THE OPEN TAB
A human authorizes, sees, and owns a spend in the same instant. An autonomous agent pulls those three apart. Putting them back is the whole discipline — and it's what lets you keep the leverage without the surprise bill.
◇ One task. Four ways it spends.
A single agent request fans out into four cost streams — each accruing at a different rate. Watch the tab run up.
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· every step re-reads the whole conversation
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· loaded into the window before the first answer
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· the actual reasoning work
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· reading the repo to understand it
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· the part no lever removes
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Each color is a different way the tab grows. Three of the four are recoverable. One isn't.
The three controls
01
The Limit
A ceiling it cannot cross.
02
The Meter
See the spend before the bill.
03
The Owner
A name on it before it acts.
See your own tab
Configure the scenario in a sentence, or switch to your real monthly spend. The statement itemizes the tab; applying a credit recomputes what's due. The math is shown, not hidden.
A team of running agents on , usage.
The Tab
Re-reading context$4,391
Tool definitions$4,704
Model calls$3,136
Exploration & file reads$2,195
Retries & loops$1,255
Tab due
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