cost-metering
Original：🇺🇸 English
Translated
Track and manage API costs across sessions. Budget alerts, model routing for cost optimization, spend reports. Use when: cost check, budget status, how much spent, optimize costs, cost tracking.
3installs
Sourcescientiacapital/skills
Added on
NPX Install
npx skill4agent add scientiacapital/skills cost-meteringTags
Translated version includes tags in frontmatterSKILL.md Content
View Translation Comparison →<objective>
Track Claude API costs across sessions with budget alerts, model routing optimization, and spend reporting. Integrates with workflow-orchestrator's cost gate for automated budget enforcement.
</objective>
<quick_start>
Check current spend:
bash
cat ~/.claude/daily-cost.json 2>/dev/null || echo "No tracking yet"Initialize tracking:
bash
mkdir -p ~/.claude
echo '{"date":"'$(date +%Y-%m-%d)'","spent":0,"budget_monthly":100,"budget_daily":5}' > ~/.claude/daily-cost.json</quick_start>
<success_criteria>
- Daily cost tracking initialized at
~/.claude/daily-cost.json - Budget alerts fire at 50% (info), 80% (warn), and 95% (block) thresholds
- Model routing applied: Haiku for search/classify, Sonnet for code, DeepSeek for bulk
- Cost-per-feature metric available via portfolio-artifact integration
- Monthly spend stays within configured budget ($100/mo default) </success_criteria>
Model Rates (Current)
| Model | Input/1M tokens | Output/1M tokens | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 4 | $15.00 | $75.00 | Architecture, complex reasoning |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | $3.00 | $15.00 | Code generation, standard tasks |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | $0.25 | $1.25 | Search, classification, simple |
| DeepSeek V3 | $0.27 | $1.10 | Bulk processing |
| GROQ Llama 3.3 70B | $0.59 | $0.79 | Fast inference |
| Voyage Embeddings | $0.10 | — | Embeddings |
Budget Configuration
~/.claude/daily-cost.json
json
{
"date": "2026-02-07",
"spent": 2.40,
"budget_monthly": 100,
"budget_daily": 5,
"alerts": {
"info": 0.5,
"warn": 0.8,
"block": 0.95
}
}Alert Thresholds
| Threshold | % Budget | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Info | 50% | Display: "50% of monthly budget used" |
| Warn | 80% | Yellow alert: "⚠️ 80% budget — consider model downgrade" |
| Block | 95% | Red alert: "🛑 95% budget — require explicit override to continue" |
Cost Optimization Strategies
1. Model Routing (biggest impact)
| Task | Expensive | Optimized | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| File search | Sonnet ($3/1M) | Haiku ($0.25/1M) | 92% |
| Code review | Sonnet ($3/1M) | Haiku ($0.25/1M) | 92% |
| Classification | Sonnet ($3/1M) | Haiku ($0.25/1M) | 92% |
| Bulk processing | Sonnet ($3/1M) | DeepSeek ($0.27/1M) | 91% |
Rule: If the task doesn't generate code, use Haiku. If it doesn't need Claude, use DeepSeek.
2. Context Management
- Keep SKILL.md files under 200 lines (progressive disclosure)
- Load reference files only when needed
- Use agent with
Exploremodel for codebase searchhaiku - Avoid reading entire files — use Grep to find specific lines
3. Task Batching
- Group related searches into one Explore agent call
- Use parallel subagents (haiku) instead of serial sonnet calls
- Combine file reads when possible
Tracking Commands
Daily Spend Check
bash
cat ~/.claude/daily-cost.json | jq '{date, spent, remaining: (.budget_daily - .spent), pct: ((.spent / .budget_monthly) * 100 | floor)}'Weekly Report
bash
# Aggregate daily logs
cat ~/.claude/cost-log.jsonl | jq -s 'group_by(.phase) | map({phase: .[0].phase, total: (map(.est_cost) | add), count: length})'Monthly Summary
bash
cat ~/.claude/cost-log.jsonl | jq -s '{
total: (map(.est_cost) | add),
by_model: (group_by(.model) | map({model: .[0].model, cost: (map(.est_cost) | add)})),
by_phase: (group_by(.phase) | map({phase: .[0].phase, cost: (map(.est_cost) | add)}))
}'Integration Points
| System | How |
|---|---|
| workflow-orchestrator | Cost gate checks budget before workflows |
| subagent-teams | Model selection uses cost tiers |
| agent-capability-matrix | Includes model recommendations |
| portfolio-artifact | Reports cost-per-feature metrics |
| End Day protocol | Logs daily costs, updates MTD |
| TaskCreate/TaskUpdate | Zero API cost — local UI tool for progress tracking |
| TeamCreate/SendMessage | Zero API cost — local coordination (but spawned agents incur model costs) |
Storage
~/.claude/
├── daily-cost.json # Current day's budget + spend
├── cost-log.jsonl # Append-only operation log
└── portfolio/
└── daily-metrics.jsonl # Includes cost-per-featureDeep dive: See ,
reference/cost-tracking-guide.mdreference/budget-templates.md