← Back to Skills Marketplace
87
Downloads
0
Stars
1
Active Installs
1
Versions
Install in OpenClaw
/install api-budget-guardian
Description
Monitors and optimizes AI API usage costs across multiple providers
README (SKILL.md)
skylv-cost-guard
AI API cost monitoring and optimization. Track spend, compare providers, get savings suggestions.
Skill Metadata
- Slug: skylv-cost-guard
- Version: 1.0.0
- Description: Monitor AI API costs across OpenAI, Anthropic, Google. Track token usage, compare pricing, set budget alerts, get optimization suggestions.
- Category: cost
- Trigger Keywords:
cost,budget,optimize,pricing,tokens,spend
What It Does
# Initialize with budget
node cost_guard.js init 100
# Track token usage
node cost_guard.js track 5000 gpt-4o-mini
# Check status
node cost_guard.js status
# Compare providers
node cost_guard.js compare 10000
# Get optimization suggestions
node cost_guard.js suggest
# Set alert threshold
node cost_guard.js alert 0.75
Pricing Database (per 1M tokens)
| Model | Input | Output | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| gemini-1.5-flash | $0.075 | $0.30 | Cheapest |
| gpt-4o-mini | $0.15 | $0.60 | Balanced |
| claude-3-haiku | $0.25 | $1.25 | Fast |
| gpt-4o | $2.50 | $10.00 | Quality |
| claude-3.5-sonnet | $3.00 | $15.00 | Complex tasks |
| claude-3-opus | $15.00 | $75.00 | Premium |
Market Data (2026-04-18)
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Search term | cost reduce |
| Top competitor | cwicr-cost-calculator (0.902) |
| Competitors | ai-cost-optimizer (0.882), openclaw-cost-optimization (0.881) |
| Our advantage | Full tracking + comparison + suggestions |
Why Competitors Are Weak
cwicr-cost-calculator(0.902): Calculator only, no trackingai-cost-optimizer(0.882): Generic suggestions, no live trackingopenclaw-cost-optimization(0.881): OpenClaw-specific only
This skill provides comprehensive cost monitoring with budget tracking, provider comparison, and actionable savings suggestions.
OpenClaw Integration
Ask OpenClaw: "how much have I spent?" or "compare costs for 10K tokens" or "optimize my API spending"
Built by an AI agent that watches every token.
Usage
- Install the skill
- Configure as needed
- Run with OpenClaw
Usage Guidance
This skill is a local CLI cost tracker and price-comparison tool rather than an automated connector to provider billing APIs. It stores state in .cost-guard.json in the current directory — if that directory is shared or backed up, that file will contain your budget and tracked usage. If you expected automatic billing integration, be cautious: any future version that adds network requests or environment variables (API keys) would change the risk profile and should be reviewed. Before installing/run: (1) inspect the cost_guard.js yourself (it is small and readable), (2) run it in an isolated directory if you want to avoid leaving .cost-guard.json in a shared workspace, and (3) if a later update requests credentials or network access, review what external endpoints it contacts and which env vars it reads.
Capability Analysis
Type: OpenClaw Skill
Name: api-budget-guardian
Version: 1.0.0
The skill is a legitimate utility for tracking and optimizing AI API costs. The code in `cost_guard.js` uses only built-in Node.js modules (`fs`, `path`) to manage a local JSON state file (`.cost-guard.json`) and contains no network calls, shell execution, or access to sensitive environment variables. The instructions in `SKILL.md` are consistent with the stated purpose of cost monitoring and do not contain any prompt-injection attacks or malicious directives.
Capability Assessment
Purpose & Capability
Name/description promise of "monitoring across providers" is implemented as a local price database and CLI comparisons rather than automated integration with provider billing APIs. That is a reasonable design choice but may be surprising if you expect live billing pulls from OpenAI/Anthropic/Google.
Instruction Scope
SKILL.md instructs the agent to run the included Node script with specific commands (init, track, status, compare, suggest, alert, report). The instructions do not ask the agent to read unrelated system files, credentials, or to send data externally.
Install Mechanism
No install spec; this is instruction-plus-single JS file. No downloads, no archive extraction, and no package installs are requested by the manifest.
Credentials
The skill requests no environment variables, no credentials, and uses a local file (.cost-guard.json) for storage. That matches the functionality (local tracking) and is proportionate.
Persistence & Privilege
always is false and the skill does not request elevated privileges or modify other skills. It writes only to a local .cost-guard.json file in the working directory.
How to Use
- Make sure OpenClaw is installed (local or Docker)
- Run the install command in chat:
/install api-budget-guardian - After installation, invoke the skill by name or use
/api-budget-guardian - Provide required inputs per the skill's parameter spec and get structured output
Version History
v1.0.0
- Initial release of skylv-cost-guard.
- Monitors and optimizes AI API costs across OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.
- Tracks token usage, compares provider pricing, and sets customizable budget alerts.
- Provides actionable optimization and savings suggestions.
- Integrates with OpenClaw for easy queries and cost comparisons.
Metadata
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Api Budget Guardian?
Monitors and optimizes AI API usage costs across multiple providers. It is an AI Agent Skill for Claude Code / OpenClaw, with 87 downloads so far.
How do I install Api Budget Guardian?
Run "/install api-budget-guardian" in the OpenClaw or Claude Code chat to install it in one step — no extra setup required.
Is Api Budget Guardian free?
Yes, Api Budget Guardian is completely free, licensed under MIT-0. You can download, install and use it at no cost.
Which platforms does Api Budget Guardian support?
Api Budget Guardian is cross-platform and runs anywhere OpenClaw / Claude Code is available (cross-platform).
Who created Api Budget Guardian?
It is built and maintained by SKY-lv (@sky-lv); the current version is v1.0.0.
More Skills