| name | update-model-pricing |
| description | Update Brain Dump's AI model pricing catalog (DEFAULT_COST_MODELS) when providers release new models or change prices. Use when the user asks to add a new model, refresh provider pricing, or fix ticket cost attribution for a model that shows $0 or wrong costs. Covers Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Cursor, OpenCode, and open-source providers.
|
Update Model Pricing
Brain Dump attributes AI costs to tickets using per-model pricing rows. This
skill is the repeatable workflow for keeping that pricing current.
Where pricing lives
| Location | Role |
|---|
core/cost.ts → DEFAULT_COST_MODELS | Single source of truth. Seeded into new databases and synced into existing ones. |
core/cost.ts → syncDefaultCostModels() | Inserts missing defaults and refreshes rows still marked is_default in existing DBs. Runs as part of cost recalculation. |
core/__tests__/cost-explorer.test.ts | Registry-assert tests: per-provider model-name lists plus spot-check pricing assertions. Must be updated alongside the catalog. |
src/lib/launch-model-catalog.ts | Launch model picker. Reads cost-model rows at runtime — new models under an existing provider appear automatically. Only touch it for a new provider id or the Pi allowlist (PI_MODEL_NAMES_BY_PROVIDER). |
All prices are USD per million tokens (inputCostPerMtok, outputCostPerMtok,
cacheReadCostPerMtok, cacheCreateCostPerMtok).
Workflow
1. Get authoritative prices
- Anthropic: WebFetch
https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/pricing
(the model pricing table has base input, 5m cache writes, cache hits, output).
- OpenAI: WebFetch
https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing.
- If a model is too new to be on the pricing page, use figures the user
provides (announcement posts) and note the source in the commit message.
- Never invent prices from memory — models newer than your training data are
exactly the ones this skill exists for.
2. Derive cache prices when only input/output are published
- Anthropic: cache read =
0.1 × input, 5-minute cache write = 1.25 × input
(the docs table lists them explicitly — prefer the table).
- OpenAI (GPT-5.6 and later): cache read =
0.1 × input; cache writes are
billed at 1.25 × input, so set cacheCreateCostPerMtok. Older OpenAI
models have no cache-write charge — leave cacheCreateCostPerMtok unset.
3. Edit DEFAULT_COST_MODELS in core/cost.ts
- New model → add a new entry in the provider's section with
isDefault: true.
- Price change → edit the existing entry in place.
syncDefaultCostModels()
updates any DB row still marked default; rows the user hand-edited are left
alone unless listed in legacyRowsToReplace.
- Do not delete old models — historical token usage still resolves against
them. Only
LEGACY_OPENAI_MODELS_TO_REMOVE handles intentional removals.
- Introductory pricing: seed the price that is actually billed today and
leave a comment with the standard price and switchover date (see the
claude-sonnet-5 entry for the pattern). Rerun this skill after the date.
- Subscription-routed providers (
openai-codex for Pi) use all-zero prices;
if Pi exposes a new model, also add it to PI_MODEL_NAMES_BY_PROVIDER in
src/lib/launch-model-catalog.ts.
4. Update the registry tests
In core/__tests__/cost-explorer.test.ts:
- Add the new model names to the provider's expected list (alphabetically
sorted —
listCostModels orders by provider, then model name).
- Update or add
toMatchObject pricing assertions for changed/new models.
- The sync-reconciliation tests hardcode
inserted/removed counts (e.g.
expect(result).toEqual({ inserted: N, ... })) — bump N by the number of
models added to the affected provider.
5. Validate
pnpm test core/__tests__/cost-explorer.test.ts
pnpm check
6. Apply to the live database
pnpm brain-dump telemetry recalculate-costs --pretty
This syncs the defaults into the user's database and re-prices all historical
token_usage rows. Use deep-recalculate-costs instead if provider-log
backfill is also wanted. Report the inserted/updated counts and any change in
total attributed cost.
Sanity checks before finishing
- Cache read should be ~10% of input; a cache read higher than input price is
almost certainly a transcription error.
- Every new entry has
isDefault: true (otherwise sync won't manage it).
- New Anthropic/OpenAI models automatically appear in the Claude/Codex launch
pickers — no catalog change needed for existing providers.
