Which task spent your token budget?
cctaskcost reads the Claude Code session logs already on your disk and prints the cost of one prompt at a time. Read-only, no API key, no network call.
How this was built: five stages, three skill pairs, with the evidence
$ python cctaskcost.py --files 3 --top 8 --cache
3 session file(s), 8 task(s) shown
COST TOKENS TURNS CACHED TASK
-----------------------------------------------------------------
$ 31.5785 37.9M 186 97% run stages A-E, output a receipt
$ 16.6463 8.9M 42 86% add a timeout to the flaky test
$ 7.2387 1.2M 5 40% turn on Pages for the docs folder
$ 6.8380 1.5M 7 57% check the example is complete
$ 3.6085 5.4M 19 99% add two allow rules
$ 2.4088 713.0k 8 72% read the handoff and summarise it
$ 1.4068 139.4k 2 0% /i-have-adhd
$ 1.2755 1.2M 14 90% rename the repo, update the links
total shown: $71.0011 (list prices; edit with --prices)8 task(s) in 3 session files
cost / tokens / turns / cached
$31.5785 37.9M 186t 97%
run stages A-E, output a receipt
$16.6463 8.9M 42t 86%
add a timeout to the flaky test
$ 7.2387 1.2M 5t 40%
turn on Pages for the docs folder
$ 6.8380 1.5M 7t 57%
check the example is complete
$ 3.6085 5.4M 19t 99%
add two allow rules
total shown: $71.0011About that total. A subscription plan does not bill you per token. On a plan, read every figure here as what the task would have cost on the API. That is still the number that tells you which task to change.
About that output. Every figure above is from one real run. The task labels were shortened and reworded, because the originals held local file paths, and on a narrow screen the same rows are restacked to fit. Prices are list prices as of 2026-09-26; check them against the pricing page before you trust a figure.
The four flags above: --files 3 reads the three newest session files,
--top 8 prints eight rows, --cache adds the cached column, and
--prices swaps the built-in price table for your own.
Why another usage tool
ccusage and the other monitors total a session, a day or a 5-hour block. That answers how much today cost. It does not answer which of today's eleven prompts cost $50.
- Per prompt, not per session
- Seven comparable tools were checked on 2026-09-26. Every one reports a session, a day or a live total.
- Nothing leaves the machine
- It opens local files and prints to your terminal. No API key, no network call, no telemetry.
- One file, standard library only
- Python 3.8 or later. No dependencies to install and nothing to configure.
The problem, in other people's words
-
Per-turn token and cost tracking for Claude Code
r/ClaudeCode, the request stated plainly -
one 58-minute task showed $34.38 cost on $20/month Pro plan
r/ClaudeCode -
60-90% token-saving claims didn't hold up
r/ClaudeCode, 41 points, and reposted into three other subreddits in one month
The cached column exists because of that third one. It is the share of charged input that was served from cache, and a cache read costs about a tenth of a fresh input token. A saving claim you can check beats one you cannot.
How the attribution works
Your session logs live in
~/.claude/projects/<project>/<session>.jsonl, one JSON record per
line. Three record types matter.
| record | carries promptId | carries usage |
|---|---|---|
| user, your prompt | yes | no |
| user, a tool result | yes, the same one | no |
| assistant | no | yes |
So each assistant record is charged to the most recent promptId seen in
file order. A tool result never opens a new task, because it repeats the id of the prompt
that caused it. That one grouping step is the whole tool.
Try it without touching a real log
git clone https://github.com/az9713/skill-chaining
cd skill-chaining
python cctaskcost.py demodemo builds a session log in a temporary folder, asserts the grouping and
the prices are right, prints demo: ok, and deletes it. It reads none of your
own logs. When you are satisfied, run the real thing:
python cctaskcost.py --files 3 --top 8 --cache