Unpacking AI Agent Costs: Is the Harness More Expensive Than the Model?
MembershipEmergency7 · reddit · 2026-07-31
A Reddit user initiated a discussion highlighting the hidden overhead in AI agent workflows. Beyond executing the actual user task, every turn incurs extra costs from system prompts, tool definitions, planning logic, middleware, repeated context, and error recovery.
The author asks production teams how much of their total bill comes from this harness overhead and encourages a shift in focus towards "cost per completed task" rather than just raw model pricing.
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