Token prices

Kiali can estimate the monetary cost of ChatAI usage from a per-model token price catalog. Those estimates appear on the AI consumption dashboard and can be used with optional per-user budgets.

To use consumption tracking, token prices, and the AI consumption dashboard, ai.metrics must be enabled (ai.metrics: true). If metrics are disabled, Kiali does not record token usage, does not estimate cost, and does not show consumption data.

Cost estimates, dashboard access, and the price catalog are configured under ai.consumption. For the configuration keys, see ai.metrics and ai.consumption in the Kiali CR spec.

Default catalog

You do not have to configure token prices. If ai.consumption.prices_config_map is omitted or left empty (""), Kiali automatically uses the built-in catalog shipped in the Kiali binary:

config/ai_default_prices.yaml

That file lists USD prices per million tokens for Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google models (and optional cache read/write rates where the provider publishes them). The operator and Helm chart do not mount an extra volume in this default case.

Enable metrics (required) and leave pricing unset:

ai:
  enabled: true
  metrics: true
  consumption:
    prices_config_map: ""   # default: built-in catalog

How cost is calculated

Kiali matches each usage record to a catalog row by provider and model_id, then estimates:

input cost  = (prompt tokens / 1,000,000)     × input_cost_per_million
output cost = (completion tokens / 1,000,000) × output_cost_per_million
total       = input cost + output cost

If no catalog row matches the provider and model, tokens are still shown and cost is omitted.

Custom prices (prices_config_map)

To replace the built-in catalog (for example with your contract rates, a model not listed yet, or LightSpeed prices), create a ConfigMap in the Kiali deployment namespace and set ai.consumption.prices_config_map to its name.

The ConfigMap is user-managed. The operator never creates or writes it. The catalog in the ConfigMap replaces the built-in list; it is not merged.

1. Create a ConfigMap whose data key is prices.yaml, using the same schema as ai_default_prices.yaml:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: kiali-ai-prices
  namespace: istio-system   # Kiali's namespace
data:
  prices.yaml: |
    models:
      - provider: openai          # openai | anthropic | google | lightspeed
        model_id: gpt-4o          # must match the model ID recorded in usage
        currency: USD
        prices:
          input_cost_per_million: 2.50
          output_cost_per_million: 10.00
          cache_write_cost_per_million: 0      # optional
          cache_read_cost_per_million: 1.25    # optional    

2. Point Kiali at that ConfigMap.

Operator (Kiali CR):

spec:
  ai:
    enabled: true
    metrics: true
    consumption:
      prices_config_map: kiali-ai-prices

Helm (kiali-server values):

ai:
  enabled: true
  metrics: true
  consumption:
    prices_config_map: kiali-ai-prices

When prices_config_map is a non-empty name, the operator (and the kiali-server Helm chart) mounts that ConfigMap at /kiali-ai-pricing (optional: true, readOnly: true). Kiali reads /kiali-ai-pricing/prices.yaml.

If the file is missing or invalid, Kiali logs an error and falls back to the built-in ai_default_prices.yaml catalog.

Restart the Kiali pod after you change ConfigMap contents. Prices are loaded when configuration is read, not watched for live updates.

Catalog schema

Each entry under models::

Copy rows from the built-in catalog and adjust the amounts you want Kiali to use.

Dashboard access

ai.consumption.allowed_users_dashboard lists usernames that may open the consumption dashboard. If the list is empty (the default), all authenticated users have access. This is independent of ai.chat.allowed_users, which controls who can use the Chatbot.

ai:
  enabled: true
  metrics: true
  consumption:
    allowed_users_dashboard:
      - "alice"
      - "bob"

Next step

To limit cost or tokens per user, see Budgets.