Every dollar has
a place in the sum.

A missing lifetime is not a zero.

Before entering five counts, reconcile the usage record. This original synthetic aggregate is not a response from an actual model run. The field relationships follow Anthropic's prompt-caching reference.

{
  "input_tokens": 1000000,
  "cache_creation_input_tokens": 200000,
  "cache_creation": {
    "ephemeral_5m_input_tokens": 150000,
    "ephemeral_1h_input_tokens": 50000
  },
  "cache_read_input_tokens": 20000000,
  "output_tokens": 200000
}

The write subcounts reconcile: 150,000 + 50,000 = 200,000. Enter 1,000,000 / 150,000 / 50,000 / 20,000,000 / 200,000 in the five categories, in that order. Do not also add the 200,000 creation aggregate as another category, and do not fold reads into fresh input.

Remove the split and you lose information.

Now imagine the same record includes the aggregate 200,000 writes but omits both lifetime subcounts. At the displayed rates, all-short writes would cost $2.50 and all-long writes would cost $4.00. Holding the other categories fixed gives a token-cost range of $27.50–$29.00. That range expresses the missing lifetime split; it is not a confidence interval or an invoice estimate.

The calculator asks for exact category counts. Obtain the split from the original usage export or explicitly label a scenario assumption. Entering zero for the unknown 1-hour portion silently selects one end of the range.

Stop when the record contradicts itself.

If an aggregate says 200,000 but the two supplied subcounts say 100,000 and 50,000, 50,000 tokens are unaccounted for. Do not allocate them to the cheaper category just to make the form accept the totals. Check whether you mixed records, scopes or incomplete exports. Likewise, an absent output field is unknown, not evidence of zero output.

Download all four synthetic mapping cases · JSON: complete, missing split, inconsistent split and missing output. Expected conclusions are included so the cases can be reviewed without an account or model request.

Provider rates checked 25 October 2026. These calculations cover the token categories shown here; they do not reconcile discounts, tools, taxes, routing premiums or partner invoices. Keep those scopes separate when comparing against an actual bill.