[BUG] Claude Code v2.1.87 — Claude Max Sonnet Throwing "Rate Limit Reached" Immediately at Startup (HN: 248pts, 180 comments)

If you upgraded to Claude Code v2.1.87 on a Claude Max plan and found Sonnet throwing a "rate limit reached" error the moment it starts — you're not alone. A GitHub issue filed on March 29th hit 248 points on Hacker News and accumulated 180 comments in under 12 hours, with Max-plan users on macOS confirming the same behaviour: the quota check API call fires at startup and never returns, leaving Sonnet completely unusable. Haiku remains unaffected and works as a stopgap workaround in the meantime.

The timing is awkward. TechCrunch reported this week that Claude paid subscriptions have more than doubled in 2026, driven in large part by Claude Code — meaning a fresh wave of Max subscribers is potentially walking into this regression on day one. No official patch response from Anthropic had landed in the issue thread at time of writing, but the community heat makes a fast turnaround likely. If you're affected, keep an eye on the issue for v2.1.88.

Read the full article at GitHub / anthropics/claude-code →