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What is claude-usage-epaper?

pharkie/claude-usage-epaper — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-25

2PythonAudience · developerComplexity · 4/5Setup · hard

In one sentence

A physical desk gadget that displays your Claude AI usage limits on a small e-paper screen, so you can track usage without opening an app.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Shows Claude usage bars
      Displays reset times
      Updates automatically
    Hardware
      ESP32 board
      E-paper display
      3D printed stand
    Software
      Python scripts
      ESPHome config
      Home Assistant
    Use cases
      Track AI usage
      Glanceable desk display
      Avoid screen clutter
    Setup
      Mint OAuth token
      Configure Home Assistant
      Flash ESP32 device
    Audience
      AI power users
      Smart home tinkerers

Code map

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Display Claude AI usage limits on a desk screen so you know when you can prompt again.

USE CASE 2

Track weekly and session AI limits without checking an app or website.

USE CASE 3

Monitor AI usage across phone, web, and desktop from one physical device.

What is it built with?

PythonESPHomeHome AssistantYAMLESP32

How does it compare?

pharkie/claude-usage-epaper0-bingwu-0/live-interpreter010zx00x1/faresnipe
Stars222
LanguagePythonPythonPython
Setup difficultyhardmoderateeasy
Complexity4/52/52/5
Audiencedevelopergeneralgeneral

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1h+

Requires specific ESP32 hardware, an e-paper display, Home Assistant running, and OAuth token setup with auto-renewal.

So what is it?

This project shows your Claude Code usage numbers on a small 2.9-inch e-paper display. The display has bars for session limits, weekly limits, and per-model limits, with reset times under each bar. The idea is to put your usage information in one physical place without taking up any screen space on your computer. Because Home Assistant polls the numbers and pushes them to the panel, the display keeps updating even when your computer is off. Phone and web usage count against the same limits, so the numbers stay correct regardless of which device you used. The hardware is a FireBeetle 2 ESP32-C6 board connected to a Waveshare 2.9-inch e-paper module, powered over USB. Any ESP32 board that ESPHome supports would work with some pin adjustments. A 3D-printed stand holds the display, and the repository links to the stand model. Wiring details are provided to match the configuration in the code. Home Assistant polls an Anthropic API endpoint every five minutes, reads the usage data, and exposes it as sensors. The ESP32 subscribes to those sensors and draws the bars on the e-paper panel. The display only redraws when something actually changes, so it is not flashing all day. Any bar at 80 percent or higher flips to white-on-black for readability across a room. If authentication fails, the panel shows a full-screen banner rather than stale or made-up numbers. Setup involves four steps. First, you run a Python script to mint an OAuth token by opening a URL, authorizing, and pasting a code back. Second, you add configuration files to Home Assistant and paste the token into a helper field. Third, you set up the ESPHome device with its configuration and flash it over USB. Fourth, you configure an auto-renewal script so the token refreshes itself every four hours, meaning you do not have to touch it after setup. The repository includes the scripts and YAML files for all of these steps. The usage endpoint is unofficial, so Anthropic could change or break it at any time. If the response format changes, the display falls back to showing dashes rather than wrong numbers. The repository notes that the token and credentials grant account access, so backup encryption is recommended and re-minting is the fix if anything leaks. The full README is longer than what was shown.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Help me set up the Python OAuth token script for claude-usage-epaper so I can authorize it and paste the code back correctly.
Prompt 2
Walk me through flashing the ESPHome configuration to an ESP32 board for the Claude usage e-paper display.
Prompt 3
Explain how to add the Claude usage sensors to Home Assistant using the YAML files from this repo.
Prompt 4
Help me set up the auto-renewal script so my Claude API token refreshes itself every four hours automatically.

Frequently asked questions

What is claude-usage-epaper?

A physical desk gadget that displays your Claude AI usage limits on a small e-paper screen, so you can track usage without opening an app.

What language is claude-usage-epaper written in?

Mainly Python. The stack also includes Python, ESPHome, Home Assistant.

How hard is claude-usage-epaper to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1h+ to a first successful run.

Who is claude-usage-epaper for?

Mainly developer.

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