Cost Control: FAQs & Troubleshooting
Answers to common Cost Control questions, and fixes for blocked requests, missing alerts, and limits that won't save.
This page answers common questions about credit usage, usage limits, and alerts. Use the troubleshooting entries when requests are blocked or a limit or alert doesn't behave as expected.
FAQs
Credit usage
Who can see credit usage and set limits?
View credit usage: Billing Manager, Auditor, Account Admin, and Organisation Admin. Set credit limits: Billing Manager, Account Admin, and Organisation Admin. See Roles.
How current is the usage on Credit Usage?
Resource Usage can lag live activity by up to one hour. See Credit Usage.
Why doesn't an agent's row include what evaluating it cost?
Scoring by Online Eval is billed on its own, as OnlineEval on the Features tab. An agent's row on Agents shows only what the agent spent serving users. See Credit Usage.
Where do I see every credit and debit?
On Credit Usage, select View Ledger. Credit History lists each transaction with its Operation Type, Additional Details, Credit Change, Balance Credit, and Timestamp. See Credit history.
Does usage on my own model provider key use credits?
No. Usage against a UPTIQ managed key in AI Gateway draws on your credit balance; with your own key, the provider bills you directly. See Manage costs and limits.
What is the credit balance in the top bar?
For people who can view credit usage, the top bar shows the account's credit balance. Open it to see each limit with the credits consumed against it.
Limits and alerts
Which credit limit applies when there are several?
The strictest one. Limits exist at three levels: an organization-wide cap, the account's limits on Usage Limits, and a per-agent credit guardrail set in Agent Builder. See Usage Limits.
Does a new account have a limit?
Yes. Every account starts with a default weekly hard limit, until you replace it with your own. See Usage Limits.
What happens when usage reaches a hard limit?
Requests that would exceed it are rejected with The credit usage limit configured for this account has been reached. Every Account Admin on the account is emailed. The limit resets at the start of its next period; for example, a Monthly limit resets on the first day of each month. See Create usage limits.
Who receives usage alerts?
Every Account Admin on the account, once per period after usage crosses the threshold. Other administrators on the platform aren't emailed. See Add an alert.
What's the difference between Absolute Credits and Percentage of Limit?
Absolute Credits alerts at a credit count. Percentage of Limit alerts at a share of the account's hard limit for the same period, up to 100%. See Add an alert.
Troubleshooting
Blocked requests
Requests fail with "The credit usage limit configured for this account has been reached"
A hard limit on the account has been reached. The top-bar credit balance shows Requests are blocked until reset. Wait for the limit's next period, or ask someone who can set credit limits to raise it on Usage Limits. To ask from the credit balance, select Contact admin to request more: every Account Admin is emailed, and the button changes to Admin notified to request a limit increase.
An agent stops spending although the account has credit left
A stricter limit may apply: the organization-wide cap, or the agent's own credit guardrail in Agent Builder. The strictest applicable limit wins. See Usage Limits.
A model call fails because the provider has insufficient credits
With your own provider key, the provider bills you directly. The error reads The LLM provider rejected the request for insufficient credits. Add credits to the provider account, or lower the requested max_tokens. Add credits on the provider's side. See Gateway Settings.
Limits and alerts
I can't open Credit Usage or Usage Limits
Each page needs its own capability. Credit Usage needs View credit usage: Billing Manager, Auditor, Account Admin, or Organisation Admin. Usage Limits needs Set credit limits: Billing Manager, Account Admin, or Organisation Admin. See Roles.
A limit or alert won't save because it exceeds the platform limit
A limit can't exceed the platform limit for the same period. The message gives that period's maximum, for example The weekly value cannot exceed the platform limit of …. Enter a value at or below it.
A Percentage of Limit alert won't save
It needs a hard limit for the same duration, and its percentage can't exceed 100. Add the hard limit first, for example a Weekly hard limit for a Weekly alert. See Usage Limits.
An alert email didn't arrive
Alerts go only to Account Admin role holders on the account, once per period. Check that the person holds Account Admin on that account, and that usage crossed the threshold in the current period. See Add an alert.
Credit Usage doesn't show the latest activity
Resource Usage can lag live activity by up to one hour. Check again later. See Credit Usage.
Related
Manage costs and limits: every Cost Control task
Reports: the Credit Usage Report
Maintained by Abhishek Paul
AI-assisted, human-approved
Last updated
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