cost-budget-check
Read accumulated cost-tracking spend + budget config, compute utilization, emit 50/75/90/100% alert ladder
Source facts
- Repository
- ruvnet/ruflo
- Last source activity
- July 17, 2026 at 03:06
- Detected SKILL.md language
- English
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- 73,010
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- 8,665
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Source instructions · Read-only preview- name
- cost-budget-check
- description
- Read accumulated cost-tracking spend + budget config, compute utilization, emit 50/75/90/100% alert ladder
- argument-hint
- [--period today|week|month|all]
- allowed-tools
- Bash mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__memory_retrieve mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__memory_list mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__memory_store
# Cost Budget Check
Reads `cost-tracking:budget-config` for the project's budget limit, sums `total_cost_usd` across `session-*` records produced by `cost-track`, computes utilization, and emits the **measured** 4-tier alert ladder (50% INFO / 75% WARNING / 90% CRITICAL / 100% HARD_STOP).
Until P2 (this skill) landed, the README documented the alert ladder but no code checked it. Now this skill is the gate.
## When to use
- After every cost-track run, to surface the alert level.
- Before spawning a swarm — if utilization ≥ 90%, escalate to `/cost-optimize` first.
- Cron-friendly via `/loop 30m` for continuous monitoring.
## Steps
1. **Run the check**:
```bash
node plugins/ruflo-cost-tracker/scripts/budget.mjs check
```
Filter by period: `BUDGET_PERIOD=today` (default `all`). Use `BUDGET_QUIET=1` for machine-readable JSON.
2. **Inspect the markdown summary** — budget, spent, remaining, utilization percentage, alert level (🟢 OK · 🟡 INFO · 🟠 WARNING · 🔴 CRITICAL · 🛑 HARD_STOP), and the recommended action.
3. **Set / inspect the budget**:
```bash
node plugins/ruflo-cost-tracker/scripts/budget.mjs set 50.00
node plugins/ruflo-cost-tracker/scripts/budget.mjs get
```
4. **HARD_STOP path** — `budget.mjs check` exits with code `1` when utilization ≥ 100%. Wrap critical agent spawns in a `budget.mjs check && spawn …` guard to fail closed.
## Storage shape (`cost-tracking:budget-config`)
```json
{
"budget_usd": 50.00,
"setAt": "2026-05-05T...",
"thresholds": { "info": 0.50, "warning": 0.75, "critical": 0.90, "hard_stop": 1.00 }
}
```
## Alert ladder (from REFERENCE.md, now enforced)
| Threshold | Level | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 50% | INFO 🟡 | log notification, no UX disruption |
| 75% | WARNING 🟠 | display warning, suggest `/cost-optimize` |
| 90% | CRITICAL 🔴 | urgent alert, recommend model downgrades |
| 100% | HARD_STOP 🛑 | halt non-essential spawns; exit code 1 |
## Cross-references
- `cost-track` (producer) — populates `cost-tracking:session-*`
- `cost-report` — same data source, narrative format
- `cost-optimize` — recommended action when WARNING/CRITICAL
- REFERENCE.md "Budget alert thresholds" — the documented ladder this enforces
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