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Usage & billing

Usage & billing is where organization admins see how much agent work costs — model usage, agent runs, cloud compute, and related activity — and set budget policies so spend stays predictable.

This is not where you change your commercial plan or contract. Your plan defines what's included each month; budgets are your internal house rules — how strictly you warn, cap, or stop before spend adds up. Usage works alongside Settings, Model control, and Members.

What this page is for

You want to…Usage helps you…
Understand org spendSee trends by time range, team, project, and model
Avoid surprise billsCompare Included vs On-demand on every summary
Control runaway costSet monthly caps with warn, soft, or hard enforcement
Find what caused a spikeFilter by project, model, or surface (desktop, CLI, cloud)
Explain blocks to the teamReview denials from budget or model policy
Share numbers with financeExport CSV when your plan includes usage exports
Usage vs Settings vs Console

Usage shows spend and lets admins set budget policies. The same Manage budget dialog also opens from Settings. Your included allowance and commercial entitlement come from your agreement — configured in the Console by operators, not in Usage. If numbers don't match your contract, see Contracts & capacity or Help.

Who can see and change what

AreaTypical access
View org-wide usage summaryAdmin or super admin (plan may vary)
Set or change budget policyAdmin or super admin
Team or project budget slicesAdmin; team admins for their team where enabled
See why a run was blockedAdmin (denials); member may see a budget message in-app
Export usage for financeAdmin when exports are on your plan

If you cannot open Usage, your role may be member only — ask an admin in Members. Members still consume included allowance when they run agents; they just may not see org-wide dashboards.

Why usage tracking matters

Without visibilityWith Usage & budgets
Spend surprises at month endTrends by team, project, and model
No lever besides "stop using agents"Warn, soft cap, or hard stop policies
Hard to charge back squadsExport and filters for finance or leads
CI and cloud runs run uncheckedCatch spikes after a release or automation change

Usage works best together with Model control — cheaper defaults and a smaller model catalog often save more than raising the budget alone.

How usage fits together

Think of Usage as the spend dashboard; other modules set the rules that affect what shows up here:

ModuleWhat it affectsTied to Usage
SettingsOrg policyManage budget (same dialog)
Model controlAllowed modelsDenials without spend; cost per run
MembersWho can view or change capsAdmin vs member visibility
Teams (Settings)Squad structureOptional team budget slices
Console / ContractsIncluded allowanceIncluded bucket size

When someone says a run was "blocked for budget," check Usage denials and Model control — both can stop runs, but only model usage drives spend.

In practice

You want to…Do this
See org spend this monthOpen Usage, pick 7 / 30 / 90 days or a custom range
Know if you're on plan or overCompare Included vs On-demand on the summary
Prevent runaway CI or cloud costSet a monthly cap with soft or hard enforcement
Learn before blockingStart with warn only, then tighten after a review week
Find what caused a spikeFilter by project, model, or surface (desktop, CLI, cloud)
Fix "run blocked for budget"See Set a budget; check denials and Model control
Allocate spend by squadTeam and project budgets on larger plans
Share numbers with financeExport CSV when your plan includes usage exports

What you see on Usage

Usage rolls up for your organization over a time window you choose. Depending on your plan, you may also break it down by team, project, member, model, or repository.

ViewWhat it helps with
SummaryIncluded vs on-demand totals and progress toward caps
TrendsWhether spend is steady, spiking, or dropping after a policy change
AttributionWhich project or model drove the last jump
DenialsRuns blocked by budget or model policy — useful for support

Policy denials from Model control show up here too — they don't cost money, but they explain why someone couldn't start a run.

Reading a spike

When spend jumps after a release, filter by surface first: a CLI or cloud automation change often shows up before you drill into individual members.

Included vs on-demand

Every org summary splits spend into two buckets:

BucketMeaning
IncludedUsage covered by your plan's monthly allowance
On-demandUsage beyond that allowance — billed or throttled per your commercial terms

The included allowance comes from your plan. Admins see the same reference line on Usage and in Settings when setting budgets — your internal cap should stay at or below what your plan allows.

What drives spend

ActivityWhat affects cost
Model usageWhich model runs and how much work it does
Agent runsLength of the task, tools used, and model choice combined
Cloud agentsIsolated environment time plus model usage
Policy blocksNo spend — logged so admins can troubleshoot

Use surface filters (desktop, CLI, cloud) when a spike lines up with a pipeline or automation change.

Set a budget

Budgets are your internal caps — stricter than your plan, never looser.

  1. Open Manage budget

    From Usage (budget meter) or Settings → Organization, open Manage budget. Requires admin or super admin. See Members for roles.

  2. Choose a cap

    Pick a monthly USD cap that fits your plan and how aggressively you want to control spend. Some orgs use a range cap for a short experiment or release window instead of a full calendar month.

  3. Pick enforcement

    Choose what happens as usage approaches the cap:

    ModeGood for
    ObserveReporting only — track spend without blocking anyone
    WarnEmail or in-app notices; runs usually continue (learning phase)
    Soft stopSlow or block on-demand spend; included allowance may still apply
    Hard stopBlock new paid runs until the cap resets or an admin raises the policy

    Many admins start with warn during rollout, then move to soft or hard once caps are tuned and the team knows what to expect.

  4. Save and tell the team

    Save — the policy applies org-wide and is audited. If you move from warn to hard stop, warn team leads so CI and cloud automations aren't a surprise.

Hard stop and CI

Hard stop blocks new runs that would incur spend. Scheduled CI or cloud jobs may fail until the cap resets or an admin adjusts policy. Prefer warn or soft stop while pipelines are still being tuned.

Team and project budgets

On larger plans, you can allocate slices of org budget:

ScopeExample
Org budgetDefault cap and enforcement for everyone
Team budgetPlatform vs product squad allocations — create teams in Settings
Project budgetCap a migration or pilot without touching the whole org

Team and project budgets narrow org capacity — they cannot grant spend beyond org policy or your plan.

Monthly check-in

A short admin rhythm keeps spend predictable:

  1. Check included vs on-demand

    Is the team living inside Included, or burning On-demand every month? If included runs out early, talk to your account contact about capacity — don't only raise internal budget without plan headroom.

  2. Find the top drivers

    Sort by project and model. Common culprits: CI on a heavy reasoning model, a long cloud migration, or a new team without its own cap.

  3. Review denials

    A jump in denials may be Model control, not budget — check both.

  4. Tune before you raise

    Tighten model catalog, lower a project cap, or switch CLI defaults to a lower-cost model before increasing the org cap.

  5. Export if needed

    Download CSV for finance or chargeback when exports are enabled on your plan.

Budgets vs your plan

ConceptWho sets itWhat it does
Plan / allowanceYour commercial agreementWhat's included each month
On-demandCommercial termsUsage beyond included
Budget policyOrg admin (you)Internal USD cap and warn / stop behavior
House rules vs entitlement

Budgets are internal house rules. Your plan defines entitlement. You can set budgets stricter than your plan allows — never looser. Entitlement changes go through Contracts & capacity, not Usage alone.

Questions about usage and billing?

QuestionAnswer
Where do I set the monthly cap?Manage budget on Usage or Settings — same dialog
Why can't I see Usage?You may need admin — ask in Members
Included runs out mid-month every timePlan capacity may be too low — Contracts / Help
Run blocked but spend looks lowCheck denials — may be Model control, not budget
CI failed after we tightened policyHard stop blocks new paid runs — use warn or soft while tuning pipelines
Can team leads set their own cap?Team budgets where your plan supports them — Settings → Teams
Who changed the budget?Org audit log — see Governance for audit context