Usage and limits

orboto AI (see what it is) is metered: each call to a model costs a small amount based on how much text goes in and comes out. Your subscription includes a monthly allowance of that spend, and your orboto account controls what happens once you use it up. This page explains the mechanics; it deliberately doesn't quote figures - your plan's actual allowance, and any price for going beyond it, are shown in your orboto account, not here.

This page applies when orboto AI is the active provider (chat, embeddings, or both). If you're using your own provider account instead, its usage and billing are entirely between you and that provider - see Bring your own provider.

Where consumption is tracked

Two different views, for two different questions:

• "How much of my included AI have I used?" - Admin -> AI settings shows an orboto AI - included usage & wallet card once billing data has reached your workspace: this month's included allowance consumed so far, whether overage is on, and your wallet balance. A Manage link opens your orboto account for the full, authoritative picture and to change any of these settings.

• "What is actually generating that usage?" - Admin -> AI Usage (documented in AI providers and models) reports call counts, input/output tokens, errors, a daily chart, and per-user and per-operation breakdowns. It doesn't show currency figures, but it's the place to see which feature, project or teammate is driving consumption - useful context before you decide whether to raise a per-feature answer-length budget, restrict a costly feature, or just accept the usage.

How the allowance is spent down

Your workspace draws on three things, in this order, before AI pauses:

1. The included monthly allowance that comes with your subscription.
2. Overage, if you've turned it on in your orboto account - lets usage continue past the included allowance, optionally capped at an amount you set.
3. Your wallet balance, as a further backstop once overage (if any) is also exhausted.

The included allowance resets every month. Overage is off by default, meaning AI simply pauses once the included allowance runs out rather than spending anything further; turning it on, and setting or changing its cap, is done from your orboto account (linked from the Manage button mentioned above).

What happens when it runs out

When every step above is exhausted, orboto AI pauses for the workspace until it's resolved:

• Interactive features (AI Chat, summarize, translate, and anything else that runs while someone is waiting) fail immediately with a clear "AI is paused" message rather than a generic provider error. The message is specific to why - included allowance used up, overage cap reached, or wallet balance too low - and links to the right place in your orboto account to fix it.
• Background indexing (the embeddings that power search, duplicate detection and Ask-Docs) pauses rather than failing - nothing is lost. Content created while paused is simply indexed once AI resumes.
• Resuming is automatic. orboto periodically re-checks whether the block has cleared, so once you've raised the cap, turned on overage, or topped up your wallet, features typically come back within a couple of minutes on their own - there's nothing to restart. Failing that, the included allowance resets automatically at the start of the next month regardless of what you do.

Troubleshooting

• The spend card isn't showing at all. It only renders once your orboto account has sent billing data to the workspace; a very recently created workspace may not have it yet. Check your orboto account directly for the authoritative numbers in the meantime.
• AI is paused and I'm not sure why. Open Admin -> AI settings - the banner names the specific reason (allowance, overage cap, or wallet) and links straight to the fix.
• I fixed it in my account but AI is still paused. Resuming happens on the next automatic check, typically within a couple of minutes; if it's been longer than that, try the action again - a successful call clears the paused state immediately.
• I want to know what's driving usage before raising a cap. Check Admin -> AI Usage's per-user and per-operation breakdowns first (see above) - it's common to find one feature or one heavy user rather than needing a blanket increase.