ClawHub

Where Am I Burning Tokens?

Other

Reads only ~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/sessions.json to show exactly where OpenClaw tokens and estimated cost are going by session type. Read-only diagnostic skill, no writes, no deletes, no command execution, no network exfiltration.

Install

openclaw skills install @whooshinglander/whereamiburningtokens

whereamiburningtokens

Reads only ~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/sessions.json and shows a token + cost breakdown by session category.

Safety boundary

  • Read-only skill
  • Reads only ~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/sessions.json
  • Does not read any other local files unless the user explicitly asks for the optional improvement log
  • Does not modify, delete, or execute anything
  • Does not send local data anywhere

Data source

~/.openclaw/agents/main/sessions/sessions.json

Each session entry has:

  • totalTokens, inputTokens, outputTokens, cacheRead, cacheWrite
  • estimatedCostUsd
  • model, modelProvider
  • startedAt, updatedAt (Unix ms timestamps)

Session keys: agent:main:<category>:<optional-id>

Categories (3rd segment of key):

  • main — interactive chat
  • cron — heartbeats + scheduled tasks
  • subagent — spawned sub-agents
  • paperclip — Paperclip logging (if installed)
  • anything else — plugins, integrations

Time windows

Detect from user's phrasing:

  • "this week" / default → last 7 days
  • "today" → last 24 hours
  • "this month" → last 30 days
  • "all time" / "all-time" → no filter

Filter by updatedAt >= cutoff_ms.

Steps

  1. Read and parse sessions.json. If missing, say so and stop.

  2. Filter by time window based on user's phrasing.

  3. Group by category (3rd : segment of key). Sum totalTokens and estimatedCostUsd.

  4. Sort by tokens descending. Calculate % of total for both tokens and cost.

  5. Flag anomalies:

    • ⚠️ SINKHOLE: category >40% tokens but <15% cost (cheap model, high volume — likely a logging/cron drain)
    • ⚠️ EXPENSIVE: non-main category >35% cost but <15% tokens (expensive model, few calls — check model config)

  6. Output the table and 1-2 insight lines.

Output format

🔥 WHERE AM I BURNING TOKENS? (last 7 days)
66 sessions | 2.8M tokens | $100.65 est.

Category        Sess    Tokens    Tok%     Cost   Cost%
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
paperclip         26      997k   36.1%  $  5.79    5.8%  ⚠️ SINKHOLE
subagent          22      795k   28.8%  $  9.49    9.4%
cron              16      692k   25.1%  $ 48.61   48.3%  ⚠️ EXPENSIVE
main               1      274k   10.0%  $ 36.76   36.5%

💡 paperclip is eating 36% of tokens on a cheap model.
   High volume, low cost = lots of context for little output. Consider disabling.
💡 cron costs 48% of spend. Verify heartbeat model is Haiku or a local model, not Sonnet.

Format token counts: 1.2M / 692k / 344. Keep table tight, no padding.

Improvement log (optional)

Only if the user explicitly asks to log an improvement or track savings:

  • Read/create ~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/token-diet-log.md
  • Append entry: date, what changed, token % before/after, cost before/after
  • Show running total saved

Format:

## Token Diet Log
| Date | Change | Tokens Before | Tokens After | Cost Saved/wk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-05 | Disabled Paperclip | 68% | 36% | ~$5.79 |

Notes

  • estimatedCostUsd is OpenClaw's estimate, not exact billing
  • main being expensive is expected (interactive Sonnet sessions), don't flag it
  • Sessions.json is cumulative, grows over time, no automatic reset
  • Do not read individual session .jsonl files, sessions.json has everything needed
  • Do not expand beyond the declared files above unless the user explicitly asks for the optional log