I wrote a cron job that saves me ~2 hours of dead time on Claude Code every day

TL;DR Highlight

This method leverages the 5-hour usage window of the Claude Code Max plan, which starts based on the first message, by automatically sending a 'hi' message every morning to anchor the window to your work hours.

Who Should Read

Developers who heavily use the Claude Code Max plan daily, especially those who have experienced waiting times due to hitting their usage limit in the morning.

Core Mechanics

The usage window for the Claude Code Max plan is 5 hours and starts based on the time (rounded down to the nearest hour) of the first message sent that day. For example, if the first message is sent at 8:30 AM, the window is from 8 AM to 1 PM.
By utilizing this timing, sending a short message ('hi') at 6 AM before work starts anchors the window to 6 AM to 11 AM, opening a new window at 11 AM.
GitHub Actions cron job can be used to automatically send a warm-up message every morning. The related repository is available at https://github.com/vdsmos/claude-warmup.
A simpler method is to use the native scheduling feature on the Claude Code web interface (https://claude.ai/code/scheduled), which achieves the same effect without separate infrastructure. The author has confirmed that it works correctly.
This concept can be applied not only to the morning window but also to other times of the day to optimize the timing of multiple windows to match your desired workflow.
This method does not increase usage or bypass limitations; it only adjusts the starting time of the fixed window. There is no additional usage.

Evidence

Regarding concerns about whether this method violates the TOS, many opinions stated that 'it's okay because it only adjusts the window start time, not increasing usage.' Some even criticized that it should have been designed with a rolling reset.
A tip was first suggested in the comments to use the native scheduling feature on the Claude Code web interface (https://claude.ai/code/scheduled) instead of GitHub Actions, and the author tested and confirmed that it 'works perfectly,' which was reflected in the body EDIT.
There were shared experiences from users who manually type 'hi' every morning for months before showering. Many heavy users were already using the same pattern.
Real-world experience was shared that using launchd is more stable than cron on Mac environments. Some switched to launchd due to cron-related issues.
Additional tips related to the Claude Code workflow were shared in the comments: using CLAUDE.md as a project convention repository, focusing on one task per session, and requesting a file summary before making code changes were all found to be effective.
The issue of the agent stopping at the permission prompt while remotely monitoring the session was mentioned as an unresolved pain point that this method does not solve. The situation where the agent is stopped while you are away is still inconvenient.

How to Apply

On the Claude Code web interface (https://claude.ai/code/scheduled), schedule a 'hi' message to be sent every morning 2 hours before work starts (e.g., 6 AM) to anchor the window to your desired time without separate infrastructure.
If you prefer GitHub Actions or Mac launchd, refer to the https://github.com/vdsmos/claude-warmup repository to set up a cron job. Keep in mind that launchd is more stable than cron on Mac based on community experience.
If you have focused work hours in the afternoon, adjust the start time of the second window in the same way to arrange the entire day's Claude Code usage time to match your work schedule.

Terminology

사용 윈도우(Usage Window)A credit period of a certain duration (5 hours) available in the Claude Max plan. You must wait for the next window to start when the window ends.

앵커링(Anchoring)Fixing the window start point to a specific time. It utilizes the structure where the time of the first message transmission becomes the window start point.

cron jobA scheduler that automatically executes commands at a set time in Unix-like systems. Used for repetitive tasks such as 'run at 06:00 every day'.

launchdA daemon/service management system specific to macOS. Used to reliably run scheduled tasks on Mac instead of cron.