> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.openlit.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Cost Recalculation

> Recalculate the cost of LLM traces using current model pricing — manually or on a schedule

The Pricing feature recalculates the `gen_ai.usage.cost` attribute on existing LLM traces using the per-model pricing stored in [Manage Models](/latest/openlit/pricing/manage-models). This is useful when:

* Your SDK didn't send cost data (or sent `0`).
* Model pricing has changed and you want historical traces to reflect the new prices.
* You added a custom model after traces were already ingested.

## How it works

For each trace, OpenLIT:

1. Reads `gen_ai.system` (provider) and `gen_ai.request.model` from the span attributes.
2. Looks up the matching model in the `openlit_provider_models` ClickHouse table.
3. Computes the cost:
   ```
   cost = (input_tokens / 1,000,000) × input_price_per_m_token
        + (output_tokens / 1,000,000) × output_price_per_m_token
   ```
4. Writes the result back to the trace:
   ```sql theme={null}
   ALTER TABLE otel_traces
   UPDATE SpanAttributes = mapUpdate(SpanAttributes, map('gen_ai.usage.cost', '<cost>'))
   WHERE SpanId = '<span_id>'
   ```

<Info>
  Traces with missing provider, model, or zero tokens are **skipped** — they are not counted as errors.
  If the model is not found in Manage Models, the trace is also skipped. Add the model first, then recalculate.
</Info>

## Manual recalculation

Recalculate the cost for a single trace directly from the trace detail panel.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open a trace">
    Navigate to **Requests** and click on any LLM trace to open the detail panel.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click the recalculate icon">
    In the **Cost** metric card at the top of the panel, click the refresh icon (↻).

    * If the cost is missing or zero, a **pinging dot** draws attention to the icon.
    * If the cost already exists, clicking recalculates it using the latest pricing.
  </Step>

  <Step title="See the result">
    A toast notification shows the updated cost. The panel refreshes automatically to display the new value.
  </Step>
</Steps>

**API**: `POST /api/pricing/{spanId}` — returns `{ success, data: { spanId, cost } }` or `{ success: false, err: "..." }`.

## Auto recalculation (cron-based)

Automatically recompute pricing on a schedule for all newly ingested LLM traces.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Pricing page">
    Navigate to **Pricing** in the sidebar under the Configuration section.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enable Auto Pricing">
    Toggle the **Enable Auto Pricing** switch.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set the cron schedule">
    Enter a standard cron expression. For example:

    * `*/15 * * * *` — every 15 minutes
    * `0 * * * *` — every hour
    * `0 0 * * *` — once a day at midnight
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Click **Save** (or **Update** if editing). OpenLIT installs a cron job that runs the pricing recalculation on the schedule you defined.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### How auto pricing selects traces

On each cron tick:

| Step                      | What happens                                                                                                                                     |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **1. Select LLM spans**   | Queries `otel_traces` for spans whose `gen_ai.operation.name` matches supported LLM operations (e.g. `chat`).                                    |
| **2. Incremental window** | Only spans with `Timestamp >= last successful cron run` are processed. The first run processes all historical LLM spans.                         |
| **3. Look up model**      | For each span, reads `gen_ai.system` (provider) and `gen_ai.request.model`, then finds the matching row in `openlit_provider_models`.            |
| **4. Compute cost**       | `(input_tokens / 1M) × input_price + (output_tokens / 1M) × output_price`.                                                                       |
| **5. Write back**         | Updates `SpanAttributes['gen_ai.usage.cost']` on the trace via `ALTER TABLE otel_traces UPDATE`.                                                 |
| **6. Log run**            | Records `totalSpans`, `totalUpdated`, `totalFailed`, `totalSkipped` in the cron log with a status of `SUCCESS`, `PARTIAL_SUCCESS`, or `FAILURE`. |

<Note>
  Spans with missing provider/model/tokens or an unknown model are **skipped** (not counted as errors). Add the model to Manage Models and the next cron run will pick it up.
</Note>

### Cron restoration on restart

When the OpenLIT server restarts (e.g. after a container redeployment), all active auto-pricing cron jobs are automatically restored from the database. No manual re-setup is needed.

## API reference

| Endpoint                           | Method | Description                                                          |
| ---------------------------------- | ------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `/api/pricing/config`              | `GET`  | Get the current pricing config (auto flag, cron schedule)            |
| `/api/pricing/config`              | `POST` | Create or update pricing config                                      |
| `/api/pricing/{spanId}`            | `POST` | Manually recalculate cost for a single trace                         |
| `/api/pricing/auto`                | `POST` | Trigger auto pricing run (called by cron; allowlisted in middleware) |
| `/api/openground/models/export`    | `GET`  | Export all model pricing as downloadable JSON (authenticated)        |
| `/api/pricing/export/{dbConfigId}` | `GET`  | Public pricing URL for SDK `pricing_json` (no auth)                  |
| `/api/openground/models/import`    | `POST` | Bulk-import models from JSON, skipping duplicates                    |

## Configuration

The pricing config is stored in the SQLite `PricingConfigs` table (managed by Prisma):

| Field              | Type          | Description                             |
| ------------------ | ------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| `id`               | String        | Config ID (auto-generated)              |
| `databaseConfigId` | String        | Links to the ClickHouse database config |
| `auto`             | Boolean       | Whether auto pricing is enabled         |
| `recurringTime`    | String        | Cron schedule (e.g. `*/15 * * * *`)     |
| `meta`             | String (JSON) | Internal metadata including `cronJobId` |