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Token Tracking

kube-q tracks token usage per response and per session, so you always know what a conversation costs.

After every response that includes usage data, kube-q shows a footer:

kube-q  (1.2s · 460 tokens)

This is the elapsed response time and the total tokens for that exchange (prompt + completion). If the server doesn't emit a usage block, the footer is omitted silently — no errors.

Session summary

Use /tokens or /cost inside the REPL for a full breakdown:

┌─ Token Usage ─────────────────────────┐
│ This session:                         │
│   Prompt:     1,240 tokens            │
│   Completion: 3,890 tokens            │
│   Total:      5,130 tokens            │
│   Requests:   8                       │
│   Est. cost:  $0.0312                 │
│                                       │
│ Last response:                        │
│   120 in → 340 out ($0.0024)          │
└───────────────────────────────────────┘

Cost estimates are labeled "Est." — they are approximations based on per-model rate tables, not exact billing figures.

Session list

kq --list shows a Tokens column for every session:

ID        Title                     Messages  Tokens   Last used
────────  ────────────────────────  ────────  ──────   ─────────
abc123    Debug failing pods        12        8,430    2 hours ago
def456    Scale deployment prod     5         2,100    yesterday

Built-in rate table

Model Prompt Completion
kubeintellect-v2 $0.003 / 1K $0.006 / 1K
gpt-4o $0.005 / 1K $0.015 / 1K
gpt-4o-mini $0.00015 / 1K $0.0006 / 1K
claude-sonnet-4-6 $0.003 / 1K $0.015 / 1K

Custom rates

Override rates for any model via environment variables or .env:

KUBE_Q_COST_PER_1K_PROMPT=0.002
KUBE_Q_COST_PER_1K_COMPLETION=0.008

This is useful when running a self-hosted model or when the backend uses non-standard pricing.