Monitor token and tool usage for multi-agent research costs
Be aware that all agent tokens and server-side tool calls incur costs for multi-agent requests.
Monitor token and tool usage for multi-agent research
Avoid unexpected costs by understanding billing for all agents and tool invocations.
All tokens consumed by leader and sub-agents are billed. Server-side tool calls made by any agent are also billed. Use the `usage` and `server_side_tool_usage` fields in the response to monitor costs. Review pricing details for built-in tools.
Understand that multi-agent research incurs costs for all tokens used by all agents and for any server-side tool calls. Monitor `usage` and `server_side_tool_usage` fields in the response to track expenses and consult pricing pages.
Multiple agents and their tool interactions can significantly increase token and tool usage compared to single-agent requests, making cost monitoring essential for budget management.
When cost is not a primary concern or when usage is already well-understood and within budget.
- Multi Agent ↗xAI · xAI Docs: Guides · Jul 1, 2026 · paraphrased
First seen on Subvolts Jul 1, 2026. Updated Sep 11, 2026. Spotted a problem? Tell us.
- Multi AgentxAI · xAI Docs: Guides · Jul 1, 2026
The Playbook: reusable how-tos, prompts, configs and tips pulled out of the news.
- ChecklistPre-computation checklist for multi-agent research tasksItems to consider before initiating a multi-agent research request. · 5 min
- Setting tipEnable encrypted content for multi-agent context preservationSet use_encrypted_content to True to include sub-agent state in the response for multi-turn conversations. · 1 min
- Code snippetAPI request for multi-agent research with tools and agent countExample API call to grok-4.20-multi-agent specifying model, tools, agent count, and content encryption. · 10 min
- Anti-patternAvoid broad, unstructured questions for multi-agent researchDon't ask vague questions; provide specific dimensions and structure for better multi-agent research outcomes. · 2 min
- HeuristicFrame multi-agent research prompts for structured, dimensioned answersGuide multi-agent research by specifying dimensions to cover and requesting organized, structured responses. · 5 min
- Model pickUse grok-4.20-multi-agent for multi-agent research tasksSpecify grok-4.20-multi-agent for API requests to orchestrate specialized AI agents for deep research. · 5 min
Questions people ask
- Which AI tools does this work with?
- The sources used it with Grok.
- Where did this come from?
- xAI (xAI Docs: Guides). Subvolts collected, normalized and credited it; the link above opens the original.