored only the five-hour allowance.
A reset was used without your intended manual action
Review Reset used in History and your recent Codex conversation. Look for a request or confirmation involving the assistant-controlled reset feature.
Turn off Allow your assistant to use resets if you want future redemptions to use only the manual controls.
History confirms redemption but does not identify its trigger. Do not treat an unexpected date change alone as proof that Codex spent a banked reset.
When does a banked reset expire?
Use the exact expiration shown in your own account or offer, including its time zone. The November 13 announcement did not specify a universal expiry date.
There is additional official guidance, but its scope matters.
In a November 12 reply on the OpenAI Developer Community, an OpenAI Support representative described banked resets as valid for one month, expiring at the same time of day they were granted.
OpenAI’s general reset guide still states that expiration is determined by the specific promotional offer. Therefore, do not assign the November 13 reset a precise deadline by assuming every grant follows one fixed duration.
Open Settings > Usage & billing > Available, select the reset, and inspect its expiration before confirming redemption.
The expiration is the deadline to use the saved reset. Once redeemed, the refreshed allowance follows its own usage period and next refresh time.
An expired, unused promotional reset cannot be recovered through Support.
Can Support add, replace, or extend a free reset?
OpenAI’s published policy says no.
Support does not investigate individual eligibility for free promotional resets or whether an account should have received one. It does not add accounts to offers, extend expiration dates, or replace free resets used accidentally or not received.
OpenAI also excludes courtesy promotional resets, credits, refunds, and other compensation for these free promotional benefits. This restriction does not establish the refund policy for separately billed purchases.
Paid purchases are handled separately. If you completed a paid reset purchase and the allowance did not change, verify the charged account and receipt. Then follow the paid-reset troubleshooting instructions rather than purchasing again.
How to keep coding if your Codex allowance runs out
Choose your next step based on whether you need to preserve the current subscription workflow or can switch to separately billed API usage.
First check Usage for the actual refresh time. If a banked reset is available and eligible, redeem it before its expiration.
If you do not have one, there are two different paid routes:
- ChatGPT usage credits: Eligible accounts can buy credits for supported usage after their included limits run out. Availability varies by plan and account. These are not API credits.
- Paid instant reset: Selected personal Plus and Pro accounts can buy a weekly reset. Check the account-specific checkout price before purchasing.
OpenAI’s usage-credit guide explains that supported activity can draw from available credits after the included allowance is exhausted. Credits have their own billing and expiry rules.
For a paid instant reset, OpenAI specifies that the new weekly period begins with your first Work or Codex request after the purchase applies. The next automatic weekly refresh is seven days after that first request, not necessarily seven days after payment.
Neither purchase is equivalent to receiving a banked reset.
Continue local Codex work through a separate API provider
If you need to finish a local coding task, Codex CLI also supports custom providers using the Responses API. This route is separate from your ChatGPT subscription allowance.
For example, BetterToken documents a Codex custom-provider integration using https://www.bettertoken.ai/v1. As of November 14, 2026, its structured pricing catalog listed both gpt-6.1-sol and gpt-6-astra.
You need a separate BetterToken account, API key, and funded API balance. This does not redeem a banked reset or restore subscription usage.
The example below uses Codex’s documented environment-variable authentication. It avoids replacing your existing ChatGPT login file.
In your user-level ~/.codex/config.toml, add the following provider table. Merge it with the existing configuration and do not create a duplicate table.
[model_providers.bettertoken]
name = "BetterToken"
base_url = "https://www.bettertoken.ai/v1"
wire_api = "responses"
env_key = "BETTERTOKEN_API_KEY"
requires_openai_auth = false
supports_websockets = falseThe supports_websockets = false value follows BetterToken’s documented HTTP/SSE transport configuration. The official Codex configuration reference defines this key as the provider’s Responses WebSocket capability.
Keep your existing default model_provider setting unchanged if you want ordinary Codex sessions to continue using your original provider.
In a Bash terminal, enter the API key without echoing it, then start a separate Codex CLI session:
read -rs BETTERTOKEN_API_KEY && export BETTERTOKEN_API_KEY
codex --config 'model_provider="bettertoken"' --model gpt-6.1-solThis uses the selected provider for that CLI invocation. Codex sends Responses requests to the provider’s documented endpoint.
For a basic success check, start in a local repository containing a non-sensitive README.md. Ask Codex:
Read README.md and tell me its first heading. Do not edit any files.
Confirm that the heading matches the file. Then check the API provider’s usage dashboard for the request and charge.
If authentication fails, check that the exported key belongs to the selected provider, env_key matches its environment variable, and requires_openai_auth is false. If the model fails, check its current availability and whether the provider supports the required Responses operations.
This example uses the CLI’s custom-provider route. It does not imply that ChatGPT web, Codex cloud, or every subscription-only feature works through the external API.
API usage has separate billing, model limits, and possible tool restrictions. Check the current BetterToken model prices before starting a large task. Do not compare a paid reset with API usage on price unless you know your expected input, output, and cached token use and both routes’ actual charges.
For more on using APIs when a demanding model consumes subscription allowance quickly, see the GPT-6 Astra Codex allowance and API guide.
When should you use your saved reset?
If the expiration is comfortably ahead, keep the banked reset until a covered allowance is low and you need more coding time before its normal refresh.
Redeeming at 79% remaining is allowed, but it may provide little immediate benefit compared with redeeming near exhaustion. It can also move the next scheduled refresh.
If expiration is close, check the covered allowances and redeem as soon as the 80% condition allows. Do not let a usable reset expire while waiting for every meter to reach zero.
If the November 13 grant is missing, inspect Available, History, the selected workspace, and the offer conditions. OpenAI has not promised that every account receives the same benefit, and Support will not manually replace a missing free promotional reset.
