# Burn Rate Monitor

Real-time burn rate monitor showing cost per minute, tokens per minute, and projected daily spend to prevent budget overruns during Claude Code sessions.

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## Metadata

**Title:** Burn Rate Monitor
**Category:** statuslines
**Author:** JSONbored
**Added:** October 2025
**Tags:** burn-rate, cost-tracking, budget, monitoring, real-time
**URL:** https://claudepro.directory/statuslines/burn-rate-monitor

## Overview

Real-time burn rate monitor showing cost per minute, tokens per minute, and projected daily spend to prevent budget overruns during Claude Code sessions.

## Content

#!/usr/bin/env bash
BURN RATE MONITOR STATUSLINE FOR CLAUDE CODE
CALCULATES REAL-TIME COST/MINUTE AND TOKENS/MINUTE
READ JSON FROM STDIN
read -r input
EXTRACT VALUES
totalcost=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.cost.totalcost_usd // 0')
totaldurationms=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.cost.totaldurationms // 1')
linesadded=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.cost.totallines_added // 0')
linesremoved=$(echo "$input" | jq -r '.cost.totallines_removed // 0')
CALCULATE DURATION IN MINUTES (AVOID DIVISION BY ZERO)
if [ "$totaldurationms" -gt 0 ]; then
 durationminutes=$(echo "scale=2; $totalduration_ms / " | bc)
else
 duration_minutes= # Prevent division by zero
fi
CALCULATE BURN RATE (COST PER MINUTE)
if (( $(echo "$duration_minutes > 0" | bc -l) )); then
 costperminute=$(echo "scale=4; $totalcost / $durationminutes" | bc)
else
 costperminute=0
fi
CALCULATE TOTAL TOKENS (ESTIMATE: LINES * 10 TOKENS PER LINE AVG)
totaltokens=$(( (linesadded + lines_removed) * 10 ))
CALCULATE TOKENS PER MINUTE
if (( $(echo "$duration_minutes > 0" | bc -l) )); then
 tokensperminute=$(echo "scale=0; $totaltokens / $durationminutes" | bc)
else
 tokensperminute=0
fi
PROJECT DAILY SPEND (ASSUMING CURRENT BURN RATE FOR 24 HOURS)
if (( $(echo "$costperminute > 0" | bc -l) )); then
 dailyprojection=$(echo "scale=2; $costper_minute * " | bc) # minutes in 24 hours
else
 daily_projection=0
fi
COLOR CODING FOR BURN RATE ALERTS
if (( $(echo "$costperminute > " | bc -l) )); then
 BURN_COLOR="\[38;5;196m" # Red: High burn rate (>$/min)
elif (( $(echo "$costperminute > " | bc -l) )); then
 BURN_COLOR="\[38;5;226m" # Yellow: Medium burn rate ($-$/min)
else
 BURN_COLOR="\[38;5;46m" # Green: Low burn rate ($/min)
? Prevents budget overruns with live spending visibility
? Lightweight bash script with bc for floating-point math
? Works with any Claude Code model (Opus, Sonnet, Haiku)
? Zero external dependencies beyond jq and bc
CONFIGURATION
Format: bash
Refresh Interval: 500ms
Position: left
USE CASES
? Budget-conscious developers tracking spending in real-time
? Teams with daily/monthly Claude Code budget limits
? Freelancers billing clients for AI-assisted development time
? Identifying expensive sessions before costs spiral
? Optimizing model selection based on burn rate feedback
? Production environments monitoring AI cost efficiency
TROUBLESHOOTING
1) Burn rate showing 0 or incorrect values despite active session
 Solution: Verify cost.totalcostusd and cost.totaldurationms fields exist in JSON: echo '$input' | jq .cost. Ensure bc is installed: which bc. Check division by zero protection is working for very short sessions.
2) bc command not found error when running script
 Solution: Install bc calculator: brew install bc (macOS), apt install bc (Linux). Alternative: use awk for calculations if bc unavailable: awk -v cost=$totalcost -v dur=$durationminutes 'BEGIN {print cost/dur}'
3) Daily projection seems unrealistically high
 Solution: Daily projection assumes CONTINUOUS usage at current burn rate for 24 hours. This is intentional for worst-case budgeting. Actual daily cost will be lower if you don't use Claude Code 24/7. Adjust multiplier from to expected active minutes.
4) Token per minute calculation inaccurate
 Solution: Script estimates 10 tokens per line (conservative average). Actual token count varies by language/verbosity. For precise tracking, integrate with Claude API token counting if exposed in future JSON fields. Current estimate is sufficient for burn rate trend monitoring.
5) Color coding not displaying or showing escape codes as text
 Solution: Ensure terminal supports ANSI colors. Test: echo -e '\[38;5;196mRED\[0m' (should show red text). Verify statusline script outputs to stdout not stderr. Check Claude Code settings.json has correct command path.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Documentation: https://docs.claude.com/en/docs/claude-code/statusline
PREVIEW
🔥 Burn: $/min | 📊 1, tok/min | 📅 Daily: $


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Source: Claude Pro Directory
Website: https://claudepro.directory
URL: https://claudepro.directory/statuslines/burn-rate-monitor

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