Token Tracking

// Project Autopilot - Token Usage Monitoring // Copyright (c) 2026 Jeremy McSpadden jeremy@fluxlabs.net

Token Tracking Skill

Monitor token usage and costs with configurable thresholds for warnings, alerts, and hard stops. Thresholds can be set globally via /autopilot:config and persist across sessions.

Model Pricing (as of 2024)

Claude Models (4.5 Generation)

Quick Reference

Threshold Types

Warning (Yellow) ⚠️

• Log warning to progress.md
• Display alert to user
• Continue execution

Alert (Orange) 🟠

• Log alert to progress.md
• Display prominent alert
• Pause and ask for confirmation
• Resume only with explicit approval

Stop (Red) 🛑

• Log stop reason to progress.md
• Save checkpoint immediately
• Halt all execution
• Require manual restart with increased limit

Configuration Options

By Dollar Amount

# Warning at $5, alert at $10, stop at $20
/autopilot:takeoff --warn-cost=5 --alert-cost=10 --max-cost=20

# Just a hard stop at $50
/autopilot:takeoff --max-cost=50

# Warning only
/autopilot:takeoff --warn-cost=10

By Token Count

# Warning at 100K, alert at 500K, stop at 1M tokens
/autopilot:takeoff --warn-tokens=100000 --alert-tokens=500000 --max-tokens=1000000

# Using K/M suffixes
/autopilot:takeoff --warn-tokens=100K --alert-tokens=500K --max-tokens=1M

Combined

# Stop at either $20 OR 1M tokens (whichever first)
/autopilot:takeoff --max-cost=20 --max-tokens=1M

Tracking Data

Token Log Format

Store in .autopilot/token-usage.md:

# Token Usage Log

## Session Summary
**Started:** [Timestamp]
**Current:** [Timestamp]

### Totals
| Metric | Value |
|--------|-------|
| Input Tokens | 245,382 |
| Output Tokens | 89,421 |
| Estimated Cost | $4.23 |

### Thresholds
| Type | Limit | Current | Status |
|------|-------|---------|--------|
| Warning | $5.00 | $4.23 | 85% ⚠️ |
| Alert | $10.00 | $4.23 | 42% |
| Stop | $20.00 | $4.23 | 21% |

---

## Usage by Phase

| Phase | Input | Output | Cost |
|-------|-------|--------|------|
| 001 | 15,234 | 8,421 | $0.18 |
| 002 | 45,891 | 22,103 | $0.52 |
| 003 | 89,234 | 31,892 | $0.98 |

## Usage by Agent

| Agent | Model | Input | Output | Cost |
|-------|-------|-------|--------|------|
| planner | Sonnet | 12,345 | 5,678 | $0.12 |
| backend | Sonnet | 78,901 | 34,567 | $0.76 |
| architect | Opus | 23,456 | 12,345 | $1.28 |

---

## Event Log

### [Timestamp]
**Type:** Task Complete
**Task:** 003.2
**Tokens:** +5,234 input, +2,891 output
**Cost:** +$0.08
**Running Total:** $4.23

### [Timestamp]
**Type:** ⚠️ WARNING
**Threshold:** 85% of $5.00 warning limit
**Action:** Logged, continuing execution

Threshold Checks

When to Check

1. After every tool call
2. After every agent response
3. Before starting new task
4. Before spawning sub-agent

Check Logic

FUNCTION checkThresholds(currentUsage):
    
    # Check STOP threshold (highest priority)
    IF currentUsage >= stopThreshold:
        LOG "🛑 STOP: Threshold reached"
        SAVE checkpoint immediately
        HALT execution
        RETURN "STOP"
    
    # Check ALERT threshold
    IF currentUsage >= alertThreshold:
        IF not alreadyAlerted:
            LOG "🟠 ALERT: Threshold reached"
            PAUSE execution
            ASK "Cost alert: ${current}/${limit}. Continue? (yes/no)"
            IF response != "yes":
                SAVE checkpoint
                HALT execution
                RETURN "STOP"
            SET alreadyAlerted = true
        RETURN "CONTINUE"
    
    # Check WARNING threshold
    IF currentUsage >= warnThreshold:
        IF not alreadyWarned:
            LOG "⚠️ WARNING: Approaching limit"
            DISPLAY warning banner
            SET alreadyWarned = true
        RETURN "CONTINUE"
    
    RETURN "CONTINUE"

Cost Estimation

Per-Task Estimates

Per-Phase Estimates

Typical Full Project: 500K-2M tokens, $2.50-$10.00 (Sonnet)

Default Thresholds

Threshold Priority (highest to lowest)

1. CLI Arguments - --max-cost=N etc.
2. Checkpoint - From previous session (in resume)
3. Global Config - From ~/.claude/autopilot/config.json
4. Built-in Defaults - Fallback values

Built-in Defaults

If no global config and no arguments:

Setting Global Defaults

Configure once, apply to all projects:

# Set your preferred defaults
/autopilot:config --set max-cost=100
/autopilot:config --set warn-cost=20
/autopilot:config --set alert-cost=50

# View current config
/autopilot:config

These persist in ~/.claude/autopilot/config.json and apply to all future builds unless overridden by CLI arguments.

Reading Global Defaults

FUNCTION getEffectiveThresholds(cliArgs, checkpoint):

    # Load global config
    globalConfig = readJSON("~/.claude/autopilot/config.json")

    RETURN {
        maxCost: cliArgs.maxCost OR checkpoint?.maxCost OR globalConfig?.defaults.maxCost OR 50,
        warnCost: cliArgs.warnCost OR checkpoint?.warnCost OR globalConfig?.defaults.warnCost OR 10,
        alertCost: cliArgs.alertCost OR checkpoint?.alertCost OR globalConfig?.defaults.alertCost OR 25,
        maxTokens: cliArgs.maxTokens OR checkpoint?.maxTokens OR globalConfig?.defaults.maxTokens OR 2000000,
        warnTokens: cliArgs.warnTokens OR checkpoint?.warnTokens OR globalConfig?.defaults.warnTokens OR 500000,
        alertTokens: cliArgs.alertTokens OR checkpoint?.alertTokens OR globalConfig?.defaults.alertTokens OR 1000000
    }

To disable: --no-cost-limit

Progress Display

Include in status output:

💰 Cost: $4.23 / $20.00 (21%)
📊 Tokens: 334K / 1M (33%)
████████░░░░░░░░░░░░ 21%

When approaching limits:

⚠️ Cost: $4.50 / $5.00 (90%) - WARNING
📊 Tokens: 450K / 500K (90%) - WARNING
██████████████████░░ 90%