Every AI Studio call passes through three checks in order. If any check fails, no provider call is made and no money is spent.
1. Plan gate
- Image generation — available on any plan that includes AI Studio.
- Video generation — highest-tier plan only.
Channels inherit their plan from the parent organization.
2. Monthly quota
Each channel has a separate monthly count for images and videos. Current usage is visible on the AI panel and at /storage/ai/quota. When you hit the cap, further calls are refused until the next billing reset or a plan upgrade.
3. Daily cost ceiling
A dollar-denominated daily ceiling prevents a stuck automation from burning the budget. Every successful generation adds its cost to the day's running total; once the ceiling is hit, both image and video calls refuse for the rest of the UTC day.
Per-call budget (video only)
Video generation also accepts a per-call maxCostUsd guard — useful when a provider's price varies with duration and aspect.
Audit log
Every call writes an audit row — user, prompt, kind, cost, result — so you can explain usage to an org admin or reconcile the monthly count.