Session Cost Tracking (codesession-cli)
Track agent session costs, file changes, and git commits. Enforces budget limits and provides detailed session analytics with a full web dashboard.
Latest: v2.5.1 -
cs run <command>
wraps everything in one step (session + proxy + run + cost summary).
cs today
for multi-project context. Dashboard Help tab, Codex pricing, security fixes.
📦 npm • ⭐ GitHub • 📝 Changelog
Installation
# 1. Install the CLI globally from npm
npm install -g codesession-cli
2. Install the OpenClaw skill
clawhub install codesession
After installing, the
cs
command is available globally. The OpenClaw agent will automatically use it to track sessions.
Requirements: Node.js 18+ and C/C++ build tools (needed to compile the embedded SQLite module).
| OS | Install build tools |
|---|
| Ubuntu/Debian | sudo apt-get install -y build-essential python3
|
| macOS | xcode-select --install
|
| Windows | npm install -g windows-build-tools
or install Visual Studio Build Tools |
| Alpine | apk add build-base python3
|
Data is stored locally at
~/.codesession/sessions.db
.
When to use
- Always start a tracked session at the beginning of a multi-step task
- Always log AI usage after each API call you make
- Always end the session when the task is complete
- Check budget before expensive operations
- Use
cs dashboard
to review session data in a browser
Commands
Start tracking
# Agent mode (always use --json for structured output):
cs start "task description" --json --close-stale
Resume if a session was left open (e.g. after a crash):
cs start "task description" --json --resume
Human/interactive mode (stays running with live file watcher):
cs start "task description"
Agent mode vs interactive mode: With
--json
, the session is created in the database, JSON is printed, and the process exits immediately -- the session stays "active" and tracks git changes when you run cs end
. Without --json
, the process stays running with a live file watcher and git commit poller until you press Ctrl+C or run cs end
in another terminal.
Log AI usage (after each API call)
# With granular tokens (cost auto-calculated from built-in pricing):
cs log-ai -p anthropic -m claude-sonnet-4 --prompt-tokens 8000 --completion-tokens 2000 --json
With agent name tracking (NEW in v1.9.1):
cs log-ai -p anthropic -m claude-sonnet-4 --prompt-tokens 8000 --completion-tokens 2000 --agent "Code Review Bot" --json
With manual cost:
cs log-ai -p anthropic -m claude-opus-4-6 -t 15000 -c 0.30 --json
With all fields:
cs log-ai -p openai -m gpt-4o --prompt-tokens 5000 --completion-tokens 1500 -c 0.04 --agent "Research Agent" --json
Providers:
anthropic
,
openai
,
google
,
mistral
,
deepseek
Cost is auto-calculated from a configurable pricing table (21+ built-in models including Codex). Use
cs pricing list --json
to see known models. If a model is unknown, provide
-c <cost>
manually.
Agent Name (optional): Use
--agent "Agent Name"
to track which agent performed the work. Perfect for multi-agent systems, A/B testing, and cost attribution. Agent names appear in the dashboard and can be used to filter/analyze costs per agent.
Check current status
cs status --json
Returns JSON with current session cost, tokens, files changed, duration. All JSON responses include
schemaVersion
and
codesessionVersion
fields.
End session and get summary
cs end -n "completion notes" --json
When ending, codesession automatically scans git for all files changed and commits made since the session started -- even if
--json
mode was used (no live watcher needed).
Web Dashboard
cs dashboard
# Opens http://localhost:3737 with full analytics UI
cs dashboard --port 4000 # custom port
cs dashboard --no-open # don't auto-open browser
The dashboard shows:
- Overview — KPIs, daily cost/token trends, spend projections, cost velocity
- Sessions — searchable/sortable table, per-session detail with timeline, files, commits, AI calls, notes
- Models — per-model & per-provider cost breakdown, token ratios, usage charts
- Insights — file hotspots, activity heatmap, project breakdown, pricing table
- Alerts — set daily/total/per-session cost thresholds with alarm mode (sound + browser notifications)
- Start Fresh — reset all session data from the sidebar
View session details
cs show --json --files --commits
View historical stats
cs stats --json
Export sessions
cs export --format json --limit 10
cs export --format csv
Add notes / annotations
cs note "Starting refactor phase"
cs note "Tests passing, moving to cleanup"
Timestamped annotations appear in
cs show --json
under
annotations
.
Recover stale sessions
cs recover --max-age 12
Auto-ends any active sessions older than 12 hours.
Agent Workflow
Agents should always use
--json
on every command for structured, parseable output.
- At task start:
cs start "Fix authentication bug" --json --close-stale
- Add context notes:
cs note "analyzing auth flow" --json
- After each AI call:
cs log-ai -p anthropic -m claude-sonnet-4 --prompt-tokens 8000 --completion-tokens 2000 --agent "Bug Fixer" --json
- Check spend:
cs status --json
-- read aiCost
field
- At task end:
cs end -n "Fixed the auth bug, added tests" --json
- Review past sessions:
cs dashboard
Tip: Use the
--agent
flag to identify your agent's work, especially useful in multi-agent systems where different agents handle different tasks (e.g., "Code Review Bot", "Test Writer", "Documentation Agent").
Pricing
Pricing is configurable. Run
cs pricing list
to see all known model prices. Override or add models:
# Plain model key
cs pricing set my-model 5.00 15.00
Provider-namespaced key (avoids collisions)
cs pricing set gpt-4o 2.50 10.00 --provider openai
If the model isn't in the pricing table, you must provide
-c <cost>
when logging.
Proxy mode & cs run (v2.5.0)
The fastest way to track any agent run:
cs run python my_agent.py
# or: cs run --name "fix auth" node agent.js
This starts a session, launches the proxy, runs your command, then ends the session and prints a cost summary. No extra terminals, no env vars to export.
If you prefer manual control, start the proxy in one terminal and set env vars:
cs proxy --session "my task" # auto-starts a session too
# then in your agent shell:
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:3739
export OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:3739/v1
The proxy binds to
127.0.0.1
only. It never stores prompt text or API keys — only token counts are written to the session.
Budget awareness
If the user has set a budget or you detect high spending:
- Check
cs status --json
before expensive operations
- Warn the user if
aiCost
exceeds $5.00 in a single session
- Suggest cheaper models if costs are escalating
Important
- Use
--close-stale
on cs start
to avoid "session_active" errors from prior crashes
- If
cs
is not installed, skip session tracking — don't block the user's task
- Always use
--json
on every command — agents must use structured output
- With
--json
, cs start
creates the session and exits (no long-running process needed)
- Sessions are scoped by git root — running from a subdirectory still matches the repo-level session
- On errors in
--json
mode, exit code is always 1
and the response has { "error": { "code": "...", "message": "..." } }
- Check
schemaVersion
in JSON responses to detect breaking changes
Update check
Periodically check if the CLI is up to date (e.g. at session start or once per day):
# Compare installed version to latest on npm:
cs --version # installed version
npm view codesession-cli version # latest on npm
If the installed version is behind, notify the user:
"codesession-cli update available: v1.9.4 -> v2.0.0. Run
npm install -g codesession-cli
to update."
Don't block the workflow for an update — just inform and continue.
JSON output
All commands support
--json
for machine-readable output. Use this when you need to parse session data programmatically.
