How do I install the Spend Circuit Breaker skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add archieindian/spend-circuit-breaker in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Spend Circuit Breaker safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Spend Circuit Breaker?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Spend Circuit Breaker free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Spend Circuit Breaker?

archieindian (@archieindian) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Spend Circuit Breaker by archieindian

Name: Spend Circuit Breaker
Author: archieindian

File contents

spend-circuit-breaker

OpenClaw has no built-in hard spending cap. This skill monitors session logs to estimate cumulative API cost, alerts at configurable thresholds, and automatically pauses non-essential cron automations when the monthly budget ceiling is hit.

Setup (first run)

Before the skill is useful, record your monthly budget in state:

python3 check.py --set-budget 50        # $50/month hard cap
python3 check.py --set-alert 0.5 0.75   # Alert at 50% and 75%

Cron Wakeup Behaviour

Runs every 4 hours (cron: "0 */4 * * *"). On each wakeup:

Read ~/.openclaw/skill-state/spend-circuit-breaker/state.yaml — load monthly_budget_usd and spend_this_month_usd
Parse OpenClaw session logs from ~/.openclaw/sessions/ to estimate new spend since last_checked_at (model × token counts × price table)
Update spend_this_month_usd and last_checked_at in state
Apply threshold logic (see below)
Reset spend to 0 on the 1st of each month

Threshold logic

Spend %	Action
< 50%	Log silently — nothing to surface
≥ 50%	Notify user: "You've used ~50% of your $X budget this month"
≥ 75%	Notify user + suggest which cron skills to pause
≥ 100%	Notify user + automatically pause all `cron`-scheduled skills except `daily-review`, `morning-briefing`, and `spend-circuit-breaker` itself

At 100%, write circuit_open: true to state. install.sh checks this flag before registering new cron jobs — new installs are allowed, new cron triggers are not.

Circuit reset

To restore automations after a budget reset or manual override:

python3 check.py --reset-circuit

This sets circuit_open: false and re-registers all paused cron jobs.

Model price table

The script ships with a price table for common models (claude-3-5-sonnet, gpt-4o, etc.). To add a custom model:

python3 check.py --add-model my-model-name --input-cost 3.00 --output-cost 15.00

Prices are per million tokens.

---name: spend-circuit-breakerdescription: Tracks cumulative API spend against a monthly budget and pauses non-essential automations when thresholds are crossed---# spend-circuit-breakerOpenClaw has no built-in hard spending cap. This skill monitors session logs to estimate cumulative API cost, alerts at configurable thresholds, and automatically pauses non-essential cron automations when the monthly budget ceiling is hit.## Setup (first run)Before the skill is useful, record your monthly budget in state:```python3 check.py --set-budget 50 # $50/month hard cappython3 check.py --set-alert 0.5 0.75 # Alert at 50% and 75%```## Cron Wakeup BehaviourRuns every 4 hours (`cron: "0 */4 * * *"`). On each wakeup:1. Read `~/.openclaw/skill-state/spend-circuit-breaker/state.yaml` — load `monthly_budget_usd` and `spend_this_month_usd`2. Parse OpenClaw session logs from `~/.openclaw/sessions/` to estimate new spend since `last_checked_at` (model × token counts × price table)3. Update `spend_this_month_usd` and `last_checked_at` in state4. Apply threshold logic (see below)5. Reset spend to 0 on the 1st of each month## Threshold logic| Spend % | Action ||---|---|| < 50% | Log silently — nothing to surface || ≥ 50% | Notify user: "You've used ~50% of your $X budget this month" || ≥ 75% | Notify user + suggest which cron skills to pause || ≥ 100% | Notify user + automatically pause all `cron`-scheduled skills except `daily-review`, `morning-briefing`, and `spend-circuit-breaker` itself |At 100%, write `circuit_open: true` to state. `install.sh` checks this flag before registering new cron jobs — new installs are allowed, new cron triggers are not.## Circuit resetTo restore automations after a budget reset or manual override:```python3 check.py --reset-circuit```This sets `circuit_open: false` and re-registers all paused cron jobs.## Model price tableThe script ships with a price table for common models (claude-3-5-sonnet, gpt-4o, etc.). To add a custom model:```python3 check.py --add-model my-model-name --input-cost 3.00 --output-cost 15.00```Prices are per million tokens.

Frequently asked questions

Spend Circuit Breaker