Cost Estimate

Estimate the cost of a coding task before execution, with multi-model comparison.

Process

1. Analyze the task description from $ARGUMENTS
2. Assess complexity by examining the codebase:
   • Count files that will likely need reading (use Glob to find relevant files)
   • Count files that will likely need editing
   • Estimate number of tool calls needed
3. Calculate estimated cost using these heuristics:

Cost Heuristics by Task Type

4. Show multi-model comparison using the estimated tokens:

node "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/pricing.js" compare <est_input_tokens> <est_output_tokens> <current_model>

5. Check historical data for context:

node -e "
  const store = require('${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/store');
  store.initDb();
  const daily = store.getDailyBreakdown(30);
  if (daily.length > 0) {
    const avg = daily.reduce((s, d) => s + d.cost, 0) / daily.length;
    console.log('Your avg daily spend: \$' + avg.toFixed(2) + ' (' + daily.length + ' days tracked)');
  }
  const total = store.getTotalEntries();
  console.log('Total tracked tool calls: ' + total);
"

Output Format

Present the estimate clearly:

Cost Estimate: <task description>

Complexity:    <Low/Medium/High>
Est. Reads:    <N files>
Est. Edits:    <N files>
Est. Tools:    <N total tool calls>
Est. Tokens:   <N total tokens>

Model Comparison:
  Model                              Input    Output     Total
  ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  Claude Haiku 4.5                    $0.04    $0.20     $0.24
  Claude Sonnet 4.6                   $0.15    $0.75     $0.90  ← current
  Claude Opus 4.6                     $0.75    $3.75     $4.50

  💡 Claude Haiku 4.5 would be 73% cheaper

Based on: <reasoning>

Always include the model comparison table. Be honest about uncertainty — these are estimates, not guarantees.