Budget

Who can do this

The administrator reads and changes the budget on Administration, sub-tab General, panel Budget.
Members see the budget banner above the chat and the budget line on the tab Runs.

Before you start

Know your billing mode (see AI providers):

Managed by Old School: the budget is enforced. The vendor’s metered key has its own limit.
Own key: nothing is enforced. The numbers are the box’s own estimate.

Steps

Read the panel

Open Administration, General, panel Budget. The badge shows the state: “within budget”, “warning”, “paused: budget exhausted”, “no limit” or “unknown”.
Press Refresh usage to read the newest numbers. With Managed by Old School, the box also refreshes by itself every 15 minutes.

Field	Meaning
Monthly limit	The budget of the period.
Used this period	What the period has used so far, with the percent.
Remaining	What is left, the warn and stop levels, and the dates of the period.
Projected for the period	The expected total at the current pace.
Not from a run (unattributed)	AI use that belongs to no run. It should be 0. If it grows, tell support.
Per package this period	Runs, turns, tokens and cost per worker. “Metered” says whether the number is the provider’s own or the box’s estimate.
Budget events	Warnings, stops and top-up requests, with the time.

Change the budget

Under Edit the budget, change Monthly limit, Warn at (percent), Stop new runs at (percent), Period starts on day or Billing rate.
Press Save budget.

With Managed by Old School you can raise the limit only up to the metered key’s limit. For more, request a top-up.

Request a top-up

Under Top-up requests, enter the Top-up amount and a Note (optional).
Press Request top-up. “Creates a signed request Old School reads.”
Press Download on the request (the progress shows under the link) and send the file to the vendor.
When the vendor raises your key’s limit, the request closes by itself as fulfilled.

Cancel on an open request withdraws it.

What you see afterwards

Usage	What everyone sees	What happens
Below the warn level	Nothing.	Normal work.
At the warn level (80 percent by default)	A yellow banner: “Budget warning: … percent of this month’s budget is used … New runs stop at 100 percent.”	Tasks still start.
At the stop level (100 percent by default)	A red banner: “Budget exhausted: … New runs are paused until the period ends on … or the budget is raised. Runs already in progress finish their current step.” Send is greyed out. The administrator sees Request top-up in the banner.	No new tasks start.

Your choices

Choice	What it does	When to pick it	Can you undo it?
Save budget	Sets the limits.	Monthly planning.	Yes.
Request top-up	Creates a signed request for more budget.	The budget will not last the period.	Yes: Cancel while it is open.
Refresh usage	Reads the newest numbers.	Before a decision.	n/a