# usage-based-billing

Guides coding agents on setting up consumption-based billing with Dodo Payments, from creating meters to ingesting usage events.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 786 installs · ★ 13
- Author: dodopayments
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/dodopayments/skills/tree/HEAD/dodo-payments/usage-based-billing/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-20
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/usage-based-billing

## What it does

This skill teaches coding agents to set up consumption billing for API requests and token generation using Dodo Payments. It handles four meter aggregation models: `count` for tracking total calls, `sum` for accumulating payload numbers, `max` for tracking peak usage, and `last` for current state snapshots.

Ingestion follows strict schema requirements. Each event requires an `event_id` derived from an operation identifier to guarantee idempotency. If a single payload batch contains duplicate identifiers, Dodo Payments rejects the whole request. Timestamps cannot sit more than one hour in the past or five minutes in the future.

Connecting to the service requires setting `DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY` in your environment. If your business model relies on prepaid credit pools instead of metered consumption, switch to the companion `credit-based-billing` skill.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dodopayments/skills --skill usage-based-billing -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/usage-based-billing/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/usage-based-billing/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dodopayments/skills --skill usage-based-billing -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/usage-based-billing/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dodopayments/skills --skill usage-based-billing -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/usage-based-billing/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install dodopayments/skills usage-based-billing
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/usage-based-billing/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dodopayments/skills --skill usage-based-billing -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/dodopayments/skills --path dodo-payments/usage-based-billing
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/usage-based-billing/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dodopayments/skills --skill usage-based-billing -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/dodopayments/skills/tree/HEAD/dodo-payments/usage-based-billing/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- configure consumption meters for API calls and AI tokens
- ingest usage events in batches up to 1000 items
- set up per-unit pricing with a free threshold
- handle event deduplication using idempotent IDs

## Example prompts
- Create a Dodo Payments meter to track token usage using sum aggregation
- Write a TypeScript helper to batch ingest API call events into Dodo Payments
- Show how to attach per-unit pricing with a free allowance to a product

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 1e97cfed55124cc9.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 1e97cfed55124cc9
````text
---
name: usage-based-billing
description: Dodo Payments usage-based billing that charges per measured unit, covering meters, usage event ingestion by event_name, aggregation, free thresholds, price_per_unit, and metered subscriptions. Use when billing per API call, AI token, storage, or bandwidth, sending usage events, or adding metered pricing to a plan; use credit-based-billing for prepaid credit pools.
---

# Dodo Payments Usage-Based Billing

**Reference: [docs.dodopayments.com/features/usage-based-billing](https://docs.dodopayments.com/features/usage-based-billing/introduction)**

Charge customers for what they actually use—API calls, storage, AI tokens, or any metric you define.

---

## When to use this skill

- You need to bill customers based on consumption (API calls, tokens, storage, bandwidth).
- You want to combine usage charges with subscriptions or one-time purchases.
- You need to track and aggregate events into billable quantities.
- You're building an AI service, SaaS platform, or infrastructure product with metered features.

---

## Core Concepts

### Events

Usage records sent from your application to Dodo. Each event is attributed to a customer and matched to a meter by its `event_name`.

```json
{
  "event_id": "evt_unique_123",
  "customer_id": "cus_abc123",
  "event_name": "api.call",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-21T10:30:00Z",
  "metadata": { "endpoint": "/v1/users", "tokens": 150 }
}
```

### Meters

Filters and aggregates events into billable quantities. A meter specifies:
- **Event name**: which events to match (case-sensitive)
- **Aggregation type**: how to combine events (count, sum, max, last)
- **Measurement unit**: the billing unit (calls, tokens, GB, etc.)
- **Optional filters**: conditions events must meet to be counted

### Aggregation Types

| Type | Use Case | Example |
|------|----------|---------|
| **Count** | Total events | API calls, image generations |
| **Sum** | Add values from a property | Tokens used, bytes transferred |
| **Max** | Highest value in a period | Peak concurrent users |
| **Last** | Most recent value | Current storage used |

For `sum`, `max`, and `last`, you specify which metadata property to aggregate.

### Pricing

Attach a meter to a product price to charge per unit:
- **Price per unit**: e.g., $0.001 per API call
- **Free threshold**: e.g., 1,000 free calls per month
- **Charge formula**: `(usage − threshold) × price_per_unit`

**Example**: 2,500 calls − 1,000 free = 1,500 × $0.02 = $30.00

---

## Meter Lifecycle

### Create a Meter

```typescript
import DodoPayments from 'dodopayments';

const client = new DodoPayments({
  bearerToken: process.env.DODO_PAYMENTS_API_KEY,
  environment: 'test_mode',
});

const meter = await client.meters.create({
  name: 'API Requests',
  event_name: 'api.call',
  aggregation: { type: 'count' },
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 1e97cfed55124cc9

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 1e97cfed55124cc9 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

First 2850 of 14082 bytes. © dodopayments · MIT · https://github.com/dodopayments/skills/tree/HEAD/dodo-payments/usage-based-billing/SKILL.md

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