Usage, plans and limits
Understand available capabilities and consumption.
Read limits in context
Product capability, permission and budget are distinct. A plan can include a feature while a member still needs permission. A profile can be authorized yet have exhausted a usage limit.
| Information | Expected value | Question |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | Effective plan and capabilities | Is the feature included? |
| Access | Role and permissions | Can this person use it? |
| Usage | Measurement and period | What consumption is recorded? |
| Limit | Threshold and scope | What blocks the next operation? |
| Provider | Connected account conditions | Which external resource is used? |
Example
Coediting requires Team or higher plus content permissions. Drafting a quote can also consume AI resources according to its profile. Present the affected limit and useful action: check access, correct a profile or review the plan.
Find your preferences
In Settings → Preferences, choose a reference text, edit it in its Surface or open its history. Initial texts come from the application; they are not fixed settings. Add a preference when the application allows it, or ask ChatGPT to update the explicitly selected preference. Surface does not silently infer a new preference, and these texts change neither permissions nor budgets.
Changing the interface language preserves the selection. If a text cannot be retained before switching selection, keep it open and resume its input. After a confirmed save, refreshing the list does not require saving a second time.
Manage account billing
Open Settings → Plan & billing to consult the current account plan and its subscription state. The account owner opens the secure Stripe portal when billing is configured and a subscription is linked to that account. Other members can consult plan information without gaining billing rights. Returning from Stripe does not by itself confirm payment or change Surface permissions.
If opening the portal fails, retry the same request. Each opening checks current account rights; an old link does not replace authorization. An expired request requires refreshing billing before explicitly requesting a new portal. When subscription or plan changes are unavailable, the interface states the limitation instead of presenting an ineffective upgrade button.
If the account conditions change after a portal has been prepared, refresh billing and explicitly request a new opening when prompted. A missing response is not silently replaced by another request. Once the portal has opened successfully, another visit prepares a fresh temporary link.
Keep refusals explicit
An operation blocked by a limit remains identified as such. The system does not silently use unauthorized accounts or resources. Estimates and measured consumption must be clearly distinguished.
Plans and conditions appear on the pricing page. Diagnostics distinguish limits, permissions and unavailability.
Applied examples : Bound work and track usage
The budget sets Flow limits; step attempts are bounded as well.
Configuration
Fragment placed in flowBlueprints[].composition.budgets. Properties and accepted values.
{
"maximumDepth": 2,
"maximumOccurrences": 20,
"maximumConcurrency": 2,
"maximumIterations": 3,
"maximumDurationMilliseconds": 86400000,
"maximumCostUnits": 100,
"maximumStateBytes": 32000
}Variation and connection
Fragment placed in flowBlueprints[].composition.steps[]. Properties and accepted values.
{
"key": "prepare",
"kind": "task",
"workNodeKey": "prepare",
"actionKey": "prepare",
"inputs": {},
"outputs": [
{
"key": "proposal",
"type": "result-reference",
"provenance": "canonical",
"minimum": 1,
"maximum": 1,
"result": "reference"
}
],
"reservedCostUnits": 1,
"maximumAttempts": 3
}UI layout example
The illustrative layout below places this configuration in the Clients/Quotes app. Insert each fragment at the stated location, with Field, Query and Action references matching the Model declarations.
- Flow budget
- Reserved cost
- Attempts
- Usage
Actual usage is provided by Surface tracking.