/output-dev-workflow-cost

name: output-dev-workflow-cost
description: Calculate and display the cost of an Output SDK workflow execution run. Use when checking LLM token costs, API service costs, or total spend for a specific workflow run.
allowed-tools: [Bash]

Workflow Run Cost

Overview

This skill helps you calculate the cost of a completed workflow execution using the Output CLI. It breaks down costs by LLM model (token usage) and external API service calls.

When to Use This Skill

• Checking how much a workflow run cost in LLM tokens
• Analyzing API service spend per workflow execution
• Comparing costs between workflow runs
• Presenting cost data during a demo or review

---

Step 1: Get a Workflow Run ID

The `workflow cost` command requires a **workflow run ID** — not the workflow name.

A run ID looks like: `process_transcripts_2026-03-23T19:35:17.000Z_c2biRk_F9rYktF-wagBf5`

If you already have a run ID, skip to Step 2.

If you don't have a run ID:

**Option A — List recent runs** (use skill: `output-workflow-runs-list`):

npx output workflow runs list <workflowName> --limit 5

Copy the run ID from the most recent completed run.

**Option B — Run the workflow now and capture the ID:**

If you know the input, run it synchronously and the run ID will be in the output:

npx output workflow run <workflowName> --input '{"key": "value"}'

Or asynchronously (use skill: `output-workflow-start`):

npx output workflow start <workflowName> --input '{"key": "value"}'
# Returns: Workflow ID: <runId>

If you don't know the input, check for a scenario file (use skill: `output-dev-scenario-file`) or the workflow's `inputSchema` in its `types.ts`.

> **Note:** The workflow **name** (e.g. `process_transcripts`) identifies the workflow type. The workflow **run ID** (e.g. `process_transcripts_2026-03-23T19:35:17.000Z_abc123`) identifies a specific execution. `workflow cost` requires the run ID.

---

Step 2: Calculate the Cost

Basic usage (text output):

npx output workflow cost <runId>

With a local trace file:

npx output workflow cost <runId> path/to/trace.json

JSON output (for programmatic use or display):

npx output workflow cost <runId> --json

Verbose — show per-call breakdown:

npx output workflow cost <runId> --verbose

All flags:

| Flag | Description | Default | |------|-------------|---------| | `--json` | Output machine-readable JSON instead of the text report | `false` | | `--verbose` | Show detailed per-LLM-call breakdown | `false` |

---

Understanding the Output

Text format example:

> Pricing values are illustrative — the model and per-token rates shown below were current as of 2026-05-04. Live pricing comes from [models.dev](https://models.dev). For current model IDs, see [`output-dev-model-selection`](../output-dev-model-selection/SKILL.md).

Costs come in two figures per row: **Original** is the as-charged cost recorded in the trace attributes (`llm:generation:cost` / `http:request:cost`, with `llm:generation:usage` and legacy `llm:usage` fallbacks), and **Adjusted** is the cost after applying any `costs.yml` override (equal to Original when no override applies). The bottom line and JSON `totalCost` are the Adjusted total.

Workflow: process_transcripts
Duration: 12.3s

LLM Costs:
  Model              | Calls | Original | Adjusted
  claude-sonnet-4-6  |     3 |  $0.0123 |  $0.0123
  Subtotal           |     3 |  $0.0123 |  $0.0123

API Costs:
  Host       | Calls | Original | Adjusted
  r.jina.ai  |     2 |  $0.0040 |  $0.0040
  Subtotal   |     2 |  $0.0040 |  $0.0040

TOTAL ESTIMATED COST (adjusted)   $0.0163
As-charged (from trace)           $0.0163

API Costs only include calls where the client attached a dollar amount with `addRequestCost` (see `output-dev-http-client-create`, "Attaching Request Cost (Paid APIs)"). An HTTP call that never calls `addRequestCost` is still traced but contributes nothing here — that's expected for free or internal services, and a gap to fix for paid ones.

JSON format fields:

{
  "workflowName": "process_transcripts",
  "durationMs": 12300,
  "llmOriginalCost": 0.0123,
  "llmAdjustedCost": 0.0123,
  "totalInputTokens": 1234,
  "totalOutputTokens": 567,
  "httpCosts": [{ "host": "r.jina.ai", "originalTotalCost": 0.004, "adjustedTotalCost": 0.004 }],
  "httpOriginalCost": 0.004,
  "httpAdjustedCost": 0.004,
  "originalTotalCost": 0.0163,
  "totalCost": 0.0163
}

Per-call entries in `llmCalls` and `httpCosts[].calls` carry `originalCost` and `adjustedCost`. (Older releases exposed `llmTotalCost`, `services[]`, `serviceTotalCost`, and `unknownModels` — replaced by the fields above.)

---

Examples

**Get cost of the last run:**

# First get the run ID
npx output workflow runs list process_transcripts --limit 1 --json

# Then get the cost
npx output workflow cost process_transcripts_2026-03-23T19:35:17.000Z_abc123

**Get cost as JSON and extract total:**

npx output workflow cost <runId> --json | jq '.totalCost'

**Show full per-call breakdown:**

npx output workflow cost <runId> --verbose

---

Related Skills

• `output-workflow-runs-list` — Find run IDs from execution history
• `output-workflow-start` — Start a workflow and capture its run ID
• `output-workflow-run` — Run a workflow synchronously
• `output-dev-scenario-file` — Create or find scenario files for workflow input