Developer Builds Token Budget Alarm to Prevent Free API Quota Surprises
A developer shared how a surprise quota cutoff during a live demo prompted them to build a token budget alarm for free-tier AI models. The system uses a lightweight Flask reverse proxy to intercept model requests and log token usage to a local SQLite database. A background thread analyzes the burn rate over a sliding window and projects when the monthly allowance will run out. If exhaustion is expected within 24 hours, the system fires a webhook alert to notify the developer in advance. The entire stack is designed to run on a free server, addressing a blind spot where developers monitor cloud costs closely but overlook free-model token consumption.
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