Your First Dashboard
Once you've connected GitHub, you'll see your CICosts dashboard. This guide walks you through the main features and how to interpret your cost data.
Dashboard Overview
The CICosts dashboard is divided into several sections:
Header
- Organization Switcher - Switch between connected organizations
- Date Range Selector - Filter data by time period
- User Menu - Access settings, billing, and sign out
Summary Cards
At the top of the dashboard, you'll see four summary cards:
| Card | Description |
|---|---|
| Today | Total cost incurred today |
| This Week | Running total for the current week |
| This Month | Running total for the current month |
| Projected | Estimated month-end cost based on current usage |
Each card shows the percentage change compared to the previous period.
Cost Trend Chart
The main chart shows your daily costs over the selected time period:
- Bars represent daily spending
- Hover over any bar to see the exact amount
- Click a date to drill down into that day's workflows
Top Workflows
A table showing your most expensive workflows:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Workflow | The workflow file name (e.g., ci.yml) |
| Repository | Which repo the workflow belongs to |
| Runs | Number of runs in the selected period |
| Total Cost | Sum of all run costs |
| Avg Cost | Average cost per run |
Click any workflow to see detailed run history.
Recent Runs
A live feed of recent workflow runs with:
- Workflow name and repository
- Run status (success, failure, cancelled)
- Duration and cost
- Timestamp
Understanding Costs
CICosts calculates costs based on GitHub's billing model:
Runner Pricing
| Runner | Linux | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-core | $0.008/min | $0.016/min | N/A |
| 4-core | $0.016/min | $0.032/min | $0.08/min |
| 8-core | $0.032/min | $0.064/min | $0.12/min |
| 16-core | $0.064/min | $0.128/min | $0.24/min |
| 32-core | $0.128/min | $0.256/min | N/A |
Cost Calculation
For each workflow run, CICosts:
- Fetches all jobs in the workflow
- Identifies the runner type for each job
- Calculates billable minutes (rounded up to nearest minute)
- Multiplies by the per-minute rate
- Sums across all jobs
CICosts tracks gross costs before any free minutes are applied. Your actual GitHub bill may be lower if you have included minutes.
Filtering Data
By Date Range
Use the date picker to filter data:
- Today - Just today's costs
- This Week - Monday through today
- This Month - First of month through today
- Last 30 Days - Rolling 30-day window
- Custom - Pick specific start/end dates
By Repository
Click the Repositories tab to see costs broken down by repo. Click any repo to filter the dashboard to just that repository.
By Workflow
From the Workflows tab, filter to specific workflow files to analyze their cost patterns.
Dashboard Actions
Export Data
Click the Export button to download your cost data:
- CSV - For spreadsheets and external analysis
- JSON - For programmatic access
Set Alerts
Click Create Alert to set up budget notifications:
- Choose alert type (threshold or anomaly)
- Set the threshold amount or percentage
- Select notification method (email, Slack)
- Save
See Budget Alerts for more details.
View Settings
Access settings via the user menu:
- Update notification preferences
- Manage connected organizations
- View API keys
- Upgrade your plan
Next Steps
Now that you understand your dashboard:
- Set up budget alerts to catch cost spikes
- Explore analytics for deeper insights
- Learn optimization tips to reduce costs
Need help? Contact us at support@cicosts.dev