cost-trackinglisted

# Cost Tracking Capture, record, and track AI tool costs over time. Cost data feeds into health snapshots and informs model routing decisions. This skill does not access billing APIs directly — it guides the user through checking their provider dashboards and recording the data in a structured format that the plugin can read. ## Why Track Costs Without cost data: - MODEL_ROUTING.md routing rules are theoretical - The break-even calculation for self-hosting is impossible - Cost per PR/feature is unknown — no way to optimise - Budget conversations happen without evidence With cost data: - Routing rules are validated against actual spend - Self-hosting decisions are grounded in real numbers - Cost trends reveal whether AI adoption is efficient - Budget conversations have receipts ## The Cost Snapshot Cost data is captured in `observability/costs/YYYY-MM-DD-costs.md`. Each file records one capture session (typically quarterly). ### Format ```markdown # Cost Snapshot — YYYY-MM-DD ## Provider Spend | Provider | Period | Spend | Tokens (input) | Tokens (output) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Anthropic | YYYY-MM to YYYY-MM | $X,XXX | XXM | XXM | | OpenAI | YYYY-MM to YYYY-MM | $X,XXX | XXM | XXM | ## Model Breakdown (if available) | Model | Tokens (input) | Tokens (output) | Estimated cost | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | claude-sonnet-4 | XXM | XXM | $XXX | | claude-opus-4 | XXM | XXM | $XXX | | claude-haiku-4 | XXM | XXM | $XXX | ## Per-Project Estimate | Project