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Model latency is 200ms. End-to-end latency is 800ms. Where did 600ms go? Probably somewhere you're not looking.

Your code says streaming is enabled. Your load balancer says otherwise. Here's where streaming breaks and how to fix it.

Every LLM request has two distinct phases with different performance characteristics. Understanding them is the key to targeted optimization.

Median latency is 200ms. One in a hundred requests takes 8 seconds. Your dashboard shows green. Your users are churning.

Users don't perceive throughput. They perceive the silence before the first token appears. TTFT is the metric that determines whether your app feels fast.

By the time you see the invoice, the damage is done. Real-time spend monitoring catches runaway costs before they compound.

Your LLM bill is one number. Your product has twenty features. Without cost attribution, you're optimizing in the dark.

Your API has rate limits. Your database has connection limits. Your LLM endpoints should have token limits. Here's how to add them without breaking production.

A 128K context window doesn't mean you should use 128K tokens. Context is a budget with diminishing returns and escalating costs.

E2EL = TTFT + generation time sounds simple. But where does that time actually go? Understanding the equation reveals where to optimize.