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Docs/Enforce & Meter/Limits and credits

Limits and credits

Enforce quotas, overage, and prepaid balances at the edge.

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LimitsHard limitsOveragePrepaid creditsChoosing between hard limits, overage, and creditsSubscriber communication

Limits and credits are how commercial rules become request-time behavior.

Limits

A limit controls how much usage a subscriber can consume in a period. Common limits include:

  • requests per month
  • tokens per month
  • dollars per month
  • concurrent requests
  • custom units per billing period

Hard limits

A hard limit stops traffic when the subscriber reaches the configured amount.

Use hard limits when:

  • upstream cost must be capped
  • the plan is intentionally fixed
  • overage is not part of the product
  • abuse risk is high

Overage

Overage allows traffic beyond included usage and bills the extra usage later.

Use overage when:

  • customers expect uninterrupted access
  • usage can safely exceed quota
  • billing can collect after the fact
  • product docs clearly explain the overage rate

Prepaid credits

Prepaid credits require available balance before traffic is forwarded. This is useful when upstream cost is high or you want payment before work is performed.

Product docs should explain:

  • what one credit buys
  • when credits are reserved
  • whether unused reservations are released
  • what error subscribers see when balance is too low

Choosing between hard limits, overage, and credits

GoalRecommended behavior
Prevent surprise spendHard limit
Let customers grow smoothlyOverage
Avoid extending unpaid usagePrepaid credits
Protect scarce capacityConcurrency or request limits

Subscriber communication

Every enforced rule should be visible in the plan or product docs. If a request can be denied because of a quota or balance, subscribers need to know how to recover.