Direct Monitoring

Lowest-risk start

Direct Monitoring automatically sends usage records after provider calls. Nothing sits inline, so this path has no availability risk and cannot apply optimization levers.

What to send

Send cost-relevant metadata such as provider, model, token counts, timestamps, and workload labels. Do not send prompt text, completions, provider keys, or customer content.

await fetch("https://api.varsten.ai/v1/usage-events", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.VARSTEN_API_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    provider: "openai",
    model: "gpt-4o-mini",
    request_type: "chat_completion",
    input_tokens: usage.prompt_tokens,
    output_tokens: usage.completion_tokens,
    feature: "support_agent",
    environment: "production",
    idempotency_key: requestId,
    occurred_at: new Date().toISOString(),
  }),
});

What you get

You get spend visibility, workload attribution, pricing coverage checks, and savings analysis. Turning on optimization later requires an inline path such as the SDK.