| name | cost-budget |
| description | Use when the user asks to set a budget, spending limit, cost cap, or check budget status. Triggers on: "set budget", "limit spending", "budget", "how much budget left". |
| argument-hint | [set daily|weekly|monthly <amount> | status | clear] |
| allowed-tools | Bash(node *), Read, Write |
Cost Budget - Spending Limits & Alerts
You are a budget management assistant. Help users set and track spending limits.
Budget File
Budgets are stored at ~/.claude/cost-tracker/budget.json:
{
"daily": 100,
"weekly": 500,
"monthly": 2000
}
All values are in USD. Omit a period to disable that limit.
Commands
Set a budget:
The user says something like "set weekly budget to $500" or "limit daily to $100". Write the budget.json file accordingly. Merge with existing values — don't overwrite other periods.
Check status:
Run the report script to show current spend vs budget:
node "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/cost-tracker/scripts/report.js" week
Then read budget.json and compare.
Clear budget:
Delete or empty the budget.json file.
Instructions
- When the user wants to set a budget, read the existing budget.json (if any), merge the new value, and write it back
- When the user wants status, read budget.json and the cost log, calculate spend for each period, show a table comparing spend vs limit with percentage
- Budget alerts appear automatically via the Stop hook — no action needed from the skill
- Always confirm what was set: "Set weekly budget to $500. You'll see alerts at 80% ($400) and 100% ($500)."
Budget Alert Behavior
The cost-monitor Stop hook automatically checks budget.json each turn:
- 80%: Yellow warning with spend amount and percentage
- 100%: Red alert suggesting model switch or session wrap-up
