diff --git a/scripts/templates/budget/BUDGET.md b/scripts/templates/budget/BUDGET.md
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+# Budget Policy: {{PROJECT_NAME}}
+
+## Company Budget
+- window: {{BUDGET_WINDOW}}
+- limit: {{BUDGET_LIMIT_CENTS}} cents
+- warn_percent: 80
+- hard_stop: true
+
+## Agent Budgets
+- {{AGENT_NAME}}: {{AGENT_BUDGET_CENTS}} cents/{{BUDGET_WINDOW}}
+
+## Notification
+- on_warn: log
+- on_hard_stop: pause
+
+## Notes
+
+Budget enforcement is POST-HOC (checked after each run, not before).
+This matches Paperclip's proven approach: check SUM(cost) after run,
+pause if exceeded. No pre-run reservation needed.
+
+Cost estimation uses token counts × published pricing. For accurate
+cost data, organizations can use the Admin API:
+`/v1/organizations/cost_report` (requires Admin API key: sk-ant-admin...).
+
+For headless runs, use `claude -p --max-budget-usd N` as a per-run cap.
diff --git a/scripts/templates/budget/README.md b/scripts/templates/budget/README.md
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+# Budget Tracking
+
+Post-hoc budget enforcement inspired by Paperclip's budget system.
+
+## How it works
+
+1. `budget-hook.sh` runs as a PostToolUse hook after every tool call
+2. Each call is logged to `budget/cost-events.jsonl`
+3. After logging, cumulative cost is compared against `BUDGET.md` policy
+4. If soft threshold (default 80%) exceeded: warning to stderr
+5. If hard threshold (100%) exceeded and hard_stop=true: creates `budget/PAUSED`
+   flag file, subsequent tool calls are blocked (exit 2)
+
+## Why post-hoc, not pre-run?
+
+Paperclip uses the same approach. Pre-run budget reservation requires a
+persistent service or lock file coordination. Post-hoc checking is simpler
+and robust enough in practice — the worst case is one extra run before pause.
+
+## Cost estimation
+
+The current implementation counts events as a rough proxy for cost. For
+accurate cost tracking, you have two options:
+
+1. **Admin API** (org accounts only): Query `/v1/organizations/cost_report`
+   with an Admin API key (`sk-ant-admin...`). This gives actual USD costs.
+2. **Token estimation**: Parse token counts from Claude's responses and
+   multiply by published per-token prices. More accurate than event counting
+   but still an estimate.
+
+For headless runs, `claude -p --max-budget-usd N` provides a per-run
+budget cap directly in the CLI.
+
+## Integration
+
+Add to `.claude/settings.json`:
+```json
+{
+  "hooks": {
+    "PostToolUse": [{
+      "matcher": "*",
+      "hooks": [{"type": "command", "command": "bash budget/budget-hook.sh"}]
+    }]
+  }
+}
+```
diff --git a/scripts/templates/budget/budget-hook.sh b/scripts/templates/budget/budget-hook.sh
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+++ b/scripts/templates/budget/budget-hook.sh
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+#!/bin/bash
+# PostToolUse hook: Log cost events and enforce budget.
+# Bash 3.2 compatible. Uses python3 for JSON parsing.
+#
+# Follows Paperclip's post-hoc enforcement pattern:
+# 1. Log cost event after each tool call
+# 2. Check cumulative cost against budget policy
+# 3. Warn at soft threshold, pause at hard threshold
+#
+# Placeholders:
+#   {{WORKING_DIR}} - absolute path to project directory
+
+WORKING_DIR="{{WORKING_DIR}}"
+BUDGET_DIR="$WORKING_DIR/budget"
+COST_LOG="$BUDGET_DIR/cost-events.jsonl"
+BUDGET_FILE="$WORKING_DIR/BUDGET.md"
+PAUSED_FLAG="$BUDGET_DIR/PAUSED"
+
+mkdir -p "$BUDGET_DIR"
+
+# Read hook input
+INPUT=$(cat)
+TOOL_NAME=$(echo "$INPUT" | python3 -c "import sys,json; print(json.load(sys.stdin).get('tool_name',''))" 2>/dev/null)
+
+# Log cost event
+python3 -c "
+import json, sys, time, os
+
+try:
+    data = json.loads('''$INPUT''')
+except:
+    sys.exit(0)
+
+tool_name = data.get('tool_name', '')
+event = {
+    'timestamp': time.strftime('%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ', time.gmtime()),
+    'tool_name': tool_name,
+    'agent': os.environ.get('AGENT_NAME', 'unknown'),
+    'estimated_tokens': 0
+}
+
+cost_log = '$COST_LOG'
+with open(cost_log, 'a') as f:
+    f.write(json.dumps(event) + '\n')
+" 2>/dev/null
+
+# Check budget if BUDGET.md exists
+if [ -f "$BUDGET_FILE" ] && [ -f "$COST_LOG" ]; then
+  BUDGET_RESULT=$(BUDGET_FILE="$BUDGET_FILE" COST_LOG="$COST_LOG" PAUSED_FLAG="$PAUSED_FLAG" python3 -c "
+import re, json, os
+budget_file = os.environ.get('BUDGET_FILE', '')
+cost_log = os.environ.get('COST_LOG', '')
+paused_flag = os.environ.get('PAUSED_FLAG', '')
+try:
+    content = open(budget_file).read()
+    limit_m = re.search(r'limit:\s*(\d+)\s*cents', content)
+    if not limit_m: print('ok'); exit(0)
+    limit = int(limit_m.group(1))
+    warn_m = re.search(r'warn_percent:\s*(\d+)', content)
+    warn_pct = int(warn_m.group(1)) if warn_m else 80
+    hard_m = re.search(r'hard_stop:\s*(\w+)', content)
+    hard_stop = hard_m.group(1).lower() == 'true' if hard_m else True
+    event_count = sum(1 for _ in open(cost_log))
+    estimated_cents = event_count
+    pct = (estimated_cents / limit * 100) if limit > 0 else 0
+    if pct >= 100 and hard_stop:
+        open(paused_flag, 'w').write('Budget exceeded: ' + str(estimated_cents) + '/' + str(limit) + ' cents')
+        print('hard_stop')
+    elif pct >= warn_pct:
+        print('warn')
+    else:
+        print('ok')
+except Exception as e:
+    print('ok')
+" 2>/dev/null)
+
+  if [ "$BUDGET_RESULT" = "hard_stop" ]; then
+    echo "BUDGET EXCEEDED — agent paused. Check $PAUSED_FLAG" >&2
+  elif [ "$BUDGET_RESULT" = "warn" ]; then
+    echo "BUDGET WARNING — approaching limit" >&2
+  fi
+fi
+
+# Check if agent is paused
+if [ -f "$PAUSED_FLAG" ]; then
+  echo '{"decision": "block", "reason": "Agent paused: budget exceeded. Remove '"$PAUSED_FLAG"' to resume."}'
+  exit 2
+fi
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/scripts/templates/budget/budget-report.sh b/scripts/templates/budget/budget-report.sh
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+++ b/scripts/templates/budget/budget-report.sh
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+#!/bin/bash
+# Budget report: summarize cost events and compare against policy.
+# Bash 3.2 compatible. Uses python3 for aggregation.
+#
+# Usage: ./budget-report.sh
+#
+# Placeholders:
+#   {{WORKING_DIR}} - absolute path to project directory
+
+WORKING_DIR="{{WORKING_DIR}}"
+COST_LOG="$WORKING_DIR/budget/cost-events.jsonl"
+BUDGET_FILE="$WORKING_DIR/BUDGET.md"
+PAUSED_FLAG="$WORKING_DIR/budget/PAUSED"
+
+if [ ! -f "$COST_LOG" ]; then
+  echo "No cost events recorded yet."
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+COST_LOG="$COST_LOG" BUDGET_FILE="$BUDGET_FILE" PAUSED_FLAG="$PAUSED_FLAG" python3 -c "
+import json, re, os
+from collections import defaultdict
+
+cost_log = os.environ.get('COST_LOG', '')
+budget_file = os.environ.get('BUDGET_FILE', '')
+paused_flag = os.environ.get('PAUSED_FLAG', '')
+
+# Read events
+events = []
+with open(cost_log) as f:
+    for line in f:
+        line = line.strip()
+        if line:
+            try:
+                events.append(json.loads(line))
+            except:
+                pass
+
+# Aggregate
+by_agent = defaultdict(int)
+by_day = defaultdict(int)
+by_tool = defaultdict(int)
+
+for e in events:
+    agent = e.get('agent', 'unknown')
+    day = e.get('timestamp', '')[:10]
+    tool = e.get('tool_name', 'unknown')
+    by_agent[agent] += 1
+    by_day[day] += 1
+    by_tool[tool] += 1
+
+print('BUDGET REPORT')
+print('=' * 50)
+print('Total events: ' + str(len(events)))
+print()
+
+# Per-agent breakdown
+print('By Agent:')
+for agent, count in sorted(by_agent.items(), key=lambda x: -x[1]):
+    print('  ' + agent + ': ' + str(count) + ' events')
+print()
+
+# Per-day breakdown (last 7 days)
+print('By Day (last 7):')
+for day, count in sorted(by_day.items())[-7:]:
+    print('  ' + day + ': ' + str(count) + ' events')
+print()
+
+# Budget comparison
+if os.path.exists(budget_file):
+    content = open(budget_file).read()
+    limit_m = re.search(r'limit:\s*(\d+)\s*cents', content)
+    if limit_m:
+        limit = int(limit_m.group(1))
+        est_cents = len(events)  # rough proxy
+        pct = (est_cents / limit * 100) if limit > 0 else 0
+        print('Budget: ~' + str(est_cents) + '/' + str(limit) + ' cents (' + str(round(pct)) + '%)')
+
+# Paused status
+if os.path.exists(paused_flag):
+    print('')
+    print('!! AGENT PAUSED: ' + open(paused_flag).read().strip())
+    print('   Remove ' + paused_flag + ' to resume')
+"