117 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
117 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
---
|
||
summary: "Audit what can spend money, which keys are used, and how to view usage"
|
||
read_when:
|
||
- You want to understand which features may call paid APIs
|
||
- You need to audit keys, costs, and usage visibility
|
||
- You’re explaining /status or /usage cost reporting
|
||
---
|
||
# API usage & costs
|
||
|
||
This doc lists **features that can invoke API keys** and where their costs show up. It focuses on
|
||
Moltbot features that can generate provider usage or paid API calls.
|
||
|
||
## Where costs show up (chat + CLI)
|
||
|
||
**Per-session cost snapshot**
|
||
- `/status` shows the current session model, context usage, and last response tokens.
|
||
- If the model uses **API-key auth**, `/status` also shows **estimated cost** for the last reply.
|
||
|
||
**Per-message cost footer**
|
||
- `/usage full` appends a usage footer to every reply, including **estimated cost** (API-key only).
|
||
- `/usage tokens` shows tokens only; OAuth flows hide dollar cost.
|
||
|
||
**CLI usage windows (provider quotas)**
|
||
- `moltbot status --usage` and `moltbot channels list` show provider **usage windows**
|
||
(quota snapshots, not per-message costs).
|
||
|
||
See [Token use & costs](/token-use) for details and examples.
|
||
|
||
## How keys are discovered
|
||
|
||
Moltbot can pick up credentials from:
|
||
- **Auth profiles** (per-agent, stored in `auth-profiles.json`).
|
||
- **Environment variables** (e.g. `OPENAI_API_KEY`, `BRAVE_API_KEY`, `FIRECRAWL_API_KEY`).
|
||
- **Config** (`models.providers.*.apiKey`, `tools.web.search.*`, `tools.web.fetch.firecrawl.*`,
|
||
`memorySearch.*`, `talk.apiKey`).
|
||
- **Skills** (`skills.entries.<name>.apiKey`) which may export keys to the skill process env.
|
||
|
||
## Features that can spend keys
|
||
|
||
### 1) Core model responses (chat + tools)
|
||
Every reply or tool call uses the **current model provider** (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc). This is the
|
||
primary source of usage and cost.
|
||
|
||
See [Models](/providers/models) for pricing config and [Token use & costs](/token-use) for display.
|
||
|
||
### 2) Media understanding (audio/image/video)
|
||
Inbound media can be summarized/transcribed before the reply runs. This uses model/provider APIs.
|
||
|
||
- Audio: OpenAI / Groq / Deepgram (now **auto-enabled** when keys exist).
|
||
- Image: OpenAI / Anthropic / Google.
|
||
- Video: Google.
|
||
|
||
See [Media understanding](/nodes/media-understanding).
|
||
|
||
### 3) Memory embeddings + semantic search
|
||
Semantic memory search uses **embedding APIs** when configured for remote providers:
|
||
- `memorySearch.provider = "openai"` → OpenAI embeddings
|
||
- `memorySearch.provider = "gemini"` → Gemini embeddings
|
||
- Optional fallback to OpenAI if local embeddings fail
|
||
|
||
You can keep it local with `memorySearch.provider = "local"` (no API usage).
|
||
|
||
See [Memory](/concepts/memory).
|
||
|
||
### 4) Web search tool (Brave / Perplexity via OpenRouter)
|
||
`web_search` uses API keys and may incur usage charges:
|
||
|
||
- **Brave Search API**: `BRAVE_API_KEY` or `tools.web.search.apiKey`
|
||
- **Perplexity** (via OpenRouter): `PERPLEXITY_API_KEY` or `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`
|
||
|
||
**Brave free tier (generous):**
|
||
- **2,000 requests/month**
|
||
- **1 request/second**
|
||
- **Credit card required** for verification (no charge unless you upgrade)
|
||
|
||
See [Web tools](/tools/web).
|
||
|
||
### 5) Web fetch tool (Firecrawl)
|
||
`web_fetch` can call **Firecrawl** when an API key is present:
|
||
- `FIRECRAWL_API_KEY` or `tools.web.fetch.firecrawl.apiKey`
|
||
|
||
If Firecrawl isn’t configured, the tool falls back to direct fetch + readability (no paid API).
|
||
|
||
See [Web tools](/tools/web).
|
||
|
||
### 6) Provider usage snapshots (status/health)
|
||
Some status commands call **provider usage endpoints** to display quota windows or auth health.
|
||
These are typically low-volume calls but still hit provider APIs:
|
||
- `moltbot status --usage`
|
||
- `moltbot models status --json`
|
||
|
||
See [Models CLI](/cli/models).
|
||
|
||
### 7) Compaction safeguard summarization
|
||
The compaction safeguard can summarize session history using the **current model**, which
|
||
invokes provider APIs when it runs.
|
||
|
||
See [Session management + compaction](/reference/session-management-compaction).
|
||
|
||
### 8) Model scan / probe
|
||
`moltbot models scan` can probe OpenRouter models and uses `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` when
|
||
probing is enabled.
|
||
|
||
See [Models CLI](/cli/models).
|
||
|
||
### 9) Talk (speech)
|
||
Talk mode can invoke **ElevenLabs** when configured:
|
||
- `ELEVENLABS_API_KEY` or `talk.apiKey`
|
||
|
||
See [Talk mode](/nodes/talk).
|
||
|
||
### 10) Skills (third-party APIs)
|
||
Skills can store `apiKey` in `skills.entries.<name>.apiKey`. If a skill uses that key for external
|
||
APIs, it can incur costs according to the skill’s provider.
|
||
|
||
See [Skills](/tools/skills).
|