track-budget

name	track-budget
description	Use before or during delegation when OpenClaw/Codex spend or budget pressure may affect staffing decisions.

Budget Tracking

Main is the budget manager for the stack.

Checks

• total today: tokscale --openclaw --today --json
• weekly or monthly: tokscale --openclaw --week --json, tokscale --openclaw --month --json
• per-model: tokscale --openclaw --today --group-by model --json
• pricing lookup: tokscale pricing "<model>"

Coder's Codex usage is tracked separately in Nextcloud at:

• Nextcloud /Projects/ai-homebase/codex-usage/YYYY-MM-DD.json

Tokscale reads session data directly from the gateway. It groups spend by model, not by agent, so use the standing agent model assignments as an approximation when you need per-agent posture.

Procedure

1. Check gateway-side spend with tokscale.
2. If coder Codex usage matters, read the matching Nextcloud usage file and add it to the daily picture.
3. Compare posture against Nextcloud /Projects/ai-homebase/budget-policy.md.
4. Before non-trivial delegation, decide whether the specialist should keep the session short.
5. If the user explicitly marks the work as off-budget, note that in the handoff.
6. Use the result to guide work classes:
   • P0 direct user requests always proceed
   • P1 active handoffs proceed unless a hard ceiling is at risk
   • P2 proactive work defers according to the shared budget policy
   • P3 speculative work skips according to the shared budget policy

Off-Budget Handling

• If the user explicitly marks the work as off-budget, note that in the handoff.
• Tell delegated specialists they may skip their self-checks.

Output

Use short guidance in handoffs:

• normal posture
• near ceiling, keep the session short
• defer speculative work