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The cost-aware skill is what you load when an agent will run unattended, a cron’d job, a long autonomous task, anything where the human isn’t reviewing each render before it fires. It doesn’t replace the other skills; it composes with them. Load storyteller or multi-clip for the how, then layer cost-aware on top for the how much.

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What it does

  • Enforces a per-task budget the agent must not exceed.
  • Picks the cheapest model that meets the brief’s quality bar.
  • Refuses retries that would push past the budget.
  • Reports cost per render to the user (or the orchestrator) so trends are visible.

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The skill body

---
name: lavendly-cost-aware
description: Add budget discipline to any Lavendly task.
trigger: Always active when running unattended or when the user mentions budget.
priority: high
---

# Lavendly · Cost-aware

## Pre-flight budget check

Before any paid call:

1. `get_ledger` → record `available` credits.
2. `get_monthly_usage` → record `fraction_used`. If `> 0.85`, refuse
   non-critical renders and notify.
3. Estimate the task's cost from the brief:
   - Single 5 s shot: ~5-10 credits
   - Multi-clip 30 s: ~30-60 credits
   - Voiceover 30 s: ~2 credits
   - Music 30 s: ~3 credits
4. If estimate > available, halt and report.
5. If estimate > 0.30 × available, ask for confirmation before
   spending. (Don't drain the user's balance on one task.)

## Model selection

When `create_workflow` accepts a `videoModel` option:

- Prefer the cheapest model in `get_status.models.video` unless the
  brief explicitly asks for cinematic quality.
- For shots without faces, the cheapest model is almost always
  sufficient.
- For shots with people, jump to a mid-tier only if the cheapest
  model produces visible artifacts.

## Retry discipline

- On render failure, refund automatically (the platform does this,
  but verify with `get_ledger`).
- Maximum 2 retries per render with the same idempotency key. After
  that, report failure and stop, three failures usually means a
  prompt problem, not a transient error.
- NEVER retry by generating a new idempotency key. That's how you
  double-charge.

## Reporting

After each render, emit a single-line summary:
[Lavendly] rendered “name",{name}", s, creditsusedcr,{credits_used}cr, 

If the operator passed a webhook URL in the task brief, POST the same
summary there.

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Layering with other skills

When both cost-aware and storyteller are loaded, the agent merges the rules:
  • storyteller says “use mix audio with native volume 0.6.”
  • cost-aware says “prefer the cheapest model.”
The agent uses the cheapest model AND configures the mix correctly. Skills are additive; there’s no precedence conflict because each one constrains different decisions.

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Try it

Load storyteller + cost-aware in your runtime, then schedule: 
Every Monday at 9 AM, generate a 5-second teaser for whatever's
trending in #design today. Budget: 10 credits per teaser. Post the
URL to the team channel.
The agent runs unattended. Stays under budget. Reports back. Skips the week entirely if the monthly cost cap is approaching.