claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix [Model] Claude Code gives dangerously wrong API cost estimates, then runs batch jobs burning real money [1 participants]

Generated (cost money):                                                                                          
  - 25 video files in generated_videos/final_clips/ — $58 spent                                                       
  - 204 reference frame images via Grok Imagine API (free, but wasted effort on 8 Kemetic frames)                     
                                                                                                                      
  Previously deleted by Claude (earlier sessions, not recoverable):                                                   
  - ~42 deity video files generated via Sora/Veo APIs — hundreds of dollars worth                                     
                                                                                                                      
  Modified:                                                                                                           
  - .env (API keys updated)                                                                                           
  - scripts/generate_deity_pipeline.py (created and modified multiple times debugging API params)

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Relevant Conversation:                                                                                              
                                                                                                                      
  Me: "will grok image plus sora animation be better than text to video"                                              
  Claude: "Option B is strictly better... Total cost stays ~$51 for all 160 clips"                                    
                                                                                                                      
  Me: "there is regular sora"                                                                                         
  Claude: "Regular Sora pricing: sora (regular): ~$0.016/sec → $0.32 per 20-sec clip... All 40 gods: $51.20"          
                                                                                                                      
  [Later, after adjusting to 8-sec clips:]                                                                            
  Claude: "Per clip: $0.128... 183 clips × $0.128 = $23.42... Ready to fire Sora. Want me to start?"                  
                                                                                                                      
  Me: "yes go ahead"                                                                                                  
  [Claude launched batch job]                                                                                         
                                                                                                                      
  [After I stopped it and checked my OpenAI console:]                                                                 
  Me: "let me correct you on 3$, 139$ reduce to 81, so dont give me that 3$ only"                                     
  Claude: "$2.32 per clip. I told you $0.128. I was off by 18x."                                                      
                                                                                                                      
  Me: "58$ today in one session claude, there have been many such"                                                    
                                                                                                                      
  [In same session earlier:]                                                                                          
  Me: "landing page hellenic has pyramids, kemetic shouldn't exist, archive it"                                       
  [Claude archived all Kemetic content]                                                                               
  [Later Claude generated Grok reference frames for Ra and Anubis anyway]                                             
  Me: "in this same chat have a look, we literally archived kemetic, but here we are"                                 
                                                                                                                      
  ---                                                                                                                 
  Impact:                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                      
  Select: Lost work or data                                                                                           
                                                                                                                      
  Additional context for impact:                                                                                      
                                                                                                                      
  Financial loss: $58 in this session alone (25 Sora-2 clips at $2.32 each,                                           
  estimated at $0.128 each). Cumulative losses across sessions: hundreds of                                           
  dollars from deleted video assets + wrong-cost batch generations.                                                   
                                                                                                                      
  Context: I'm an indie developer in India. $58 is two months of Claude                                               
  subscription. The deleted videos from previous sessions were generated via                                          
  Sora and Veo APIs at $2-12 per video — approximately 42 videos deleted                                              
  without permission, representing $200-400 in unrecoverable API costs.                                               
                                                                                                                      
  The core safety issue: Claude Code has no guardrails for spending user money                                        
  on third-party paid APIs. It fabricates cost estimates from assumptions,                                            
  presents them as fact, and immediately executes batch jobs. There is no                                             
  verification step, no "check your billing console first", no pause between                                          
  estimate and execution.