Usage limits
Every account can cap what it spends. Open Manage limits on the Pay-as-you-go card, on the billing page of your account settings.
There are two numbers:
- Alert threshold sends a notification and warns you in chat. Nothing stops.
- Spend limit stops every agent in the account.
Leave a field empty for no limit. The alert threshold has to be below the spend limit, because the limit stops the account first.
When a limit stops your agents
Every agent in the account stops. Deploying, restarting, and waking an agent are refused until the account starts again, and so is sending a message. An agent’s chat says why it cannot send and links to billing.
Three things start it again:
- Raise the limit above what the period has already used.
- Remove the limit.
- Wait for the next billing period, which resets what the period has counted.
Raising a limit takes effect immediately. Raising it to a number the period has already passed leaves the account stopped, because the account is still over the new limit.
When your card expires
A card that has passed its expiry month counts as no card on file. Astro AI checks the card it has saved once a day, marks it Expired on the billing page, and stops treating the account as pay-as-you-go.
What happens next depends on the signup credits:
- Credits left: nothing stops. The account keeps running on the credits.
- Credits spent: every agent in the account stops, the same way it would if you had never added a card. Chat says why it cannot send and links to billing.
Save a new card on the billing page to start the account again. If your bank reissues the card with a new expiry date, Astro AI picks that up on its own and nothing stops.
The notice on every page
A notice at the top of every page names what stopped the account. Owners and admins get the control that fixes it; everyone else is told the account’s admins have been notified, since only they can act on it. Dismiss the notice to hide it. It returns when the account’s billing state changes, so one you dismissed as a warning comes back when the account stops.
Signup credits
A new personal account gets one-time credits to spend before it needs a card. Astro AI shows the amount once, right after you create the account. To see how much of the period’s total you’ve spent, open Usage.