diff --git a/src/cliproxy/quota/__tests__/quota-fetcher-claude.test.ts b/src/cliproxy/quota/__tests__/quota-fetcher-claude.test.ts
index 36b84903..480a7d11 100644
--- a/src/cliproxy/quota/__tests__/quota-fetcher-claude.test.ts
+++ b/src/cliproxy/quota/__tests__/quota-fetcher-claude.test.ts
@@ -622,7 +622,7 @@ describe('Claude Quota Fetcher', () => {
       expect(result.coreUsage?.fiveHour?.remainingPercent).toBe(60);
     });
 
-    it('does NOT inner-retry on 429; returns retryable single-attempt result honoring Retry-After', async () => {
+    it('classifies 429 as usage-probe unavailability without implying inference is limited', async () => {
       // Safety intent: 429 must NOT trigger an immediate, delay-free inner retry.
       // The outer 10-min cache + circuit breaker honor Retry-After and bound total
       // volume, so a single attempt is made and the retryable signal is surfaced.
@@ -636,18 +636,66 @@ describe('Claude Quota Fetcher', () => {
       global.fetch = mock(() => {
         attempt += 1;
         return Promise.resolve(
-          new Response('', { status: 429, headers: { 'Retry-After': '120' } })
+          new Response(JSON.stringify({ message: 'Rate limited. Please try again later.' }), {
+            status: 429,
+            headers: { 'Retry-After': '0', 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+          })
         );
       }) as typeof fetch;
 
       const result = await fetchClaudeQuota('claude-429@example.com');
 
       expect(result.success).toBe(false);
-      // Single attempt — no inner retry burned on the 429.
       expect(attempt).toBe(1);
+      expect(result.error).toBe('Claude usage status temporarily unavailable');
+      expect(result.error).not.toContain('Rate limited');
+      expect(result.errorCode).toBe('usage_probe_unavailable');
+      expect(result.actionHint).toContain('Inference may still be available');
       expect(result.httpStatus).toBe(429);
       expect(result.retryable).toBe(true);
-      expect(result.errorDetail).toBe('retry-after:120');
+      expect(result.errorDetail).toBe('retry-after:0');
+      expect(result.needsReauth).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('keeps 403 OAuth usage responses on the authorization-failure path', async () => {
+      createClaudeAccount('claude-usage-403@example.com', {
+        access_token: 'oauth-token',
+        expired: '2099-01-01T00:00:00.000Z',
+        type: 'claude',
+      });
+
+      global.fetch = mock(() => Promise.resolve(new Response('', { status: 403 }))) as typeof fetch;
+
+      const result = await fetchClaudeQuota('claude-usage-403@example.com');
+
+      expect(result.success).toBe(false);
+      expect(result.error).toBe('Not authorized for Claude OAuth usage');
+      expect(result.errorCode).toBeUndefined();
+      expect(result.httpStatus).toBeUndefined();
+      expect(result.retryable).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+
+    it('keeps terminal 5xx responses on the generic retryable server-error path', async () => {
+      createClaudeAccount('claude-usage-503@example.com', {
+        access_token: 'oauth-token',
+        expired: '2099-01-01T00:00:00.000Z',
+        type: 'claude',
+      });
+
+      let attempt = 0;
+      global.fetch = mock(() => {
+        attempt += 1;
+        return Promise.resolve(new Response('Service unavailable', { status: 503 }));
+      }) as typeof fetch;
+
+      const result = await fetchClaudeQuota('claude-usage-503@example.com');
+
+      expect(attempt).toBe(2);
+      expect(result.success).toBe(false);
+      expect(result.error).toBe('Service unavailable');
+      expect(result.errorCode).toBeUndefined();
+      expect(result.httpStatus).toBe(503);
+      expect(result.retryable).toBe(true);
     });
 
     it('clears the request timeout before retrying a retryable HTTP error', async () => {
diff --git a/tests/unit/commands/cliproxy-quota-subcommand.test.ts b/tests/unit/commands/cliproxy-quota-subcommand.test.ts
index 955ea422..dc1fa4b9 100644
--- a/tests/unit/commands/cliproxy-quota-subcommand.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/commands/cliproxy-quota-subcommand.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test';
+import { displayClaudeQuotaSection } from '../../../src/commands/cliproxy/quota-subcommand/sections/claude';
 
 async function loadQuotaCommandTestExports() {
   const moduleId = Date.now() + Math.random();
@@ -9,6 +10,43 @@ async function loadQuotaCommandTestExports() {
 }
 
 describe('cliproxy quota subcommand failure formatting', () => {
+  it('renders Claude usage-probe 429 as a warning with an inference-safe hint', () => {
+    const output: string[] = [];
+    const originalLog = console.log;
+    console.log = (...args: unknown[]) => output.push(args.map(String).join(' '));
+
+    try {
+      displayClaudeQuotaSection([
+        {
+          account: 'healthy@example.com',
+          quota: {
+            success: false,
+            windows: [],
+            coreUsage: { fiveHour: null, weekly: null },
+            lastUpdated: 1,
+            accountId: 'healthy@example.com',
+            error: 'Claude usage status temporarily unavailable',
+            errorCode: 'usage_probe_unavailable',
+            actionHint:
+              'Inference may still be available. Retry the Claude quota status check later.',
+            httpStatus: 429,
+            errorDetail: 'retry-after:0',
+            retryable: true,
+          },
+        },
+      ]);
+    } finally {
+      console.log = originalLog;
+    }
+
+    expect(output.join('\n')).toContain('[!] healthy@example.com');
+    expect(output.join('\n')).not.toContain('[X] healthy@example.com');
+    expect(output.join('\n')).toContain('Claude usage status temporarily unavailable');
+    expect(output.join('\n')).toContain('Inference may still be available');
+    expect(output.join('\n')).toContain('HTTP 429 | Code: usage_probe_unavailable | Retryable');
+    expect(output.join('\n')).toContain('Detail: retry-after:0');
+  });
+
   it('builds Gemini failure lines with the remediation hint, code, and detail', async () => {
     const { getQuotaFailureDisplayEntries } = await loadQuotaCommandTestExports();