You'll notice
Help text for --max-cost-usd now explains its cost ceiling is checked before each run, not per single run
What
The --max-cost-usd option in the eval/grading CLI (used to grade plugin evaluation runs) has updated help text. It now explains that the cost ceiling is checked before each run launches, so any spending overrun is bounded to whatever runs are currently in flight — either one run, or up to the number set by --concurrency. The previous wording said overrun was bounded to a single agent run.
Why
This clarifies that when running evaluations concurrently, the actual maximum spend can exceed the --max-cost-usd ceiling by more than one run's worth, which matters for anyone relying on this flag as a hard budget cap.
Names in the bundle--max-cost-usd
Documented inclaude-code/plugins-reference
--max-cost-usd
Plugins reference modified, high confidence
| `--max-cost-usd <usd>` | Stop before the next run once spend reaches this, exit 2, and report partial results | No ceiling |see the edit
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Anthropic's documentation agrees
--max-cost-usd on Plugins reference