whereamiburningtokens

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.

Safety Notice

This listing is from the official public ClawHub registry. Review SKILL.md and referenced scripts before running.

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Install skill "whereamiburningtokens" with this command: npx skills add 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

Source Transparency

This detail page is rendered from real SKILL.md content. Trust labels are metadata-based hints, not a safety guarantee.

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