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User Guide

Overview

Chutes Usage Monitor helps you monitor subscription usage, rolling limits, request quotas, and PAYG credit without leaving VS Code.

The extension provides:

  • a sidebar dashboard for detailed usage information
  • an optional status bar item for a compact summary

Get Started

  1. Install mikesoft.chutes-usage-vscode from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace.
  2. Open the Command Palette.
  3. Run Chutes Usage Monitor: Set API Key.
  4. Open the Chutes Usage Monitor view from the Activity Bar.

Your API key is stored securely using VS Code SecretStorage.

Main UI

Sidebar Dashboard

The dashboard is the primary interface for the extension.

It includes:

  • a header with connection status and actions
  • a plan snapshot with key subscription details, including your pay-as-you-go credit balance
  • stacked usage cards for the main billing windows
  • a Plan Limits section with public plan prices and PAYG discounts; monthly, daily, and burst limits are filled only for your current plan when the account API provides them

Depending on the current state, the dashboard shows onboarding, loading, ready, or error content.

The dashboard is optimized for the narrow sidebar widths common in VS Code, so cards stack vertically and supporting content collapses more gracefully on smaller layouts.

If the sidebar ever appears blank after an update, make sure you are on version 0.2.5 or newer, which fixes a webview bootstrap regression from 0.2.4.

From version 0.2.6, the Activity Bar/sidebar icon uses a dedicated single-color SVG for better visibility inside VS Code, while the Marketplace listing keeps a separate PNG icon.

Status Bar

The status bar item provides a compact summary of usage.

Clicking it opens the Chutes Usage Monitor dashboard.

It can be turned on or off with the chutesUsageVscode.showStatusBar setting.

Commands

The extension contributes these commands:

  • Chutes Usage Monitor: Open Dashboard
  • Chutes Usage Monitor: Refresh
  • Chutes Usage Monitor: Set API Key
  • Chutes Usage Monitor: Remove API Key

Refresh Behavior

The extension refreshes data in four ways:

  • manual refresh through the command or dashboard action
  • automatic refresh on the configured interval
  • automatic refresh when the dashboard becomes visible again
  • automatic refresh when the VS Code window regains focus

Use chutesUsageVscode.refreshIntervalSeconds to control the refresh interval.

While the extension host remains active, reopening the dashboard can reuse its in-memory snapshot before refreshing. The webview itself persists only whether the Plan Limits section is collapsed and never stores usage or account values.

Privacy Model

  • The API key is stored only in VS Code SecretStorage and is never sent to the webview.
  • Usage and account responses remain in extension-host memory and are not logged or written to a usage history.
  • The webview persists only whether the Plan Limits section is collapsed.
  • Removing the API key deletes it from SecretStorage; uninstall cleanup also removes extension storage on a best-effort basis.

Usage Data Shown

Depending on the API responses available for your account, the extension can display:

  • billing cycle usage
  • 4-hour rolling window usage
  • daily request usage
  • plan information such as subscription price or caps when available
  • your pay-as-you-go credit balance (the account credit that funds requests beyond your subscription caps), with visible Low credit or No credit text and warning colors when applicable
  • a Plus and Pro reference using public prices and PAYG discounts; other limits show -- unless they are verified from the current account

Managing Your API Key

  • Use Set API Key to save or replace the current key.
  • Use Remove API Key to remove the locally stored Chutes API key.

If no API key is stored, the extension remains in an onboarding state until one is provided.

Settings

chutesUsageVscode.refreshIntervalSeconds

Controls how often the extension refreshes usage data automatically.

Changes take effect immediately without reloading the extension.

  • Type: number
  • Default: 60
  • Minimum: 15
  • Maximum: 900

chutesUsageVscode.showStatusBar

Controls whether the status bar item is visible.

Changes take effect immediately without reloading the extension.

  • Type: boolean
  • Default: true

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