Credit
also known as: API credit
The unit every capture is billed in, at a cost that varies per surface rather than one flat per-call price, a harder-to-reach or more compute-intensive surface can cost more than a simple one. Credits are the whole billing model: no per-field surcharges, no separate charges for artifacts, one number per successful capture.
In AI Search API
Per-surface credit costs live in SURFACE_CREDIT_COST and are published, unabridged, on the pricing page, the same table the API bills against, so nothing charges differently than what is advertised. New accounts start with 500 free credits, and every credit, on any plan, unlocks the complete Envelope: the answer, its provenance and its structured evidence included, never gated behind a higher tier. Because credits are only spent on success (see charged-on-success), an empty or failed capture never touches the balance a dashboard shows. A team can therefore estimate cost directly from a prompt-set size and surface mix, before running anything.
Related terms
See it in the product
Every definition here is enforced in the Envelope contract. Run a capture and read the fields yourself.