Quickstart
Install TokenTriage, run a local demo, and see a sample LLM cost breakdown in about two minutes.
On this page
Before you start, you need a terminal and internet access to install the binary. You do not need administrator access, an API key, a config file, or an account. The demo uses simulated providers and cannot incur provider charges.
1. Install TokenTriage
Choose the command for your platform:
curl -fsSL https://tokentriage.com/install.sh | shirm https://tokentriage.com/install.ps1 | iexThe installer downloads one executable, verifies its checksum, and puts it in a folder you can
write to without administrator access. If that folder is not on your PATH—the list of folders
your terminal searches for commands—the installer tells you what to add.
If you would rather inspect the installer first or use a package manager, see Installation.
Confirm that the command is available:
tokentriage versionThe installation worked if the output contains one line beginning with tokentriage and another
beginning with pricing snapshot:. The exact version numbers will differ over time.
What is a pricing snapshot?
It is the versioned price list TokenTriage uses to calculate costs. The snapshot identifier makes it possible to trace a cost back to the prices used at the time.
If your shell reports command not found
Open a new terminal and try tokentriage version again. A terminal that was already open may
not have picked up the updated PATH.
If the command is still unavailable, Installation has platform-specific PATH help.
2. Start the demo
Run:
tokentriage demo --openLeave this terminal running. TokenTriage starts a local dashboard, loads synthetic history, and sends a few test requests through simulated providers.
Look for these two lines. Your port number will differ:
DEMO — synthetic data (watermarked)
dashboard: http://127.0.0.1:<PORT>/ui/
Your browser should open the dashboard automatically.
If the dashboard does not open
Find the dashboard: line in the terminal and open the URL that follows it. The demo chooses an
available local port each time it starts, so use the URL from your own terminal.
3. Read the result
You are set when the Overview page shows all three of these:
- A Demo data label
- A request count greater than zero
- A dollar amount for the sample traffic
The synthetic history deliberately includes an unusually expensive request so the dashboard has an anomaly to show. The amounts are examples, not a bill.
Select Cost in the dashboard navigation to explore the sample costs. Start with Total spend and Requests; the other views and filters can wait until you connect real traffic.
Why does the total say EST or priced rows only?
EST means at least one row uses an estimated cost. Priced rows only means the total excludes
requests whose model has no known price. An excluded request is not assumed to be free.
Optional: inspect the demo in your terminal
The demo prints a ledger: line containing the path to its temporary request log. Open a second
terminal, copy that path into the command below, and group the requests by model.
tokentriage top --log "/tmp/tokentriage-demo-103211116/decisions.jsonl" --by modeltokentriage top --log "C:\tt-tmp\tokentriage-demo-103211116\decisions.jsonl" --by modelUse the path printed by your demo; the directory name will differ. In this table, a dash in the cost column means TokenTriage could not find a price for that model. It does not mean the request was free. The cache and percentile columns are explained in Cost analytics.
4. Stop the demo
Return to the terminal running the demo and press Ctrl-C.
The demo removes its temporary request log when it stops. It does not write to the request log used by a normal TokenTriage run.
What TokenTriage did
TokenTriage ran a proxy and dashboard on your computer. It sent test requests to simulated providers, counted their tokens, looked up prices, and saved the results in a temporary log. It did not contact an external LLM provider.