estimate_cost
Estimate what a panel or saved workflow would cost before running it: returns a per-agent/per-step price breakdown, the total for the requested number of runs, your remaining quota and platform credit, an honest list of any models the platform could not price, and a go/no-go decision. Reserves no...
This record as markdown: /tools/com-meta-council-decision-intelligence/estimate-cost.md
What estimate_cost does on Meta Council
AI agents call estimate_cost to retrieve information from Meta Council without modifying anything. It is typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
kind | string | Yes | What to price: a council panel or a saved workflow. |
runs | integer | — | How many runs to price (default 1). |
model | string | — | Optional single model override applied to every agent or step. A model absent from the pricing catalog is reported in unpriced_models rather than silently price |
panel | string | — | Panel slug when kind is 'council' (default: 'default'). |
workflow | string | — | Workflow slug — required when kind is 'workflow'. |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
Why estimate_cost is rated Low
Even though estimate_cost only reads data, uncontrolled read access leaks sensitive information and racks up API costs: an agent caught in a retry loop can make thousands of calls a minute without anyone noticing.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs estimate_cost safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Meta Council, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For estimate_cost, this is the rule to start with:
estimate_cost is read-only, so it stays allowed. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Meta Council, apply this rule, and every estimate_cost call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about estimate_cost
Estimate what a panel or saved workflow would cost before running it: returns a per-agent/per-step price breakdown, the total for the requested number of runs, your remaining quota and platform credit, an honest list of any models the platform could not price, and a go/no-go decision. Reserves nothing, charges nothing, starts nothing. It is categorised as a Read tool in the Meta Council MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
estimate_cost accepts 5 parameters: kind, runs, model, panel, workflow. Required: kind. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the Meta Council MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for estimate_cost: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Meta Council. Nothing to install.
estimate_cost is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the estimate_cost rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for estimate_cost. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
estimate_cost is provided by the Meta Council MCP server (https://meta-council.com/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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