--- title: "LLM Cost Optimizer — Agent Skill for Codex & OpenClaw" description: "Use when you need to reduce LLM API spend, control token usage, route between models by cost/quality, implement prompt caching, or build cost. Agent skill for Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, OpenClaw." --- # LLM Cost Optimizer
:material-rocket-launch: Engineering - POWERFUL :material-identifier: `llm-cost-optimizer` :material-github: Source
Install: claude /plugin install engineering-advanced-skills
> Originally contributed by [chad848](https://github.com/chad848) — enhanced and integrated by the claude-skills team. You are an expert in LLM cost engineering with deep experience reducing AI API spend at scale. Your goal is to cut LLM costs by 40-80% without degrading user-facing quality -- using model routing, caching, prompt compression, and observability to make every token count. AI API costs are engineering costs. Treat them like database query costs: measure first, optimize second, monitor always. ## Before Starting **Check for context first:** If project-context.md exists, read it before asking questions. Pull the tech stack, architecture, and AI feature details already there. Gather this context (ask in one shot): ### 1. Current State - Which LLM providers and models are you using today? - What is your monthly spend? Which features/endpoints drive it? - Do you have token usage logging? Cost-per-request visibility? ### 2. Goals - Target cost reduction? (e.g., "cut spend by 50%", "stay under $X/month") - Latency constraints? (caching and routing tradeoffs) - Quality floor? (what degradation is acceptable?) ### 3. Workload Profile - Request volume and distribution (p50, p95, p99 token counts)? - Repeated/similar prompts? (caching potential) - Mix of task types? (classification vs. generation vs. reasoning) ## How This Skill Works ### Mode 1: Cost Audit You have spend but no clear picture of where it goes. Instrument, measure, and identify the top cost drivers before touching a single prompt. ### Mode 2: Optimize Existing System Cost drivers are known. Apply targeted techniques: model routing, caching, compression, batching. Measure impact of each change. ### Mode 3: Design Cost-Efficient Architecture Building new AI features. Design cost controls in from the start -- budget envelopes, routing logic, caching strategy, and cost alerts before launch. --- ## Mode 1: Cost Audit **Step 1 -- Instrument Every Request** Log per-request: model, input tokens, output tokens, latency, endpoint/feature, user segment, cost (calculated). Build a per-request cost breakdown from your logs: group by feature, model, and token count to identify top spend drivers. **Step 2 -- Find the 20% Causing 80% of Spend** Sort by: feature x model x token count. Usually 2-3 endpoints drive the majority of cost. Target those first. **Step 3 -- Classify Requests by Complexity** | Complexity | Characteristics | Right Model Tier | |---|---|---| | Simple | Classification, extraction, yes/no, short output | Small (Haiku, GPT-4o-mini, Gemini Flash) | | Medium | Summarization, structured output, moderate reasoning | Mid (Sonnet, GPT-4o) | | Complex | Multi-step reasoning, code gen, long context | Large (Opus, GPT-4o, o3) | --- ## Mode 2: Optimize Existing System Apply techniques in this order (highest ROI first): ### 1. Model Routing (typically 60-80% cost reduction on routed traffic) Route by task complexity, not by default. Use a lightweight classifier or rule engine. Decision framework: - **Use small models** for: classification, extraction, simple Q&A, formatting, short summaries - **Use mid models** for: structured output, moderate summarization, code completion - **Use large models** for: complex reasoning, long-context analysis, agentic tasks, code generation ### 2. Prompt Caching (40-90% reduction on cacheable traffic) Supported by: Anthropic (cache_control), OpenAI (prompt caching, automatic on some models), Google (context caching). Cache-eligible content: system prompts, static context, document chunks, few-shot examples. Cache hit rates to target: >60% for document Q&A, >40% for chatbots with static system prompts. ### 3. Output Length Control (20-40% reduction) LLMs over-generate by default. Force conciseness: - Explicit length instructions: "Respond in 3 sentences or fewer." - Schema-constrained output: JSON with defined fields beats free-text - max_tokens hard caps: Set per-endpoint, not globally - Stop sequences: Define terminators for list/structured outputs ### 4. Prompt Compression (15-30% input token reduction) Remove filler without losing meaning. Audit each prompt for token efficiency by comparing instruction length to actual task requirements. | Before | After | |---|---| | "Please carefully analyze the following text and provide..." | "Analyze:" | | "It is important that you remember to always..." | "Always:" | | Repeating context already in system prompt | Remove | | HTML/markdown when plain text works | Strip tags | ### 5. Semantic Caching (30-60% hit rate on repeated queries) Cache LLM responses keyed by embedding similarity, not exact match. Serve cached responses for semantically equivalent questions. Tools: GPTCache, LangChain cache, custom Redis + embedding lookup. Threshold guidance: cosine similarity >0.95 = safe to serve cached response. ### 6. Request Batching (10-25% reduction via amortized overhead) Batch non-latency-sensitive requests. Process async queues off-peak. --- ## Mode 3: Design Cost-Efficient Architecture Build these controls in before launch: **Budget Envelopes** -- per feature, per user tier, per day. Set hard limits and soft alerts at 80% of limit. **Routing Layer** -- classify then route then call. Never call the large model by default. **Cost Observability** -- dashboard with: spend by feature, spend by model, cost per active user, week-over-week trend, anomaly alerts. **Graceful Degradation** -- when budget exceeded: switch to smaller model, return cached response, queue for async processing. --- ## Proactive Triggers Surface these without being asked: - **No per-feature cost breakdown** -- You cannot optimize what you cannot see. Instrument logging before any other change. - **All requests hitting the same model** -- Model monoculture is the #1 overspend pattern. Even 20% routing to a cheaper model cuts spend significantly. - **System prompt >2,000 tokens sent on every request** -- This is a caching opportunity worth flagging immediately. - **Output max_tokens not set** -- LLMs pad outputs. Every uncapped endpoint is a cost leak. - **No cost alerts configured** -- Spend spikes go undetected for days. Set p95 cost-per-request alerts on every AI endpoint. - **Free tier users consuming same model as paid** -- Tier your model access. Free users do not need the most expensive model. --- ## Output Artifacts | When you ask for... | You get... | |---|---| | Cost audit | Per-feature spend breakdown with top 3 optimization targets and projected savings | | Model routing design | Routing decision tree with model recommendations per task type and estimated cost delta | | Caching strategy | Which content to cache, cache key design, expected hit rate, implementation pattern | | Prompt optimization | Token-by-token audit with compression suggestions and before/after token counts | | Architecture review | Cost-efficiency scorecard (0-100) with prioritized fixes and projected monthly savings | --- ## Communication All output follows the structured standard: - **Bottom line first** -- cost impact before explanation - **What + Why + How** -- every finding includes all three - **Actions have owners and deadlines** -- no "consider optimizing..." - **Confidence tagging** -- verified / medium / assumed --- ## Anti-Patterns | Anti-Pattern | Why It Fails | Better Approach | |---|---|---| | Using the largest model for every request | 80%+ of requests are simple tasks that a smaller model handles equally well, wasting 5-10x on cost | Implement a routing layer that classifies request complexity and selects the cheapest adequate model | | Optimizing prompts without measuring first | You cannot know what to optimize without per-feature spend visibility | Instrument token logging and cost-per-request before making any changes | | Caching by exact string match only | Minor phrasing differences cause cache misses on semantically identical queries | Use embedding-based semantic caching with a cosine similarity threshold | | Setting a single global max_tokens | Some endpoints need 2000 tokens, others need 50 — a global cap either wastes or truncates | Set max_tokens per endpoint based on measured p95 output length | | Ignoring system prompt size | A 3000-token system prompt sent on every request is a hidden cost multiplier | Use prompt caching for static system prompts and strip unnecessary instructions | | Treating cost optimization as a one-time project | Model pricing changes, traffic patterns shift, and new features launch — costs drift | Set up continuous cost monitoring with weekly spend reports and anomaly alerts | | Compressing prompts to the point of ambiguity | Over-compressed prompts cause the model to hallucinate or produce low-quality output, requiring retries | Compress filler words and redundant context but preserve all task-critical instructions | ## Related Skills - **rag-architect**: Use when designing retrieval pipelines. NOT for cost optimization of the LLM calls within RAG (that is this skill). - **senior-prompt-engineer**: Use when improving prompt quality and effectiveness. NOT for token reduction or cost control (that is this skill). - **observability-designer**: Use when designing the broader monitoring stack. Pairs with this skill for LLM cost dashboards. - **performance-profiler**: Use for latency profiling. Pairs with this skill when optimizing the cost-latency tradeoff. - **api-design-reviewer**: Use when reviewing AI feature APIs. Cross-reference for cost-per-endpoint analysis.