trace: the coordinator is the one unpriced worker #108

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opened 2026-08-12 16:37:00 +00:00 by john · 0 comments

john commented

2026-08-12 16:37:00 +00:00

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trace.jsonl prices every subagent, and the orchestrating session itself - half of the original cost spiral - is invisible. Verbatim phase 1: ~968k recorded subagent tokens, coordinator spend unknown.

Smallest honest version: a per-step marker event carrying what the coordinator can actually know (context bytes at dispatch time, or turn count between brackets), never a fabricated token figure. Calibrate the shape against verbatim's completed phase 1 trace, which is the fixture sitting on disk already. Feeds /cad-report's record-health line and trace suggest's evidence floors.

trace.jsonl prices every subagent, and the orchestrating session itself - half of the original cost spiral - is invisible. Verbatim phase 1: ~968k recorded subagent tokens, coordinator spend unknown. Smallest honest version: a per-step marker event carrying what the coordinator can actually know (context bytes at dispatch time, or turn count between brackets), never a fabricated token figure. Calibrate the shape against verbatim's completed phase 1 trace, which is the fixture sitting on disk already. Feeds /cad-report's record-health line and trace suggest's evidence floors.