LC
LLM Cost & Latency Budget
🔵 Stable🕐 updated 2026-06-24
🔷 SkillSpec L3
pm-ai
Model the cost and latency of an LLM feature before it ships and surprises the bill. Use when asked to estimate LLM API costs, set a latency/token budget, decide which model tier to use, or bring down the cost of an AI feature. Produces a cost & latency budget — token math per request, monthly cost projection, model tiering, caching/streaming levers, p95 latency targets, and a guardrail/alert plan.
What to give it
▸The request shape — typical system prompt, user input, retrieved context, and output sizes (in rough tokens).
▸Volume — requests/day now and at target scale; peak concurrency.
▸Models in play — candidate model(s) and their per-token input/output prices.
▸Targets — acceptable cost per request (or per user/month) and the latency users will tolerate (p50 / p95).
✅ The bar it holds itself to
Every skill in this library self-verifies — these are this skill's own quality checks, straight from its definition.
✓Token estimates are itemised (system + context + input + output), not a single guessed number
✓The monthly cost is projected at **target** scale, not just today's volume
✓Model tiering / cascade is considered before accepting the flagship-model cost everywhere
✓p95 (not just average) latency is targeted, and streaming is considered for perceived speed
✓Caching is evaluated for repeated prompts/contexts
✓A spend alert + rate limit + kill switch are specified to cap the downside
⚠️ What it refuses to do
Do not budget on average latency — users feel the p95, and the tail is where AI features feel broken
Do not default every call to the most capable model — most requests don't need it; tiering often cuts cost by more than half
Do not forget output tokens cost more than input — verbose responses are often the hidden cost driver
Do not ship without a spend cap and alert — an unbounded LLM feature is an unbounded bill
Do not optimise cost before measuring it — itemise the real token usage first, then pull the biggest lever
Install
npx pm-claude-skills add --agent claude # or codex · cursor · gemini · hermes
# or one-line MCP (every skill, any client):
claude mcp add pm-skills -- npx -y pm-claude-skills-mcpRelated skills
🔌 Embed this skill
Drop this on your blog, docs, or site — it renders a "Run this skill" card:
<div data-pm-skill="llm-cost-latency-budget"></div>
<script src="https://mohitagw15856.github.io/pm-claude-skills/embed.js" async></script>💬 Discussion
LLM Cost & Latency Budget is one of 591 open-source professional AI agent skills — all SkillSpec L3.
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