Show per-action token usage in CLI output
Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Apr 11, 2026 by manja-arch Closed Apr 14, 2026
Problem
After each action (tool call, response), the CLI only shows cumulative token usage in the status bar. There's no per-action breakdown visible. /cost shows model distribution (e.g. "opus: 97%, haiku: 3%") and cache hit rate, but no absolute token numbers.
This makes it impossible to understand:
- How many tokens a specific action consumed (e.g. a large Docker pull log vs. a simple file read)
- Whether a particular approach was "expensive" or not
- Where to optimize usage
Proposal
Show per-action token delta after each response, e.g.:
[+1.2k tokens · input: 800 · output: 400]
This would help users:
- Make informed decisions about whether to let large outputs into context
- Understand the cost of different workflows
- Budget their usage more effectively
Context
Even a simple question costs ~500 tokens, which is only visible if you happen to watch the status bar. As AI usage costs affect everyone, transparency should be a priority.
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