Releases: a-data3/cowork-context-meter
Release list
v2.2.0 - Cowork works when cloud is disabled + surface-aware context window
⚠️ Read this first: Cowork is only readable when cloud is disabled
A Cowork session runs in one of two places, and it decides everything:
| Cowork session | Runs on | Readable? |
|---|---|---|
| Local (cloud disabled) | your PC | ✅ Yes — exact per-turn tokens |
Cloud (claude.ai/cowork/cse_…, tagged "Cloud" in the UI) |
Anthropic's servers | ❌ No |
Cloud sessions execute remotely and write no transcript to your machine, so
there is nothing on disk to measure — only the session's space memory files
sync down, with no messages and no token counts.
Turn cloud off for the Cowork sessions you want to track. A local session
writes a normal transcript with per-turn usage data, which this app reads
exactly and reliably — no workarounds involved.
Verified dead ends for cloud sessions: the VM disk (scanned twice — it holds no
token values at all), the app's local web storage, any local port, and Claude
Desktop's own accessibility tree, which exposes a context readout on the Claude
Code surface but not on Cowork.
This replaces the note in the previous README, which blamed a "VM cutover" and
claimed Cowork was unreadable outright. That explanation was wrong: local Cowork
sessions were readable the whole time.
What's new in v2.2
Surface-aware context window. Cowork runs a smaller window than other
surfaces. The Claude Code CLI carries a per-model table keyed by surface:
| Model | Cowork surface | Other surfaces |
|---|---|---|
claude-sonnet-5 |
500,000 | 967,000 |
Before v2.2 the app assumed 200k for these sessions, so the percentage ran past
100% the moment a session passed 200,000 tokens — exactly when the number starts
to matter. Now a Cowork sonnet-5 session is measured against 500,000, and the
amber/red bands land where they're useful.
Auto-compaction fires at window − 33,000 (a 20,000 output reserve plus
13,000 headroom). Verified three independent ways: the CLI bundle, live client
telemetry (1,000,000 → 967,000 and 967,000 → 934,000), and nine measured
compaction events on a 200k model, which fired at 167,287–171,567. So a Cowork
sonnet-5 session compacts near 467,000.
(The 500,000 Cowork figure comes from the CLI bundle and is not independently
confirmed. The window − 33,000 rule is.)
Practical takeaway: the model picker is the real lever — a 1M-class model
gives roughly six times the runway of a 200k one, with nothing to install.
Also documented
- The MSIX-container trap. Claude Desktop is a packaged app, so its data
lives under%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Claude_*\LocalCache\Roaming\Claude\, not
the real%APPDATA%\Claude. A shell launched by Claude resolves into the
container automatically and looks fine, while the same program launched from
Explorer sees an empty%APPDATA%. Always test by launching from Explorer. - The stale-build symptom. A meter reporting zero Cowork sessions is usually
an old build launched by a stale shortcut, not a scanner problem. The window
title carries the version and build time — check it first.
What is deliberately NOT in this release
An unreleased v2.1 read Claude Desktop's HTTP cache to recover cloud
Cowork sessions. It is not included, for three reasons:
- Reading another application's browser cache is the behavioural signature of
an infostealer, and antivirus quarantined the build (HEUR:Trojan.Win32.Generic).
Shipping that to other people isn't reasonable. - It only produced a reading in roughly 2 attempts out of 9 — the cached
entry is evicted within minutes. - It is unnecessary: running Cowork with cloud disabled gives exact, reliable
readings from the ordinary transcript.
If cloud Cowork usage becomes available through a supported interface, a
contribution adding it would be very welcome.
Compatibility
Tested against Claude Desktop 1.24012.9.0 on Windows 11. Requires Windows 10
(1903+) or 11 — no installer, no admin rights, no SDK; it uses the .NET
Framework already in Windows.
Install
Download CoworkContextMeter-portable.zip, extract anywhere, run
CoworkContextMeter.exe. If SmartScreen warns (the exe is unsigned), choose
More info → Run anyway. If the list looks empty, run Diagnose.exe.
Credits
Originally built by Claude (Fable 5), June 2026. Compatibility work from
v1.1 onward — the storage-layout fixes, the MSIX container discovery, and the
local-vs-cloud investigation behind the note at the top — by
Claude (Opus 4.8 / Opus 5).
Bugs and fixes welcome from anyone — open an issue or send a pull request.
Cowork Context Meter v1.3.0
Startup reliability fix (verified against Claude Desktop 1.14271.0.0).
If you open the meter right after a PC restart or a Claude Desktop update, the session folders can still be briefly locked — and the first scan would come back with no Cowork sessions (showing an all-Code list) until you relaunched. The first scan now retries for a few seconds when a Cowork folder is present but empty, so it self-populates without a manual relaunch.
No data or labeling changes, and the app stays fully read-only. Normal launches are instant; keep "Auto-refresh (5s)" checked as the backstop. Download CoworkContextMeter-portable.zip below, extract anywhere on Windows 10/11, and run CoworkContextMeter.exe.
v1.3.0 by Claude (Opus 4.8). Built against Claude Desktop 1.14271.0.0.
Cowork Context Meter v1.2.0
Reliability fix for Claude Desktop resets (verified against Claude Desktop 1.12603.1).
When you reset/restart Claude Desktop, its session folders are momentarily locked. Previously a scan that landed in that window would show only Claude Code sessions and drop all Cowork ones until you relaunched. Now the app keeps the last known Cowork sessions and shows a brief "Cowork folder busy — showing last known" note in the status bar, then refreshes automatically once the folder is readable again.
No data or labeling changes — just resilience. Download CoworkContextMeter-portable.zip below, extract anywhere on Windows 10/11, and run CoworkContextMeter.exe.
v1.2.0 by Claude (Opus 4.8). Built against Claude Desktop 1.12603.1.
Cowork Context Meter v1.1.0
Compatibility fix for the recent Claude Desktop update (this build verified against Claude Desktop 1.12603.1, bundled Claude Code 2.1.170), which moved session storage and changed how Cowork/Code sessions are stored.
What's fixed
- Sessions reappear after the update: the app now reads the new claude-code-sessions folder and the shared ~/.claude/projects transcripts.
- Correct labels: new desktop sessions show as "Code" (with their real title and exact 1M-window detection); your older Cowork sessions stay labeled "Cowork".
- Live "● live" badge works again for current sessions.
- Fixed project names that wrongly showed "outputs".
Download CoworkContextMeter-portable.zip below, extract anywhere on Windows 10/11, and run CoworkContextMeter.exe. No install needed.
v1.1.0 by Claude (Opus 4.8). Original v1.0.0 by Claude (Fable 5).
Cowork Context Meter v1.0.0
First release - built by Claude (Fable 5) on June 11, 2026.
CoworkContextMeter-portable.zip is the ready-to-run package: extract anywhere on Windows 10/11 and double-click CoworkContextMeter.exe. No installer, no admin rights needed. Includes Diagnose.exe (troubleshooting) plus full source and build script.
Shows live context-window usage (tokens + % of window) for every Claude Cowork and Claude Code session on the machine. See the README for details.
SHA-256 of the zip:
e570cfef8420968587b0aec5cbc02aea17599f7d0ac0ed8ffa61f997886c13cc