Vibe ledger

Vibe Ledger

Generates a visual cost report from your project's cost history. Reads vibe/cost/history.json. Writes vibe/cost/ledger/index.html. Opens in browser.

No dependencies. No installs. Works on Mac, Linux, and Windows.

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When this runs

Automatically — vibe-cost calls this at the end of every session after writing history.json.

Manually — when the user says:

• ledger: — regenerate and open
• show cost report / open ledger / generate ledger
• how much have I spent — if history.json exists

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Step 1 — Check history.json exists

ls vibe/cost/history.json 2>/dev/null && echo "EXISTS" || echo "MISSING"

If missing:

"No cost history found yet. Run cost: after your next session to start tracking, then ledger: to generate the report."

Stop here if missing.

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Step 2 — Run the generator

python3 ~/.claude/skills/vibe-ledger/scripts/generate.py

The script:

1. Finds vibe/cost/history.json from the current project directory
2. Computes all metrics — totals, averages by task size, day breakdowns, efficiency ratios
3. Generates vibe/cost/ledger/index.html — self-contained, no external dependencies
4. Opens it in the default browser automatically
5. Prints a summary to the terminal

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Step 3 — Confirm to user

After the script runs, tell the user:

"Ledger generated — opening in your browser.

[Project name] · [N] sessions · [N] tasks · $[X.XX] total Report: vibe/cost/ledger/index.html

Run ledger: any time to refresh it with the latest data."

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What the report shows

Header — project name, total cost, session count, date range, build progress

Stat cards — avg cost per task, avg cost by size (S/M/L), peak session, cache savings

At a glance — plain English summary: what was built, what it cost, whether costs are healthy

Day by day — cost per day with ASCII block bars

Task size breakdown — S/M/L cost totals with percentage of total spend

Session burn table — each session with dot indicators (each dot ≈ cost/7), colour-coded:

• Green = on track
• Red = peak session
• Amber = output-heavy (CP-03)
• Blue = review session

Token composition — reading vs writing cost in plain terms ("reading costs $X of your $Y")

Efficiency metrics — tokens per task, read-to-write ratio, code written per dollar

Top 5 most expensive tasks — with size, phase, input and output tokens

Advice cards — plain English explanations of waste patterns detected, with specific fixes

Forecast — remaining cost estimate based on avg task cost × tasks remaining

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Output files

vibe/cost/
├── history.json          ← source data (written by cost:)
└── ledger/
    └── index.html        ← generated report (open this)

index.html is fully self-contained — no internet required to view it. Share it with a client or team member by just sending the file.

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Updating the report

Every cost: session automatically regenerates the ledger. Or run ledger: manually any time to refresh from the current history.json.

The report always reflects the complete project history — not just the last session.

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Troubleshooting

"vibe/cost/history.json not found" → You haven't run cost: yet in this project. Run it after your next session.

"history.json is empty" → The file exists but has no sessions. Run cost: at the end of a session to populate it.

"python3: command not found" → Python is not installed. Install from python.org — it's free and takes 2 minutes. On most Macs and Linux machines, python3 is already available.

Report opens but looks wrong → Try opening vibe/cost/ledger/index.html directly in Chrome or Firefox. The VT323 font requires an internet connection to load from Google Fonts. If offline, it falls back to Share Tech Mono or monospace — same layout, different font.