> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://tokonomics.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Tokonomics: Real-Time AI Cost Metering for Every LLM

> Tokonomics tracks every LLM token and dollar across OpenAI, Anthropic, and 7 more providers. No code changes — just change one URL.

Tokonomics is a budget-first AI cost metering proxy that sits between your application and any LLM provider. Every token you send and receive is counted, priced, and logged in real time — without any changes to your prompts or application logic. Point your existing OpenAI, Anthropic, or other provider SDK at Tokonomics, and you get instant visibility into spend, usage trends, and budget alerts across all your models and teams.

## Get started

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quick Start" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    Integrate Tokonomics in 5 minutes — no code changes beyond a single URL swap.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Authentication" icon="key" href="/authentication">
    Learn how to generate and use your `mk_`-prefixed API key for every request.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Core Concepts" icon="network-wired" href="/concepts/proxy">
    Understand how the proxy layer works, what gets logged, and how tags flow through.
  </Card>

  <Card title="API Reference" icon="code" href="/api-reference/overview">
    Explore every endpoint, request parameter, and response schema in full detail.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## How to onboard

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a free account">
    Sign up at [tokonomics.ca](https://tokonomics.ca/register). No credit card required. Your free plan includes 100 tracked calls per month so you can explore the dashboard before committing.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Generate an API key">
    In your dashboard, navigate to **API Keys** and click **Create key**. Your key starts with `mk_` and is shown in plaintext exactly once — copy it to a secure location before closing the dialog.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Change your provider base URL">
    Replace your LLM provider's base URL with the Tokonomics proxy endpoint:

    ```text theme={null}
    https://tokonomics.ca/proxy/{provider}/
    ```

    For example, swap `https://api.openai.com/v1` for `https://tokonomics.ca/proxy/openai/`. Tokonomics forwards every request transparently, captures usage data in the background, and returns the unmodified provider response to your app.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Why teams choose Tokonomics

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Real-time cost tracking" icon="chart-line">
    Every token is priced the moment the response lands. Watch spend accumulate live on your dashboard — broken down by model, provider, and tag.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Budget alerts" icon="bell">
    Set daily, weekly, or monthly spend caps on any key, team, or project. Tokonomics fires webhook alerts before you blow past your budget.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Tag-based attribution" icon="tag">
    Attach arbitrary JSON tags to any request with the `X-Metering-Tags` header. Slice your spend by team, feature, user, or any dimension that matters to you.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>