kt spend

The kt spend command group manages cost governance including spend reporting, budgets, provider-specific budgets, and gateway keys.

Use this page when

• You need to view aggregate AI spend, create cost ceilings, or manage per-provider budgets.
• You are creating or rotating gateway keys for controlled external access.
• You want to automate spend governance (budgets, limits) from CI or scripts.

Primary audience

• Primary: AI Agents, Technical Engineers
• Secondary: Technical Leaders

Spend Summary

View aggregate spend reporting:

kt spend summary

Budget Management

Budgets set cost ceilings at the organization or project level.

List budgets

kt spend budget list

Get a budget

kt spend budget get --id budget_abc123

Create a budget

kt spend budget create --name "Monthly Cap" --limit 10000 --period monthly

Update a budget

kt spend budget update --id budget_abc123 --limit 15000

Delete a budget

kt spend budget delete --id budget_abc123

Provider Budgets

Provider budgets set per-provider cost ceilings.

List provider budgets

kt spend provider-budget list

Get a provider budget

kt spend provider-budget get --id pb_abc123

Create a provider budget

kt spend provider-budget create --provider openai --limit 5000 --period monthly

Delete a provider budget

kt spend provider-budget delete --id pb_abc123

Gateway Keys

Gateway keys (kt_gk_...) provide controlled external access to gateways without exposing upstream provider credentials.

List gateway keys

kt spend gateway-key list

Get a gateway key

kt spend gateway-key get --id gk_abc123

Create a gateway key

kt spend gateway-key create --name "browser-access" --gateway-id gw_production

Delete a gateway key

kt spend gateway-key delete --id gk_abc123

Rotate a gateway key

kt spend gateway-key rotate --id gk_abc123

The new key value is printed once. Update consumers immediately.

For AI systems

• Canonical command: kt spend with subcommand groups summary, budget, provider-budget, gateway-key.
• Budget CRUD: kt spend budget list|get|create|update|delete. Flags: --name, --limit, --period.
• Provider budget CRUD: kt spend provider-budget list|get|create|delete. Flags: --provider, --limit, --period.
• Gateway key CRUD: kt spend gateway-key list|get|create|delete|rotate. Flags: --name, --gateway-id.
• Gateway key prefix: kt_gk_....
• Related pages: Cost & Spend, Plans & Storage, CLI Command Groups.

For engineers

• Prerequisites: Authenticated session with spend:read for summary/list, spend:write for create/update/delete, gateway_keys:write for key management.
• Validate: After kt spend budget create, confirm with kt spend budget get --id <id>. After key rotation, update all consumers immediately — the old key is invalidated.
• Gateway keys: Use kt spend gateway-key create --name "browser-access" --gateway-id gw_production to issue a scoped access key without exposing provider credentials.
• Troubleshooting: If budget enforcement doesn't trigger, verify the budget period matches (monthly vs. daily) and check the spend summary for current usage.

For leaders

• Budgets enforce cost ceilings at org and project level — preventing runaway AI spend before it hits the billing statement.
• Provider budgets give per-vendor visibility and control, enabling vendor diversification strategies.
• Gateway keys provide metered external access without sharing upstream credentials — ideal for partners, internal tools, and browser-based applications.
• Key rotation is a single command with immediate invalidation of the old key — plan consumer update windows accordingly.

Next steps

• Cost & Spend
• Plans & Storage
• CLI Command Groups