Copilot CLI Cost

Copilot CLI Cost adds estimated session-cost reporting to GitHub Copilot CLI.

It estimates costs across both Copilot billing models:

Premium request units
Usage-based billing with GitHub AI Credits

The calculator stores canonical cost in USD and converts to a selected display currency with cached exchange rates from Frankfurter or an explicit exchange-rate override.

Features

/cost command for active-session estimates
/cost session <session-id> for completed local sessions
Native cost panel with token bucket breakdowns
What-if subscription comparison for Copilot Free, Pro, Pro+, Business, Enterprise, and Student
Display currency selector backed by cached Frankfurter USD exchange rates
Statusline cost segment with optional passthrough to another statusline
Standalone calculator CLI for sample data, JSON files, completed session events, and live snapshots
USD-first cost model with optional display currency conversion

Install

1. Enable experimental Copilot CLI extensions

The /cost command and panel use the experimental Copilot CLI SDK extensions feature. In a Copilot CLI session, run:

/experimental

Enable experimental mode and the Extensions feature if it is listed, then restart Copilot CLI if prompted.

If your Copilot CLI version does not show an Extensions option in /experimental, add the flag manually in ~/.copilot/config.json:

{
  "experimental": true,
  "experimental_flags": ["EXTENSIONS"]
}

If you already have experimental_flags, add "EXTENSIONS" to the existing list instead of replacing it.

2. Install the plugin from GitHub

Run the following in your shell to install the plugin from the GitHub repository:

copilot plugin install DamianEdwards/copilot-cli-cost

Verify that the plugin is installed:

copilot plugin list

3. Enable the deterministic `/cost` command and panel

The plugin install puts the package on disk and makes plugin components such as skills available. The /cost command and panel are implemented as a Copilot CLI SDK extension, and SDK extensions are discovered from .github/extensions/ in a repository or from the user extensions folder.

To load the SDK extension from the installed plugin package, use the setup skill from a Copilot CLI session:

Use the copilot-cost-install skill to enable the Copilot Cost /cost command.

The skill installs a small user-scoped delegate that imports the SDK extension from the plugin install location.

If you do not want to use the setup skill, paste and run one of these fallback snippets in your terminal after copilot plugin install completes. Do not copy these snippets into your repository.

PowerShell terminal:

$installer = Get-ChildItem "$env:USERPROFILE\.copilot\installed-plugins" -Directory -Recurse |
  Where-Object { Test-Path (Join-Path $_.FullName "scripts\install-extension-shim.mjs") } |
  Select-Object -First 1 -ExpandProperty FullName

if (-not $installer) {
  throw "Could not find installed copilot-cli-cost plugin."
}

node (Join-Path $installer "scripts\install-extension-shim.mjs")

Bash terminal:

installer="$(find "$HOME/.copilot/installed-plugins" -type f -path '*/scripts/install-extension-shim.mjs' | head -n 1)"
if [ -z "$installer" ]; then
  echo "Could not find installed copilot-cli-cost plugin." >&2
  exit 1
fi
node "$installer"

In Copilot CLI, run:

/extensions

Enable copilot-cli-cost under User. The /cost command and panel are available after the extension is running.

4. Enable the statusline cost segment

Copilot CLI can invoke a statusline command with a JSON payload on stdin. Configure this statusline bridge in ~/.copilot/settings.json. Do not put statusLine in config.json; that file is managed by Copilot CLI and user settings may be moved or removed during startup.

Windows:

Find the installed wrapper and copy the JSON string printed by the final line:

$statusline = Get-ChildItem "$env:USERPROFILE\.copilot\installed-plugins" -Recurse -Filter statusline.cmd |
  Where-Object { $_.FullName -like "*copilot-cli-cost*scripts\statusline.cmd" } |
  Select-Object -First 1 -ExpandProperty FullName

if (-not $statusline) {
  throw "Could not find installed copilot-cli-cost statusline.cmd."
}

$statusline | ConvertTo-Json

Merge these settings into ~/.copilot/settings.json, and paste that value into command:

{
  "experimental": true,
  "experimental_flags": ["STATUS_LINE"],
  "statusLine": {
    "type": "command",
    "command": "C:\\Users\\alex\\.copilot\\installed-plugins\\_direct\\DamianEdwards--copilot-cli-cost\\scripts\\statusline.cmd"
  },
  "footer": {
    "showCustom": true
  }
}

Use the fully expanded path from your machine. Do not leave %USERPROFILE% or ... in settings.json; Copilot CLI validates the command during startup and the command will not render if the path cannot be resolved.

macOS/Linux:

{
  "experimental": true,
  "experimental_flags": ["STATUS_LINE"],
  "statusLine": {
    "type": "command",
    "command": "sh /path/to/installed/copilot-cli-cost/scripts/statusline.sh"
  },
  "footer": {
    "showCustom": true
  }
}

Replace the command path with the installed plugin path on your machine. On macOS/Linux, invoking the wrapper through sh avoids relying on executable file metadata. The statusline bridge prints a compact segment:

💸 Cost ~$0.3059 (30.6 cr) · 7.5 PRU · last 42K in/3K out

Use

/cost
/cost help
/cost panel on
/cost panel off
/cost panel refresh
/cost session <session-id>
/cost live-session <session-id>
/cost --plan pro|pro-plus|business|enterprise
/cost --billing-model usage-based|premium-requests
/cost --currency USD|EUR|GBP|CAD|AUD|JPY|CHF

/cost is handled by extension JavaScript. It does not ask the model to calculate the result.

The panel opens a native window:

/cost panel on

The panel shows:

Usage-based estimate
Premium-request estimate
Active session ID and data source
Current or assumed subscription
What-if subscription selector
Display currency selector
Per-model token bucket breakdown
Collapsed raw JSON payload

Data sources

The SDK extension reads active-session metrics from Copilot CLI's session RPC API:

await session.rpc.usage.getMetrics()

That response includes:

Per-model request counts
Premium request cost
Input, cached input, cache write, output, and reasoning token buckets
Active model
Last-call input/output token counts
API duration
Code-change counters

The extension normalizes each read and writes a live snapshot to the platform cache folder:

Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\copilot-cli-cost\live-sessions
macOS:   ~/Library/Caches/copilot-cli-cost/live-sessions
Linux:   ${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-~/.cache}/copilot-cli-cost/live-sessions

Completed local sessions can be read from:

Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.copilot\session-state\<session-id>\events.jsonl
macOS/Linux: ~/.copilot/session-state/<session-id>/events.jsonl

The parser reads the latest metrics event and extracts per-model token buckets plus total premium request units.

Statusline passthrough

Set COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_PASSTHROUGH to call another statusline command. The default passthrough mode enriches the stdin JSON with copilot_cost and lets the inner statusline render all output.

PowerShell:

$env:COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_PASSTHROUGH = "C:\Users\alex\.copilot\statusline\statusline.cmd"
copilot

macOS/Linux:

export COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_PASSTHROUGH="$HOME/.copilot/statusline/statusline.sh"
copilot

The enriched payload includes:

{
  "copilot_cost": {
    "schema_version": 1,
    "status_line": "💸 Cost ~$0.3059 (30.6 cr) · 7.5 PRU · last 42K in/3K out",
    "usage_based": {
      "billingModel": "usage-based",
      "totalUsd": 0.305869,
      "aiCredits": 30.5869
    },
    "premium_requests": {
      "billingModel": "premium-requests",
      "totalPremiumRequests": 7.5,
      "overageEquivalentUsd": 0.3
    }
  }
}

Set decorate mode to combine this bridge's output with the passthrough output:

PowerShell:

$env:COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_MODE = "decorate"
$env:COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_POSITION = "right"
copilot

macOS/Linux:

export COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_MODE=decorate
export COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_POSITION=right
copilot

Statusline environment variables:

Variable	Default	Meaning
`COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_PASSTHROUGH`	unset	Command to invoke with enriched statusline JSON on stdin.
`COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_MODE`	`passthrough` when passthrough is set, otherwise `standalone`	`passthrough`, `decorate`, or `standalone`.
`COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_POSITION`	`right`	In `decorate` mode: `right`, `left`, `replace`, or `passthrough`.
`COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_SEPARATOR`	`·`	In `decorate` mode: text between the passthrough output and cost segment.
`COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_PASSTHROUGH_TIMEOUT_MS`	`1000`	Maximum time to wait for the passthrough command.
`COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_HIDE_COST`	`false`	Cache live data but do not print the cost segment.
`COPILOT_COST_STATUSLINE_COLOR`	`true`	Set to `false` to disable ANSI color in the rendered cost segment.

Configuration

Set these environment variables before launching copilot:

PowerShell:

$env:COPILOT_COST_PLAN = "enterprise"
$env:COPILOT_COST_CURRENCY = "EUR"
$env:COPILOT_COST_PROMOTIONAL_ALLOWANCE = "true"
copilot

macOS/Linux:

export COPILOT_COST_PLAN=enterprise
export COPILOT_COST_CURRENCY=EUR
export COPILOT_COST_PROMOTIONAL_ALLOWANCE=true
copilot

Variable	Meaning
`COPILOT_COST_PLAN`	Default plan when subscription detection is unavailable.
`COPILOT_COST_CURRENCY`	Display currency code. USD is canonical. Non-USD values use Frankfurter unless an override is configured.
`COPILOT_COST_EXCHANGE_RATE`	USD-to-display-currency exchange rate override for `COPILOT_COST_CURRENCY`.
`COPILOT_COST_FX_<CODE>`	USD-to-currency exchange rate override for a specific currency, for example `COPILOT_COST_FX_EUR=0.9`.
`COPILOT_COST_FX_CACHE`	Exchange-rate cache folder. Defaults to `%LOCALAPPDATA%\copilot-cli-cost\fx-rates` on Windows, `~/Library/Caches/copilot-cli-cost/fx-rates` on macOS, or `${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-~/.cache}/copilot-cli-cost/fx-rates` on Linux.
`COPILOT_COST_PROMOTIONAL_ALLOWANCE`	Use promotional Business/Enterprise AI Credit allowances.
`COPILOT_COST_BILL_REASONING_TOKENS`	Set to `true` to include reasoning tokens as output-priced cost. By default they are shown as informational only.

The live session cache can be overridden with COPILOT_COST_LIVE_STORE. By default it uses the same platform cache root as COPILOT_COST_FX_CACHE.

Native panel notes

The /cost command and calculator are pure Node.js. The native panel uses @webviewjs/webview, which installs a platform-specific optional package for Windows, macOS, and Linux x64. The extension bootstrap runs npm install --include=optional --no-audit --no-fund when those panel dependencies are missing.

On Linux, the native webview package still depends on system GTK/WebKit libraries supplied by your distribution, such as WebKitGTK and GTK. If /cost panel on fails to open, install your distribution's WebKitGTK/GTK runtime packages and reload the extension.

Standalone calculator

Clone the repository when you want to run tests or use the calculator directly:

git clone https://github.com/DamianEdwards/copilot-cli-cost.git
cd copilot-cli-cost
npm test

Examples:

npm run cost -- --sample
npm run cost -- --sample --billing-model premium-requests --plan pro-plus
npm run cost -- --premium-requests 12.5 --plan pro --remaining-premium-requests 10
npm run cost -- --session <session-id> --plan pro
npm run cost -- --live --plan enterprise
npm run cost -- --sample --currency EUR
npm run cost -- --sample --currency EUR --exchange-rate 0.9

Usage JSON shape:

{
  "sessionId": "sample-session-001",
  "plan": "pro",
  "currency": "USD",
  "modelUsage": [
    {
      "model": "gpt-5.5",
      "requests": 3,
      "inputTokens": 600000,
      "cachedInputTokens": 420000,
      "cacheWriteTokens": 0,
      "outputTokens": 36000,
      "reasoningTokens": 1200
    }
  ]
}

How estimates are calculated

Usage-based billing uses published per-1M-token rates. inputTokens is the total input token count from Copilot metrics, and cachedInputTokens is the cached subset, so only uncached input tokens use the regular input rate:

uncachedInputTokens = max(inputTokens - cachedInputTokens, 0)
inputUsd            = uncachedInputTokens / 1,000,000 * inputPerMillionUsd
cachedInputUsd      = cachedInputTokens   / 1,000,000 * cachedInputPerMillionUsd
cacheWriteUsd       = cacheWriteTokens    / 1,000,000 * cacheWritePerMillionUsd
outputUsd           = outputTokens        / 1,000,000 * outputPerMillionUsd
reasoningUsd        = 0 unless COPILOT_COST_BILL_REASONING_TOKENS=true
aiCredits           = totalUsd / 0.01

Premium-request billing uses Copilot-reported premium request units when present. If only model request counts are available, it applies the configured model multiplier table.

Non-USD currency values are display estimates. USD remains canonical because GitHub model rates and AI Credits are documented in USD. Non-USD /cost and panel requests fetch USD exchange rates from Frankfurter and cache them for reuse; explicit environment or CLI exchange-rate overrides take precedence.

Limitations

Rate tables are hardcoded in src/core/rates.js and should be checked against GitHub billing docs.
Reasoning tokens are shown as informational only unless COPILOT_COST_BILL_REASONING_TOKENS=true, because GitHub's published Copilot pricing table does not list a separate reasoning-token bucket.
Business and Enterprise included credits are pooled at the billing entity level, so a session estimate is not always incremental billable spend.
Taxes, regional billing rules, and GitHub billing-account currency handling are not modeled.
Statusline per-model attribution depends on successive cumulative payloads and the active model at each refresh.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 15 Commits
.github		.github
commands		commands
docs		docs
fixtures		fixtures
scripts		scripts
skills		skills
src		src
test		test
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
hooks.json		hooks.json
package.json		package.json
plugin.json		plugin.json

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Copilot CLI Cost

Features

Install

1. Enable experimental Copilot CLI extensions

2. Install the plugin from GitHub

3. Enable the deterministic `/cost` command and panel

4. Enable the statusline cost segment

Use

Data sources

Statusline passthrough

Configuration

Native panel notes

Standalone calculator

How estimates are calculated

Limitations

License

About

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Repository files navigation

Copilot CLI Cost

Features

Install

1. Enable experimental Copilot CLI extensions

2. Install the plugin from GitHub

3. Enable the deterministic /cost command and panel

4. Enable the statusline cost segment

Use

Data sources

Statusline passthrough

Configuration

Native panel notes

Standalone calculator

How estimates are calculated

Limitations

License

About

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License

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3. Enable the deterministic `/cost` command and panel