Stop counting tokens, start counting what ships

Why rationing agentic coding backfires, and what to measure instead. When a developer gives an AI agent a coding task, the agent does more than answer once. It plans, generates code, runs tests, and repeats the process to correct errors. A single task can use 10 to 50 times more tokens than a basic chat prompt. The more useful the agent becomes, the more calls it makes. With per-token pricing, the workflows creating the most value can also become the most expensive.