session-metrics

name	session-metrics
effort	medium
description	Tally Claude Code session token usage and cost estimates from the raw JSONL conversation log. Trigger when the user asks about session cost, token usage, API spend, cache hit rate, input/output tokens, or wants a breakdown of how much a Claude Code session has cost. Also trigger for "how much have we spent", "show me token usage", "session summary", "cost so far", or any request to analyse or display per-turn metrics from the current or a past session. Do NOT auto-dispatch compare mode (--compare / --compare-prep / --compare-run / --count-tokens-only) from natural-language phrases. The skill body uses $ARGUMENTS[0] as the dispatch key — if the first positional argument is not literally "compare", "compare-prep", "compare-run", or "count-tokens", route to the default single-session report.

Session Metrics

Runs scripts/session-metrics.py against the Claude Code JSONL log to produce a timeline-ordered cost summary with per-turn and cumulative totals.

Dispatch — how to route this invocation

First positional argument received: $ARGUMENTS[0] Full argument string: $ARGUMENTS

Read $ARGUMENTS[0] above and match it by literal equality against the table below. Claude Code already tokenized the arguments shell-style, so no parsing is required — just compare strings.

$ARGUMENTS[0]	Route	Then read
all-projects	Instance-wide dashboard aggregating every project under ~/.claude/projects	## Instance dashboard (all projects) below
compare	Two-session compare on JSONLs that already exist	## Model comparison below, then references/model-compare.md before running
compare-run	Fully automated capture: spawns two claude -p sessions, feeds the suite, then runs --compare	## Model comparison below, then references/model-compare.md "Workflow A — automated"
compare-prep	Print manual capture protocol + 10-prompt suite (fallback when headless is unavailable)	## Model comparison below
count-tokens	API-key-only tokenizer check	## Model comparison below
export	Natural-language export shortcut — scan full arg string to determine session vs project scope	## Export shortcuts below
project	All sessions for the current project — timeline + per-session subtotals + grand total	## Quick usage below (--project-cost); also scan remaining args for --output format flags
project-cost	Alias for project	## Quick usage below (--project-cost); also scan remaining args for --output format flags
(empty, or any other value)	Default single-session report	## Quick usage below

This is the single gate that keeps compare mode off the natural-language path. Do not infer the route from the user's chat history; only use the literal value of $ARGUMENTS[0] above.

When the skill auto-triggers from a natural-language question ("how much did this session cost?", "show me token usage"), there are no positional arguments — $ARGUMENTS[0] is empty — and you always route to the default. Phrases like "compare 4.6 vs 4.7 cost" arriving as natural language do NOT produce $ARGUMENTS[0] = compare and must not route into compare mode; answer them by running the default report on the current session and suggesting /session-metrics compare-prep if the user wants a real benchmark.

Pre-flight context

• skill-dir: ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}
• session-id: ${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID}

Export shortcuts

Reached when $ARGUMENTS[0] is export. Scan the full argument string (not just $ARGUMENTS[0]) to determine scope and formats. Apply these checks in order (first match wins):

1. Full arg string contains all-projects → --all-projects --output <formats>
2. Full arg string contains project (and not already caught above) → --project-cost --output <formats>
3. Otherwise → current session --session ${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID} --output <formats>

Infer format flags from the argument string: html → html, csv → csv, md or markdown → md. Always add json alongside any requested format per the post-export audit convention (see ## Optional post-export audit below).

Always add --quiet to session and project export commands. When exporting, the per-turn detail lives in the written HTML/JSON, so the full stdout timeline is redundant — and at project scope (or for a long session) it can run to thousands of lines, spilling the run into a harness overflow file that buries the [export] path lines you need. --quiet collapses stdout to the legend + grand total + footer (plus the [export] lines), keeping the run inline. Do not add --quiet for --all-projects — its instance dashboard text is already compact and the flag has no effect there.

Examples:

Full argument string	Command
export session	--session ${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID} --quiet --output json
export session to html	--session ${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID} --quiet --output html json
export session metrics to html	--session ${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID} --quiet --output html json
export to html	--session ${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID} --quiet --output html json
export project	--project-cost --quiet --output json
export project to html	--project-cost --quiet --output html json
export project sessions	--project-cost --quiet --output json
export project sessions to html	--project-cost --quiet --output html json
export entire project's session metrics to html	--project-cost --quiet --output html json
export project metrics to html csv	--project-cost --quiet --output html csv json
export all-projects	--all-projects --output json
export all-projects to html	--all-projects --output html json

project and project-cost as the first arg also pick up --output flags from remaining args the same way (e.g. /session-metrics project metrics export to html → --project-cost --quiet --output html json).

Quick usage

# Current session (pinned to session ID — no heuristic)
uv run python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/session-metrics.py --session ${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID}

# Specific session ID
uv run python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/session-metrics.py --session <uuid>

# Specific project slug (use = when slug starts with "-")
uv run python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/session-metrics.py --slug=-home-user-projects-myapp
# Or via env var (always safe):
CLAUDE_PROJECT_SLUG="-home-user-projects-myapp" uv run python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/session-metrics.py

# List available sessions for this project
uv run python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/session-metrics.py --list

# All sessions — timeline + per-session subtotals + grand project total
uv run python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/session-metrics.py --project-cost

# Export to exports/session-metrics/ (one or more formats).
# Add --quiet on exports so a long timeline doesn't bury the [export] paths.
uv run python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/session-metrics.py --quiet --output json
uv run python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/session-metrics.py --quiet --output json csv md html
uv run python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/session-metrics.py --project-cost --quiet --output html

${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR} is expanded by Claude Code to the skill's install directory (plugin cache, project-local copy, or bundled template — whichever applies). When running the script manually from a shell, substitute the actual path.

Quick shell wrapper. For manual runs outside Claude Code, the bundled scripts/session-metrics-quick.sh auto-locates session-metrics.py (including the version-pinned plugin-cache install), detects the current project + newest session, and runs an HTML+JSON export. Pass --session <uuid> (or -s) to target a specific session instead — it resolves across all projects, so you can run it from a fresh low-context session to export an earlier heavy one; the HTML+JSON default still applies unless you pass --output. Other flags (--project-cost, --list, an explicit --output …) pass through verbatim.

Export formats

--output accepts one or more of: json csv md html

Text is always printed to stdout. Exports go to exports/session-metrics/ in the project root, named session_<id8>_<YYYYMMDD>T<HHMMSS>Z.<ext> (single) or project_<YYYYMMDD>T<HHMMSS>Z.<ext> (project mode). An index.html manifest at the export root is refreshed after every export — open it to browse all runs (newest first, with a latest-run-per-scope strip).

Format	Contents
json	Full structured report with all turns, subtotals, model rates
csv	One row per turn: session_id, index, timestamp, model, tokens, cost
md	Summary table + per-session Markdown tables
html	Dark-theme report with summary cards + insights + chart. 2-page split by default (<stem>_dashboard.html + <stem>_detail.html); pass --single-page for one file.

HTML-specific flags

Flag	Purpose
--single-page	Emit one self-contained HTML instead of the dashboard+detail split.
--chart-lib {highcharts,uplot,chartjs,none}	Choose the chart renderer. Default highcharts (richest visualization, vendored, SHA-256-verified, non-commercial license). uplot and chartjs are MIT-licensed alternatives. none emits a detail page with no JS dependency. See scripts/vendor/charts/README.md for per-library license terms.
--peak-hours H-H	Translucent band on the hour-of-day chart (e.g. 5-11). Community-reported, not an Anthropic SLA.
--peak-tz <IANA>	Timezone the peak hours are defined in (default America/Los_Angeles).

Other useful flags

Flag	Purpose
--tz <IANA>	IANA timezone for time-of-day bucketing and timeline/export timestamps. Defaults to the system local tz (auto-detected via TZ env var or the OS setting).
--utc-offset <H>	Fixed UTC offset, DST-naive. Use --tz for DST-aware.
--no-cache	Skip ~/.cache/session-metrics/parse/ and always re-parse from scratch.
--prune-exports <N>	Prune the export directory: keep the newest N runs per retention group (each session id, the project series, each compare pair, the instance dated dirs) and delete older runs' files. audit_* sidecars and unrecognised files are never touched. Dry run by default — add --yes to actually delete.
--quiet / -q	Suppress the per-turn timeline on stdout — print only the legend, scope header, grand-total subtotal, and footer (the [export] path lines still print). Keeps stdout small on large session/project exports so the export paths aren't buried under an overflow-sized dump; the full per-turn detail still lands in the written HTML/JSON. Session and project scopes only (no effect on --all-projects).
--no-self-cost	Suppress the self-cost meta-metric (stderr [self-cost] line, HTML KPI card, and JSON self_cost key).
--redact-user-prompts	Replace freeform prompt_text / prompt_snippet / assistant_text / assistant_snippet with [redacted] on every turn of single-session and project JSON exports, plus compare HTML. Tool inputs, slash-command names, and structured cost / token fields stay visible. HTML / MD / CSV / text are NOT redacted.
--export-share-safe	One-flag pre-share gesture (v1.36.0+): implies --redact-user-prompts and --no-self-cost, and chmods every written export file to 0600 (rw-------). For full prompt redaction, pair with .

Invocation note for the AI. Don't pass --tz or --utc-offset unless the user explicitly asks for a specific timezone. The script auto-detects the user's system tz and renders all human-facing timestamps (timeline, session headers, generated-at banner, block anchors) in that tz. JSON/CSV raw timestamp fields stay UTC ISO-8601 as a machine-readable audit trail. Don't pass --include-subagents — subagents are included by default. Only pass --no-include-subagents if the user explicitly asks for a faster/leaner run without subagent detail.

Output columns

Column	Meaning
#	Deduplicated turn index
Time	Timestamp of the turn in the user's local timezone (auto-detected; override with --tz / --utc-offset). Header shows the active tz label. Raw timestamp fields in JSON/CSV exports remain UTC ISO-8601 (...Z) for machine-readability.
Input	Net new input tokens (uncached portion only — cache reads/writes are shown separately)
Output	Output tokens generated (includes thinking + tool_use block tokens)
CacheRd	Tokens served from prompt cache (cheap)
CacheWr	Tokens written to prompt cache (one-time). 1h / mix badge marks turns that used the 1-hour TTL tier; CSV/JSON expose cache_write_5m_tokens and cache_write_1h_tokens as dedicated columns.
Content	Per-turn content-block distribution. Letter encoding T thinking, u tool_use, x text, r tool_result, i image (zero counts omitted). Renders only when at least one turn carries any content block. CSV/JSON expose thinking_blocks / tool_use_blocks / text_blocks / tool_result_blocks / image_blocks as dedicated per-turn columns.
Total	Sum of the four billable token buckets
Cost $	Estimated USD for this turn

Deep-dive on exact column semantics, JSON keys, and detection rules: references/jsonl-schema.md.

Per-turn drill-down (HTML only)

In the Detail page and single-page variants, every Timeline row is clickable (keyboard: Enter / Space) and opens a right-side drawer showing the user's actual prompt, any slash command, the tools that were called (with one-line input previews), the content-block mix, the per-turn cost/token breakdown, and the assistant's reply. Prompt and assistant text are truncated to ~240 characters with a Show full prompt / Show full response toggle that reveals the full text (up to a 2 KB cap on assistant text). Close with the × button, Esc, or a backdrop click — focus returns to the originating row. Below the Timeline, a collapsible Prompts section lists the top-20 most-expensive prompts; each row opens the same drawer. The Dashboard variant has no Timeline, so it's unaffected.

Footer shows session totals + cache savings vs a hypothetical no-cache run. Conditional dashboard cards appear when their feature was used in the session: Cache TTL mix (when any 1h-tier cache writes happened), Extended thinking engagement (when any turn carried a thinking block), Tool calls (top-3 tool names), Session resumes (timeline divider at each claude -c resume point, detected from /exit + synthetic-turn fingerprint — lower-bound count), and the Usage Insights panel (prose-style pattern characterisations inspired by Anthropic's /usage command, auto-hide below threshold, exposed in JSON under usage_insights and in Markdown under ## Usage Insights).

Cross-cutting sections (v1.6.0 — inspired by Anthropic's session-report)

Three additional sections auto-hide when empty and render at every scope (single session / --project-cost / --all-projects). All three feed the same by_skill, by_subagent_type, and cache_breaks keys in the JSON export.

• Cache breaks — single turns whose input + cache_creation exceeds the threshold (configurable via --cache-break-threshold, default 100 000). Each row names which turn lost the cache; the HTML version is expandable and shows ±2 user-prompt context around the event. Complements the overall cache-hit % with actionable "here is where it blew up" detail.
• Skills & slash commands — one row per named skill or /slash command, columns: invocations, turns attributed, input / output / cache tokens, % cached, cost, % of total. Attribution model: a slash-prefixed user prompt sets the "current skill" for that prompt and its follow-up turns; a Skill-tool invocation overrides attribution for its own turn. Slash-prefixed keys (e.g. /session-metrics) are de-slashed so they merge with Skill-tool invocations of the same name.
• Subagent types — one row per resolved subagent_type (from Agent / Task tool_use input.subagent_type). Shows spawn count always; token/cost columns populate from subagent JSONLs (default behaviour — pass --no-include-subagents to skip). A Model column (v1.87.0) names the model that actually served the type's turns, read from those transcripts; +N marks a type served by more than one model, with the full per-model turn split on hover (HTML), inline (Markdown), as model:count|model:count (CSV), and as a models map (JSON). This is the column that makes a pin override visible: an Agent call passing model overrides the agent file's frontmatter model:, and a generic alias (opus) resolves to the current family member — so a model-pinned agent can legitimately run on a different model than its pin without the type-level turn count changing.

UUID-based dedup runs at project and instance scope to prevent resumed-session replays from double-counting. Session scope keeps the existing message.id streaming-split dedup.

Subagent → parent-prompt attribution (v1.7.0 — Phase B)

Subagent token usage is included by default and rolls up onto the user prompt that originally triggered the chain:

• Three new turn-record fields populate on the spawning prompt's row — attributed_subagent_tokens, attributed_subagent_cost, attributed_subagent_count. They are purely additive: cost_usd / total_tokens on every turn (parent and subagent) are unchanged, so existing aggregators and the session total are untouched. Display layers read both columns separately.
• Nested chains (subagent A → subagent B) attribute B's tokens onto the root user prompt, not onto A. Implemented via an iterative resolve over (tool_use.id, agentId) linkage extracted from the parent's toolUseResult.agentId fields, with a cycle guard.
• HTML prompts table sorts by cost_usd + attributed_subagent_cost by default (configurable via --sort-prompts-by). A new "Subagents +$" column is auto-shown when at least one top-20 row has attributed cost. The prompt snippet gains a "+N subagents" badge.
• CSV per-turn export always includes the three attribution columns (zero on rows without spawn activity) — column count stays stable.
• JSON report exposes top-level subagent_attribution_summary with attributed_turns, orphan_subagent_turns, nested_levels_seen, cycles_detected. Useful for sanity checks when pointing at unfamiliar history.

Disable subagent loading entirely with --no-include-subagents (fastest, no subagent token detail). Disable only the attribution rollup while still loading subagents with --no-subagent-attribution (compare against pre-Phase-B reports).

Instance dashboard (all projects)

Reached when $ARGUMENTS[0] is all-projects, or when the user asks for the total cost across every project ("how much have I spent on Claude Code overall?", "what's my total spend across all projects?", "which project is costing me the most?").

uv run python ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/session-metrics.py --all-projects --output html md csv json

Before running an all-projects report, read references/instance-dashboard.md. It covers the dated output bundle + per-project drilldowns, --no-project-drilldown (fast/CI path), and the multi-instance directory overrides --projects-dir / --cache-dir / --export-dir (the last three apply at every scope — env-var equivalents CLAUDE_PROJECTS_DIR / CLAUDE_SESSION_METRICS_CACHE_DIR / CLAUDE_SESSION_METRICS_EXPORT_DIR). This detail is deferred so single-session reports don't pay for context they rarely use.

Model comparison

Reached only when $ARGUMENTS[0] is compare, compare-run, compare-prep, or count-tokens (see the Dispatch section at the top of this file).

Default pair is claude-opus-4-6[1m] vs claude-opus-4-7[1m] — the 1M-context tier, because that matches Claude Code's shipping Opus routing. Users opt into the 200k-context variants by passing the unsuffixed IDs explicitly. Mixed-tier pairs are accepted and surface the existing context-tier-mismatch advisory on the report.

Mode	Use when
compare-run (preferred)	User wants the report with no manual capture. Orchestrator spawns two claude -p sessions via subscription auth, feeds the canonical suite, then runs --compare. Zero API key.
compare	Two session JSONLs already exist (either from a prior compare-run, or from manual /model + paste). Input is a path / UUID / last-<family> / all-<family> token.
compare-prep	Print the manual capture protocol. Only suggest when claude -p is unavailable (e.g. CI container without the CLI).
count-tokens	API-key tokenizer smoke test. NOT a subscription path; do not suggest to users comparing two subscription sessions.

Output formats for compare mode. Compare mode supports --output text md json csv html. The HTML report is always single-page (a compact scored per-prompt table); --single-page and --chart-lib are ignored when --compare is active.

compare-run auto-extras. When compare-run is invoked with --output <fmt>, it emits the compare report and five companion files in exports/session-metrics/: a per-session dashboard + detail (HTML) and raw JSON for each side, plus a Markdown analysis scaffold (compare_<a8>_vs_<b8>_<ts>_analysis.md) with headline ratios, per-prompt table, cost decomposition, and a bolded decision-framework verdict. Prose sections carry {{TODO}} placeholders so a follow-up chat can fill them in. Pass --no-compare-run-extras to skip the companions and emit only the compare report. Without --output, nothing writes to disk (text-only stdout path preserved).

Custom prompts. Users can add their own prompts to the comparison suite with --compare-add-prompt "text" — no file format knowledge required. The prompt is saved to ~/.session-metrics/prompts/ and runs automatically on every subsequent --compare-run. Use --compare-list-prompts to preview the active suite and call count before spending on inference. Use --compare-remove-prompt <name> to remove. Full guide: references/custom-prompts.md.

Prompt steering. --compare-run-prompt-steering <variant> wraps every prompt in the suite with a steering instruction before feeding it to claude -p. The four built-in variants are concise, think-step-by-step, ultrathink, and no-tools. The wrapper is applied symmetrically to both sides so the A/B stays clean — what shifts is the model's behaviour under the same instruction, surfaced as token / cost / thinking / tool-call deltas. Use --compare-run-prompt-steering-position {prefix,append,both} (default prefix) to control where the steering text lands relative to the body. IFEval pass rates may differ from the unsteered baseline by design — predicate breakage (e.g. "be concise" violating the 50-word stacked constraint) is the measurement, not a regression. For multi-variant sweeps with auto-rendered comparison articles + cross-variant summary, use the benchmark-effort-prompt skill instead.

Before proposing any compare-mode command, read references/model-compare.md. That doc has the full flag table, four workflow recipes, 4-way Opus combo matrix, IFEval predicates, advisory semantics, and troubleshooting. The eager content in this file deliberately stays minimal so single-session reports don't pay for compare-mode context they don't use.

Optional post-export audit

When any --output format is specified (html, csv, md, or json), always add json to the invocation if absent (e.g. --output html → --output html json) so the JSON export — and the audit suggestion below — can always be produced.

After the [export] lines (and the optional [self-cost] line) print, read references/post-export-audit.md and append the scope-appropriate /audit-session-metrics suggestion it specifies (session / project / instance, determined from the [export] JSON filename). Do not invoke audit-session-metrics yourself — it is a separate, user-initiated audit. The reference is deferred so non-export reports don't carry it.

Automatic Tasks companion (no extra command)

For a single-session HTML export whose JSON request_units array has between 2 and 40 entries, auto-generate a Tasks companion in the same turn (the user gets it for free). Read references/tasks-companion.md for the full procedure before doing so. In short: add --task-companion-nav to the export invocation (alongside the always-on json), then run --prepare-tasks, edit the seeded <stem>_grouping.json (real titles, merges/splits, one-line rationales, verdicts), and run --render-tasks. You are an editor, not an author — the script writes a renderable skeleton; you only refine the semantic parts.

Scope gate — single-session only. Never auto-generate for --project-cost or --all-projects (and don't add --task-companion-nav there): semantic task grouping does not span sessions. At project/instance scope, skip the companion and the nav button and tell the user /task-breakdown can be run on a single session if they want one. Skip too when there is only 1 request unit, or more than ~40 (too large for a clean auto-grouping — say so and point to /task-breakdown). The standalone /task-breakdown <json> skill remains for re-grouping a saved export later.

Auto-insights companion (v1.78.0+)

A prose "Insights" companion page (*_insights.html + *_insights.md) that you write over a deterministic digest. Python owns every number; you write only prose — same contract as the Tasks companion. Two lenses: summary (what got done & why) and effectiveness (waste & how to improve). Offer this when the user asks "what did I get done this session", "where did my spend go", "how could I have been more effective", or similar — or after a JSON export when a prose write-up would help.

Three-step flow (mirrors prepare/render-tasks):

1. --prepare-insights <export.json> — prints a bounded, truncated digest (totals, session health/behaviour, velocity, top cost drivers, per-request one-liners with no-prompt/agent-continuation noise excluded) to stdout and writes a candidate <stem>_insights.json skeleton. Shape it with --insights-lens {summary,effectiveness} (default summary) and optional --insights-focus "<question>" (free-text steering, e.g. "why was this session so expensive?").
2. Read the digest from stdout and fill the skeleton's headline + section body fields (and recommendations for the effectiveness lens) with prose. Quote figures from the digest verbatim — never recompute a number. You are an editor, not an author: the skeleton already renders.
3. --render-insights <export.json> <insights.json> — validates the prose and pairs it with FACTS recomputed from the export (the prose is never trusted for math), then writes <stem>_insights.html + <stem>_insights.md next to the export. Report the paths and offer to open the HTML.

The digest excludes no-prompt and ↳ agent-continuation units so the prose reflects real interactive work. A zero-edit skeleton still renders a correct page (facts strip + a "prose not yet written" note) — graceful degradation.

Self-cost meta-metric

session-metrics tracks its own running cost in the current session. After the [export] lines a [self-cost] stderr summary prints the prior turns' tokens / dollars (the current run is not yet written to the JSONL when the script reads it). The HTML dashboard surfaces the same number as a "Skill self-cost" KPI card. The JSON export carries it as the top-level self_cost key.

Pass --no-self-cost to suppress all three surfaces — useful for clean test snapshots or for users who find the meta-metric noisy.

Reference files

• references/pricing.md — Per-model token prices used for cost calculation. Read when the user asks about pricing or you need to add a new model.
• references/jsonl-schema.md — JSONL entry structure + full output-column semantics, cache-TTL split rationale, content- block distribution, resume detection. Read when debugging missing data, extending the script, or interpreting any non-obvious column/key.
• references/model-compare.md — --compare workflow, prompt-suite catalogue, IFEval predicates, interpretation guide. Read when $ARGUMENTS[0] routes into compare mode.
• references/custom-prompts.md — Step-by-step guide for adding, removing, and previewing custom prompts for --compare-run. Read when the user asks how to add their own prompts or customise the suite.
• references/platform-notes.md — Windows tzdata caveat for IANA --tz names, the --strict-tz escape hatch, and timezone-contract summary. Read when the user reports a timezone warning, asks about Windows support, or wants CI-safe tz handling.

How session detection works

1. Derives the project slug from cwd: replaces / → -, strips leading -.
2. Scans ~/.claude/projects/<slug>/ for *.jsonl files (excludes subagents/).
3. Picks the most recently modified file as the current session.
4. Override with --session <uuid> or --slug <slug> when needed.

Deduplication

Each API response is written to the JSONL multiple times (streaming, tool completion, final). The script deduplicates on message.id — keeping only the last occurrence so token counts reflect the final settled value.