Most AI coding tools show usage after the useful decision has already passed.
You can check a dashboard. You can read a bill. You can wait for a limit warning. Those are all helpful, but they are late signals.
The expensive moment is usually smaller than that.
It is when you paste one extra file into Claude Code because it is easier than trimming context. It is when you ask Codex to try one more loop even though the last two attempts were basically guessing. It is when Cursor feels fast enough that you stop noticing the session getting wider.
That is why I think AI coding usage belongs near the work, not buried in a separate page.
For me, a useful usage meter should answer a few boring questions while I am still able to change course:
- How much have I used in this session?
- Am I close to a limit or reset window?
- Did this task quietly become bigger than I expected?
- Should I send the next prompt, narrow the context, or read the code myself?
The goal is not to make developers scared of tokens.
The goal is to catch autopilot before it becomes waste.
This is the idea behind TokenBar, a Mac menu bar app that keeps AI coding usage, limits, and reset times visible while you work. It is for the moment before the next prompt, not just the receipt afterward.
It is free to try, and TokenBar Pro is $15 lifetime:
If you are building with AI coding agents, the practical question is not only what the last prompt cost.
It is whether seeing the meter earlier would have changed the next one.
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