AI Agent Cost Is a Runtime Signal | Focused Labs (opens in new tab)

AI agent cost management fails when cost is treated as a monthly bill as opposed to a runtime signal. A coding agent spends money differently than a bill. The agent could spend money by selecting a model for a specific task, using dragged-in context from past tasks, calling tools along the way from past tasks as well as other subagents that are passed work to complete. And the spending happens in a loop of retry and re-evaluation and passing of work until a harness or developer stops the agen...