Budget - PraisonAI

Agents can enforce spending limits to prevent runaway costs — set a max budget and the agent stops automatically.

Quick Start

Simple Usage

import { Agent } from 'praisonai';

const agent = new Agent({
  instructions: 'You are a helpful assistant',
  maxCostUsd: 0.50  // Stop after $0.50
});

await agent.chat('Summarize this document');

With Configuration

import { Agent } from 'praisonai';

const agent = new Agent({
  instructions: 'You are a helpful assistant',
  maxCostUsd: 1.00
});

const response = await agent.chat('Write a report');
const usage = agent.getUsage();

console.log(`Cost: $${usage.estimatedCostUsd.toFixed(4)}`);
console.log(`Tokens: ${usage.totalTokens}`);

With Token Limits

import { Agent } from 'praisonai';

const agent = new Agent({
  instructions: 'Be concise',
  maxTokens: 500,    // Limit output tokens
  maxCostUsd: 0.10   // Also limit cost
});

How It Works

Configuration

Option	Type	Description
`maxCostUsd`	`number`	Maximum cost in USD
`maxTokens`	`number`	Maximum output tokens

Common Patterns

Per-Session Budget

import { Agent } from 'praisonai';

// Each session gets $0.25 max
const agent = new Agent({
  instructions: 'You are a research assistant',
  maxCostUsd: 0.25
});

// Agent stops if budget is exceeded mid-task
await agent.chat('Research quantum computing and write a detailed summary');

Monitor and Alert

import { Agent } from 'praisonai';

const agent = new Agent({
  instructions: 'You are a helpful assistant',
  maxCostUsd: 1.00
});

await agent.chat('Write a comprehensive analysis');

const usage = agent.getUsage();
if (usage.estimatedCostUsd > 0.80) {
  console.warn('Budget nearly exhausted:', usage);
}

Batch with Shared Budget

import { Agent } from 'praisonai';

const agent = new Agent({
  instructions: 'Summarize the given text concisely',
  maxTokens: 200,   // Keep each response short
  maxCostUsd: 2.00
});

const documents = ['doc1...', 'doc2...', 'doc3...'];
for (const doc of documents) {
  const summary = await agent.chat(`Summarize: ${doc}`);
  console.log(summary);
}

Best Practices

Set limits before production

Always configure maxCostUsd before deploying agents to production. Without limits, a runaway loop or unexpectedly large input can result in significant API costs.

Use token limits for predictability

maxTokens limits output length, making costs more predictable. Combine with maxCostUsd for both per-response and cumulative control.

Monitor usage after each run

Call agent.getUsage() after completion to track cumulative spending. Log this data to build cost forecasts over time.

Match budget to task scope

Simple Q&A tasks need less than

0.01. Detailed research tasks may need

0.10–$0.50. Set limits to match the expected scope, not just a large safety number.

Token Management

Control token usage per request

Execution

Execution settings and timeouts

​Quick Start

​How It Works

​Configuration

​Common Patterns

​Per-Session Budget

​Monitor and Alert

​Batch with Shared Budget

​Best Practices

​Related