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:

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. For current model IDs, see output-dev-model-selection.

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