TokenTrace CLI

Local-first AI CLI usage analytics for developers and coding agents.

TokenTrace answers one practical question before the next expensive AI CLI run: is your local usage evidence ready to trust? It scans local Claude Code, Codex, structured usage logs, and usage-shaped local databases, then labels token and cost data as exact, estimated, unknown, cached, or non-cache. The dashboard opens on Today, with direct paths into Sessions, Evidence, and Fix Data.

TokenTrace is designed for local development machines first, with macOS-oriented defaults. It does not require a cloud account and does not send telemetry or logs anywhere.

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What TokenTrace Helps You Do

• Check readiness before another coding-agent run with tokentrace preflight --json or MCP get_preflight.
• See today’s local cost, tokens, sessions, confidence, anomalies, and repair signals in one first screen.
• Trace every important number back to local files, parser state, sessions, model rates, and confidence labels.
• Fix missing cost data through a guided repair queue without uploading prompts or message bodies.

Start In Seconds

Run without installing:

npx tokentrace

Or install globally:

npm install -g tokentrace
tokentrace

The command starts the local dashboard, chooses an available localhost port starting at 3030, opens your default browser, and keeps the server running until you press Ctrl+C.

CLI commands:

tokentrace              # Start local dashboard
tokentrace serve        # Start local dashboard
tokentrace serve --port 3210 --no-open
                        # Start on a fixed port without opening a browser
tokentrace agent --json # Print machine-readable agent discovery manifest
tokentrace capabilities --json
                        # Alias for agent discovery manifest
tokentrace roadmap --json
                        # Print release status handoff
tokentrace mcp          # Start the local stdio MCP server
tokentrace scan         # Scan local AI CLI usage logs
tokentrace doctor --json
                        # Inspect scan health and repair recommendations
tokentrace preflight --json
                        # Check readiness before another coding-agent run
tokentrace evidence --json
                        # Print metric evidence trails as JSON
tokentrace repair --json
                        # Print unknown-cost repair groups as JSON
tokentrace digest --json
                        # Print current-month local usage digest
tokentrace digest --since yesterday
                        # Print a scoped local usage digest
tokentrace report --markdown
                        # Print a deterministic Markdown report
tokentrace review --json
                        # Print post-session scan and review movement
tokentrace insights --json
                        # Print local recommendations as JSON
tokentrace status --json
                        # Print local usage status as JSON
tokentrace statusline claude
                        # Render a Claude Code status line from stdin
tokentrace statusline claude --compact
                        # Render a shorter Claude Code status line
tokentrace statusline setup claude
                        # Print Claude Code statusLine setup JSON
tokentrace watch --session
                        # Watch local usage status in a terminal split
tokentrace watch --session --compact
                        # Watch a compact live status line
tokentrace pricing refresh
                        # Refresh public model prices
tokentrace run <cmd>    # Optional wrapper mode for command runtime diagnostics
tokentrace reset        # Reset imported local data
tokentrace reset --yes  # Reset without confirmation
tokentrace --help       # Print help
tokentrace --version    # Print version

For Coding Agents

Agents should start with the read-only discovery manifest:

tokentrace agent --json

The alias below returns the same manifest:

tokentrace capabilities --json

The manifest describes TokenTrace's local-first privacy model, safe JSON commands, common workflows, Claude Code status-line setup, Codex sidecar fallback, and guardrails such as never running tokentrace reset without explicit human approval. The discovery command does not scan files, initialize the database, or start the dashboard.

Package-level agent references are included for agents that inspect repository or npm package contents before invoking commands:

• TOKENTRACE_AGENT.md
• llms.txt
• docs/agent-adoption.md
• docs/agent-discovery.schema.json

MCP-capable clients can start the local stdio server after installing or using the npm package:

tokentrace mcp

Registry name: io.github.abhiyoheswaran1/tokentrace.

First MCP call for agents: get_agent_guide.

Self-test the local MCP entrypoint without scanning files:

tokentrace mcp selftest --json

The MCP server exposes the same local-first surfaces as tools: capabilities, preflight, status, Scan Health, evidence, repair queue, reports, and an explicit scan tool. It does not scan files on startup, and its scan tool requires confirmLocalScan=true before reading local usage files or writing the local database.

Before starting another long coding-agent run, use preflight:

tokentrace preflight --json

In MCP clients, call get_preflight for the same proceed, caution, or blocked decision with local scan freshness, confidence, guardrail, anomaly, and repair findings. Preflight does not scan files or inspect raw prompts.

When the local dashboard is already running, agents can fetch the same manifest over localhost:

curl http://127.0.0.1:3030/api/agent
curl http://127.0.0.1:3030/api/capabilities

The Local Sources & Trust release handoff is also machine-readable:

tokentrace roadmap --json
curl http://127.0.0.1:3030/api/roadmap

Run From Source

npm install
npm run db:migrate
npm run db:seed
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000.

Useful source commands:

npm run dev          # Start the Next.js dev server
npm run build        # Build the production app
npm run start        # Serve the production build
npm run scan         # Scan default and configured folders
npm run db:migrate   # Create/update local SQLite tables
npm run db:seed      # Seed editable provider/model prices
npm run screenshots:seed
                    # Seed a guarded public-safe screenshot database
npm run reset        # Clear imported data and scan history
npm test             # Run parser and cost tests
npm run verify       # Run Vitest, TypeScript, and ESLint checks
npm run package:test # Verify, build, and dry-run the npm package
npm run package:inspect
                    # Check package transparency guardrails
npm run security:ioc
                    # Scan lockfiles, workflows, and local AI-tool hooks for supply-chain IOCs
npm run smoke:packed
                    # Inspect packed tarball and smoke test packed CLI
tokentrace roadmap --json
                    # Inspect roadmap handoff, action recipes, and release status

Daily Loop And Trust

TokenTrace now organizes the product around the daily loop:

1. Preflight: decide whether local evidence is ready before another agent run.
2. Today: review cost, token, session, confidence, anomaly, and repair signals.
3. Evidence: trace numbers back to source files, parser confidence, sessions, and model-rate state.
4. Fix Data: resolve unknown cost, parser review, and model-rate gaps.
5. Advanced: inspect Scan Health, Discovery, Parsers, Raw Data, Query, and Model Rates when you need the full diagnostic surface.

Trust surfaces include:

• native structured usage log and Cursor-style chat export ingestion
• Source Coverage in Scan Health for native, profile-assisted, fallback, and unsupported files
• privacy-safe Evidence Packs as JSON or Markdown
• local scan scheduling: manual, on-open, hourly, or daily
• project/model/tool scoped guardrails with warning thresholds
• Import Profile preview before saving matchers
• saved report exports for weekly usage, source coverage, guardrails, unknown cost, high-cost sessions, and confidence trends
• operating metadata export without raw usage records

Accuracy And Evidence

TokenTrace labels the trust level behind imported numbers:

• exact provider token counts
• tokenizer estimates for recognized OpenAI/Codex and Claude-family model names
• simple estimates when only text-like content is available
• source-provided costs from local SQLite histories
• unknown cost repair groups when model, token, or rate evidence is missing

The dashboard surfaces a Data Confidence score on Today, Projects, Sessions, and Session Timeline pages. Scan Health also includes a supply-chain IOC check so package trust is visible in the product, not only in release scripts.

Public releases require maintainer approval. See docs/RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md before bumping versions, tagging, creating GitHub releases, or publishing npm.

In local development, the SQLite database defaults to .tokentrace/tokentrace.db. Override it with:

TOKENTRACE_DB=/absolute/path/tokentrace.db npm run dev

Data Location

When installed from npm, TokenTrace stores runtime data outside the package folder:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/TokenTrace/
• Linux: ~/.local/share/tokentrace/
• Windows: %APPDATA%/TokenTrace/

The CLI sets TOKENTRACE_DB and DATABASE_URL automatically. You can override the base directory with: