Scout — AI Spend Tracker
See exactly what AI APIs are costing you, right in VS Code. Every time you code.
No proxy. No code changes. No SDK. Just a number in your status bar that tells you the truth.
What it does
Scout shows your real AI API spend in the VS Code status bar — updated automatically, no browser tab required.
🦎 $47.20 leaving this month
Click it. Get the full breakdown:
- Total this month — the anchor number everything else is judged against
- Today's spend — what left today, right now
- Projected month total — on pace for what?
- Top provider — which API is driving the bill
- Days left — how much runway before month-end
- Spike alerts — popup the moment your spend jumps unexpectedly
Providers supported
| Provider |
Tracked |
| OpenAI (GPT-4o, o1, o3, mini) |
✓ |
| Anthropic (Claude Sonnet, Haiku, Opus) |
✓ |
| Google Gemini |
✓ |
| OpenRouter (300+ models) |
✓ |
| Azure OpenAI |
✓ |
| AWS Bedrock |
✓ |
| Cursor (Pro subscription + BYOK) |
✓ |
All providers. One number. One place.
How to set up (2 minutes)
- Create a free TryTokka account at trytokka.com — 7-day trial, no card needed
- Connect your AI providers with read-only API keys (TryTokka never makes API calls — read-only billing access only)
- Copy your Widget Token from Settings → Apps → Widget Token
- Paste the token in Scout (Command:
Scout: Connect TryTokka Account)
Done. Scout starts tracking instantly.
Why read-only keys?
Scout uses TryTokka's backend, which connects to AI provider billing APIs with read-only admin keys. Your traffic is never proxied. We only ever read usage data — we cannot make API calls, create resources, or incur charges on your behalf.
Full security details: trytokka.com/security
Status bar colours
| Colour |
Meaning |
| Default |
Spend within normal range |
| 🟡 Yellow |
Approaching your configured alert threshold |
| 🔴 Red |
Alert threshold crossed, or sudden spike detected |
Configuration
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
scout.refreshIntervalMinutes |
30 |
How often to fetch fresh data |
scout.showInStatusBar |
true |
Show/hide the status bar item |
scout.localAlertThresholdUsd |
0 |
Local VS Code alert (0 = off). For email alerts, set them in TryTokka. |
TryTokka — the full dashboard
Scout gives you the number. TryTokka gives you:
- Email alerts — get notified before your bill arrives
- Model optimizer — Scout shows you exactly which model to switch and how much you'd save (e.g. "Switch gpt-4o → gpt-4o-mini: save $34/month based on your actual token usage")
- Spend forecasting — on pace for what this month?
- Spike investigation — click any day, see which model caused the jump
- Team plans — shared spend visibility for the whole team
Start free → trytokka.com
Commands
| Command |
Description |
Scout: Connect TryTokka Account |
Paste your widget token to start tracking |
Scout: Disconnect Account |
Remove your token |
Scout: Refresh Now |
Fetch the latest spend data immediately |
Scout: Open Spend Panel |
Open the sidebar breakdown |
Privacy
- Your widget token is stored in VS Code's encrypted
SecretStorage (OS keychain)
- No API keys are stored in this extension — token only
- Scout makes read-only GET requests to
trytokka.com/api/widget-summary
- No telemetry, no analytics, no data collection by this extension
Links
Releasing (maintainers)
Publishing is automated by GitHub Actions — you never run vsce publish by hand.
One-time setup — add two repository secrets (Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions):
| Secret |
Where to get it |
Enables |
VSCE_PAT |
Azure DevOps PAT for the trytokka publisher (Marketplace: Manage) |
VS Code Marketplace |
OVSX_PAT |
Access token from open-vsx.org |
Cursor / VSCodium (optional) |
To cut a release:
# 1. Bump the version in package.json (e.g. 1.0.0 → 1.0.1)
# 2. Commit it
git commit -am "release: v1.0.1"
# 3. Tag and push — the tag must match package.json exactly
git tag v1.0.1
git push origin main --tags
The Publish extension workflow then compiles, verifies the tag matches
package.json, packages the .vsix, publishes to both registries (skipping any
whose secret is absent), and attaches the .vsix to the GitHub Release.
Every push/PR also runs a CI workflow that compiles and dry-run-packages, so a
broken build can't reach a tag.
Scout is built by TryTokka. Made for developers who ship with AI.
