Lesson 5 of 6 in Set Up a Trustworthy Workspace
Why this matters
Every AI action in the product consumes a share of your plan. Settings → Usage presents this as one meter: under "Current plan period", a progress bar and a percentage used, with the reset date. Nothing more granular. Understanding the meter lets you spend capacity on the moves that matter instead of discovering the limit mid-week, and the credit cost shown on heavier action buttons tells you what a step will use.
When to use it
During onboarding, before approving any expensive action (like a diagnosis re-run), and whenever you wonder what an action will cost.
Before you start
No setup is needed. This lesson is orientation only: five minutes, no changes made.
Do this
- 1Open Settings → Usage: Open in Signal & Science. (The credit balance in the top bar, the number beside the coins icon, shows the credits left this period when you hover it; clicking it opens Billing.)
- 2Read three things: the "Plan usage limits" card with its reset date, the "Current plan period" progress bar with its percentage used, and the "Plan limits and reset timing" note. That is the whole model: a percentage, and a date it resets.
- 3Before approving a heavier AI action, read its button. Actions such as "Re-run Diagnosis" on the Diagnostic page, "Edit plan", and image generation in a New Asset Run show their credit cost before they run.
- 4If an action fails, read its message before running it again; Create, for example, says when a run stopped before any credits were reserved.
- 5Spend heavy actions against remaining capacity deliberately: re-running a diagnosis costs more than asking the advisor a question. Put your remaining capacity behind the move that matters most this week.
What you should see
The Usage page shows the usage percentage bar, the reset date, and the plan-limits note. Heavier actions such as "Re-run Diagnosis" and "Edit plan" show their credit cost on the button before you approve them.
How to judge it
You can state your current % used, the reset date, and the quoted cost of the next action you are considering, without opening a billing page or doing any math.
What it does not mean
- The percentage used is capacity, not a grade. Running it to 100% is not success; spending it on the right actions is.
- The meter never tells you what to do. A low-cost action can be wasteful and a high-cost one can be the most valuable thing you run all month. Judge by the move, not the cost.
Try it in Signal & Science
Open Settings → Usage and note your current percentage used and the date it resets.
Open in Signal & Science