A comprehensive tracking utility for monitoring, managing, and optimizing AI API expenditures across major providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install api-cost-tracker
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install api-cost-tracker using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is API Cost Tracker?
API Cost Tracker is a specialized developer tool designed to provide granular visibility into AI infrastructure spending. By aggregating usage data from multiple providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google AI, it serves as a central hub for financial oversight in AI development. As a powerful addition to your collection of Openclaw Skills, it helps maintain project sustainability by preventing cost overruns during autonomous agent operations.
The skill goes beyond simple tracking by offering deep analytics and optimization suggestions. It empowers developers to understand the financial impact of their model choices, compare pricing tiers in real-time, and ensure that every token spent contributes to the project's value. Integrating this into your Openclaw Skills environment provides the necessary guardrails for scaling AI applications responsibly.
API Cost Tracker Use Cases
- Monitoring real-time token usage and costs during intensive AI agent development cycles.
- Setting automated financial guardrails to stop processes if daily or monthly budgets are exceeded.
- Comparing the cost-efficiency of different models like Claude 3 Opus vs. GPT-4 Turbo for specific tasks.
- Generating professional Markdown or CSV reports for project stakeholders to justify AI infrastructure spend.
How API Cost Tracker Works
- The skill connects to configured AI providers using your existing API keys to retrieve usage data.
- It parses token consumption across different models and applies current pricing schemas to calculate precise costs.
- Usage data is logged locally in date-stamped JSON files, ensuring data privacy and fast local access.
- The analytics engine processes historical data to identify spending trends and model efficiency.
- Automated budget checks run via CLI or scheduled tasks within Openclaw Skills to trigger alerts when thresholds are reached.
API Cost Tracker Setup
To get started with API Cost Tracker, navigate to the skill directory and install the necessary dependencies:
cd api-cost-tracker
npm install
Next, configure your API keys in config.json or via environment variables. You can verify your setup and start tracking with a simple command:
# Track usage across all providers
node scripts/main.mjs track
# Set a monthly budget
node scripts/main.mjs budget set 100 --monthly
API Cost Tracker Data Schema & Taxonomy
The skill organizes its data within a local data/ directory for transparency and portability:
| File/Folder | Purpose |
|---|---|
costs/ |
Contains daily JSON files (e.g., 2026-03-01.json) tracking provider and model metrics. |
budgets.json |
Stores active budget limits for daily, weekly, and monthly periods. |
alerts.log |
Records a history of all budget alerts and webhook notifications. |
All data is structured to be easily parsable for custom visualization or integration with other Openclaw Skills.
API Cost Tracker Advanced Features
- Multi-provider support allowing unified monitoring of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google AI in a single dashboard.
- Automated cost optimization engine that suggests cheaper model alternatives based on task complexity.
- Webhook integration for sending budget alerts directly to Slack, Discord, or custom monitoring endpoints.
- Historical comparison tools to analyze spending growth and model performance over time.
- HEARTBEAT.md integration for automated, scheduled cost reporting within the Openclaw Skills ecosystem.
SKILL.md
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