ACIL — AI Credit Intelligence Layer
Pre-execution LLM cost governance for VS Code. Patent Pending.
The Problem
GitHub Copilot. Claude. GPT-4o. The cost meter runs invisibly in the background. The invoice arrives weeks later.
Real case — June 2026: A developer exhausted 1,469 AI credits in 6 days. No warning. No forecast. No gate. $111+ in overage charges — discovered retroactively. GitHub showed nothing.
Every existing extension is a rearview mirror. ACIL is the gate.
What ACIL Does
ACIL intercepts every model.sendRequest() call before tokens are spent and runs a 7-stage pipeline:
| Stage |
Component |
What Happens |
| ① Classify |
SessionClassifier |
Identifies work type: DEBUGGING, ARCHITECTURE, AGENTIC, etc. |
| ② Predict |
BurnPredictor + TSP |
Forecasts cost using Temporal Sequence Prediction + calendar weighting |
| ③ Compress |
PromptCompressor (CCT) |
Strips overhead with Jaccard + LM cosine semantic equivalence gate |
| ④ Route |
CostRouter |
Suggests cheaper model when session type doesn't need the heavy one |
| ⑤ Enforce |
BudgetEnforcer |
6-state graduated machine: NORMAL → ADVISORY → WARNING → SOFT_BLOCK → HARD_BLOCK → EMERGENCY |
| ⑥ Learn |
MetaRecursiveLoop |
Self-calibrates thresholds from your session patterns — 7 developer archetypes |
| ⑦ Record |
AuditTrail |
HMAC-signed tamper-proof audit export for compliance (SOC 2, EU AI Act) |
Quick Start
- Install ACIL from the Marketplace
- The first-run wizard appears — enter your monthly budget (default: $39 for Copilot Pro+) and current balance
- ACIL is immediately active on every request — no GitHub API connection required
Optional: Connect GitHub for live billing sync via Cmd+Shift+P → ACIL: Connect GitHub Account
Commands
| Command |
What it does |
ACIL: Show Credit Status |
Current balance, state, archetype |
ACIL: Open Dashboard |
Full burn chart + TSP timeline + session breakdown |
ACIL: Show Spend Forecast |
Exhaustion date, risk level, recommendation |
ACIL: Set Monthly Budget |
Update your monthly credit allocation |
ACIL: Reconcile Balance with GitHub |
10-second manual drift correction |
ACIL: Connect GitHub Account |
Store PAT for live billing sync |
ACIL: Debug GitHub Sync |
Diagnostic — shows what each API endpoint returns |
ACIL: Export Session History as CSV |
Full audit trail in GitHub billing format |
ACIL: Reset First-Run Setup |
Re-run bootstrap (e.g., after plan change) |
Status Bar
⚡ ACIL: $12.40/$39 (31.8%) 🟡 WARNING ⟳ synced 2m ago
Color shifts with enforcement state — green → yellow → orange → red. The status bar changes before the money runs out.
The @acil Chat Participant
Use @acil directly in GitHub Copilot Chat:
@acil /status
@acil /forecast
@acil /report
@acil /budget
MCP Integration (Cursor / Claude Desktop)
Add to your .vscode/mcp.json:
{
"servers": {
"acil": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "node",
"args": ["${workspaceFolder}/tools/acil-mcp/dist/server.js"]
}
}
}
Tools available: acil_preflight · acil_status · acil_forecast · acil_budget · acil_feedback · acil_compliance
Enterprise Features
- Policy Server — central
.acil.json pushed to all developer instances via HMAC-signed HTTP
- HMAC-Signed Audit Export — tamper-proof compliance batches (SHA-256 + HMAC-SHA256)
- Team Budget Policies —
.acil.json in workspace root, hot-reloaded on save
@nit-in/acil-learn SDK — embed the learning loop in any Node.js tooling
Privacy
ACIL stores data locally only:
~/.acil/ — audit trail, session outcomes, feedback signals- VS Code
SecretStorage (OS Keychain) — GitHub PAT if connected
- Nothing is sent to any external server
The GitHub PAT (if provided) is used only to call api.github.com for billing data. It is never logged, never included in the audit trail, never committed.
Note: GitHub personal Copilot Pro+ accounts do not expose billing data via PAT API (GitHub limitation). ACIL operates fully without it — the bootstrap wizard seeds the initial balance.
Patent
- Wave 10 — Filed June 29, 2026 — USPTO Application 19/668,817
Session classification, CCT compression, semantic equivalence gate, TSP forecasting, 6-state enforcement
- Wave 11 — Target September 1, 2026
Meta-recursive self-calibration, feedback-driven thresholds, enterprise policy federation
Author
Built by Kristoffer Kelly (@imKrisK)
ACIL — AI Credit Intelligence Layer. The gate between your IDE and your invoice.
