Overview
How might we design running meters so people can trust and act on AI output?
When to use
- Essential for AI coding agents, research tools, and any long-running automation where users benefit from ambient visibility into token spend and progress while execution is in flight.
When to skip
- Free unlimited tiers where cost is irrelevant.
- Sub-second completions where meters never readable.
- Audiences that only need a final receipt, not live noise.
Rules
Meters that update too late to cancel.
No stop control beside the meter.
Showing cost without currency or plan context.
Hiding that tool calls are multiplying spend.
Evidence
| Product | Implementation |
|---|---|
| Cursor | Live usage cues during agent runs. |
| Claude Code | Session usage panels while working. |
| OpenAI Playground | Live token counting on generations. |
| Vercel | Usage dashboards for AI resource spend. |