Codex banked resets: a reset you keep until you need it
A banked reset is a credit placed on your account that you spend when you choose. Nothing changes until you redeem it, which is why we record it as its own kind of event and keep it out of the forecast. Redeeming refreshes your 5-hour and weekly Codex usage windows and changes your weekly reset date, and you cannot take that back. A reset from OpenAI is the kind we do forecast, and the one the email alerts cover.
How it behaves
The credit sits on the account until redeemed. Redeeming it refreshes your 5-hour and weekly Codex usage windows and changes your weekly reset date, so the new seven-day window runs from that moment. Settings → Usage shows the updated reset time.
Spending a credit cannot be undone: the credit is gone and the reset date you had does not come back. You do get a last look before it happens. In Settings → Usage you select the summary showing an available reset, “1 reset available” or “Full reset”, and review the expiration details, then confirm that you want to use it. Choose the moment at that step, because after it there is nothing to take back.
Credits do not stack usefully: redeeming one while you still have most of your allowance wastes most of it. The point of banking is to hold it for the run that would otherwise stall.
You can use it from Settings → Usage on the desktop app, in the CLI, or on the web. The change may take a short time to appear in your usage dashboard, and the history page records the day the credit was issued rather than the day you use it.
When a banked credit expires, and where to check
Thirty days is the common case rather than a universal rule. A credit from a referral reward lapses 30 days after it is issued, unless the offer says otherwise: take the day it was issued, add 30 days, and it goes at the end of that day.
Credits from other places, like a milestone, an apology after an outage, or a one-off gift, expire whenever the offer or your account says. That can be sooner or later.
The date that counts is the one on your own account. Open Settings → Usage and read the expiry listed against the credit you are holding. A credit banked during a milestone week and forgotten is simply gone.
In your account the credit shows as “1 reset available” in settings, in the sidebar account card and in the Codex extension; some accounts see a notice reading “You have 1 reset bank left”, and several credits appear as “You have 4 usage limit resets available” (OpenAI forum, Hacker News).
Reset Beacon does not track credits held in individual accounts, so it does not send expiry alerts for them. One email does go out when OpenAI grants a banked reset to everyone. A source post tells you when a credit was handed out; only your own account tells you when yours runs out.
Expiry is per credit. Two credits issued a week apart lapse a week apart.
Yes. Redeeming a banked credit refreshes your 5-hour and weekly usage windows and changes your weekly reset date; Settings → Usage shows the new time. The day you are billed is a separate thing and does not move.
Banked credit versus a reset from OpenAI
Both give you your usage back. Only the reset from OpenAI says anything about what happens next.
| Comparison | Banked credit | Reset from OpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| When it takes effect | When you redeem it | Immediately, for everyone in scope |
| Expires | Yes, often after 30 days. Your account shows the date | Not applicable |
| Moves your weekly reset date | Yes, when you redeem it | Yes |
| Counted in the forecast | No | Yes |
| Triggers an alert email | Yes, once when OpenAI grants one to everyone | Yes, on confirmation |
| Shown in the calendar as | An outlined square | A filled square |
Recorded banked credits
Every credit we have logged, with the quoted sentence and our archived copy.
"Common questions". (Same heading on the limits and banked pages.)
Can I hold two credits at once?
Yes, and each keeps its own clock. Redeem the one that expires first, and check Settings → Usage for the dates.
Do credits survive a plan change?
They have survived upgrades in every case we have recorded. Downgrades and cancellations we have not seen tested.
Why doesn’t a credit raise the forecast?
Because it says nothing about a future reset from OpenAI. Counting it would make quiet weeks look eventful.
I got a credit but no reset. Is that a miss?
No. The two are separate events and are scored separately on the track record page.