Fair use and the credit chip
Every member of an organization with a fair-use policy has a fair-use allowance. The Fair use tab of your profile shows where you stand. The credit chip at the top of the app speaks up only when you are close to the limit, and turns red with a pause when you reach it. This article explains what the chip's colors mean, what a pause is, why a pause is never about credits, and what the Fair use tab shows.
What the chip shows
The chip sits in the header, next to the notification bell. What it counts depends on where you are and who you are:
- A creator with a spending allowance sees the credits left in that allowance.
- Inside a space you can edit, the chip shows what runs in that space are paid from: the space's own budget, or the space owner's allowance.
- Any other member sees no chip until fair use is about to stop their runs. From 90% of a fair-use window, a red fair-use chip with a gauge icon appears. It shows fair-use units, not credits: how many you have used out of the limit of your nearest window, for example 23 / 25.
- An individual account without an organization sees its credit balance. Fair use does not apply to individual accounts.
Hover over the chip to open its tooltip.
What the colors mean
The chip tracks two things at once: the credits that pay for your runs, and your fair-use allowance. It takes the color of whichever is more serious, and the tooltip's headline tells you which one it is. Fair use changes the chip only from 90% of a window. A credit chip keeps showing credits, not fair-use units.
| Chip | Tooltip headline | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Outlined, no fill | None | Everything is fine. |
| Amber | Credits running low | The credits that pay for your runs are running low. |
| Red | Close to your fair-use limit | You have used 90% of a fair-use window. Runs pause when a window fills up, even with credits left. |
| Red, reading Paused until a time | Fair-use limit reached | A fair-use window is full. You cannot start runs that fair use covers until the time shown. |
| Red | No credits left or These credits have expired | The credits that pay for your runs are used up or expired. Ask your organization admin. |
When fair use is what turned the chip red, the tooltip ends with “See your full usage in the Fair use tab of your profile.”
When the chip says Paused
When you reach a fair-use limit, the chip stops showing a number. It shows a pause icon and reads Paused until followed by the time runs open again. On a phone it shows only the time, or Paused when the time falls on another day.
The tooltip says Fair-use limit reached, followed by “Runs open again at {time}. Your credits are not the cause.”
Your credits are not the cause. A pause is not a billing problem. Buying credits or raising an allowance does not lift it. The pause lifts on its own at the time shown, and the chip goes back to normal without a page reload.
If you try to start a simulation during a pause, you see Fair-use limit reached with the time the limit resets. In the test bot, a refused run is explained in the same words, with the reset time, instead of an error code.
The Fair use tab on your profile
Your full standing is on your profile page, in the Fair use tab, between Profile and Security. Only members of an organization have this tab. It shows:
- A short explanation of your allowance, and whether it covers only your organization's free channels or every channel.
- One bar per window, with the units you have used and the limit, for example Per week or Per 5 hours. A bar turns amber from 75% of its limit and red from 90%.
- A warning when you are close to the limit (Close to your fair-use limit) or paused (Fair-use limit reached).
- How much each activity counts, for example “A build counts 5 · a run 1 · a testing run 1 · a translation 0.05”.
If no fair-use allowance applies to you, the tab says “No fair-use usage to show for your account.” If Cesura cannot load your usage, it says so and asks you to try again in a few minutes. If a refresh fails after an earlier read, the tab keeps the earlier numbers and warns that they are not current.
The fair-use windows
The Fair use tab draws one bar per window. Most organizations have two windows:
- A burst window of a few hours, which stops a sudden spike.
- A weekly window, which stops sustained heavy use.
Both are rolling windows. Your earlier runs age out of a window as time passes, so the allowance frees up gradually rather than resetting at a fixed hour. Reaching either limit pauses you.
Usage counts in units, not credits:
| Activity | Units |
|---|---|
| A Professor Cesura build | 5 |
| A Personal Simulation (build plus run) | 6 |
| A simulation run | 1 |
| A voice simulation run | 2 |
| A testing run | 1 |
| A translation | 0.05 |
What fair use covers
By default, fair use covers only usage that is free for your organization, such as testing runs and Professor Cesura builds. Runs paid from credits do not count toward it. So under the default policy, a pause does not stop runs in a space that your organization pays for, and the chip in such a space does not show your fair-use pause.
Your organization's policy can also cover every kind of usage, or be turned off.
Who can change the allowance
Fair use is a Cesura policy. Organization admins can read it, and see where each member stands, under Organization Management → Credits → Budget management → Limits. Only Cesura can change it. If your team needs a larger allowance, ask through Contact support under Get help in the sidebar.