Credits and usage
In short: Every AI feature in SciNodes draws from one weekly credit budget. The free allowance is 2,000,000 credits per week. It resets every Sunday at 00:00 UTC, and unused credits don't roll over. Signed-in SciVerse searches use the same budget. To see what you've used, open the user menu and click Usage limits.
How the weekly budget works
- One pool for everything. All AI features share the same budget. There are no per-feature limits, so a long research chat can be why a term definition stops arriving.
- Weekly reset. The whole budget refills at 00:00 UTC every Sunday. Convert this to your local time zone to know when it happens for you.
- No rollover. Unused credits don't carry over to the next week.
- Weighted credits. Text the AI writes costs more than the text it reads. A long answer costs more than a short one.
- Some accounts differ. Some accounts have a different allowance. If yours has no limit, the Usage limits page says "no weekly limit on this account".
In the app, the budget is called the "Weekly complex compute budget".
What uses credits
These are the rows on the Usage limits page under Where the credits went.
| Row | What it is |
|---|---|
| Research chat | Research assistant chats. A long chat re-reads earlier turns, so later turns cost more. |
| Term explanations | Term definitions on maps. Terms already explained are free. |
| Publication translations | Titles and abstracts translated into another language. Cached translations are free. |
| Publication suggestions | AI-planned searches when SciNodes suggests publications for you. |
| Author suggestions | AI-planned searches in Suggest authors. |
| Venue suggestions | AI-planned searches in Suggest venues. |
| Question routing | Matching your own research questions to a map or answer. |
| Research object suggestions | Concepts proposed in Research in Formation. |
| PDF locating | Finding an open-access PDF when you click Fetch PDF. |
| Corpus extensions | Cited and citing publications added from a map node. Flat cost. |
| Publication lookups | Catalog details for files you upload. Flat cost. |
| Corpus expansions | Re-running or adding searches from Expand corpus in Expert Mode. Flat cost. |
| Catalog searches | Searches you run in SciVerse while signed in. Flat cost per search. |
| Cluster naming | Names for the clusters on a new map. Runs by itself after a map is built. |
| Description polish | Tidy up my wording on a project description. |
| Slice descriptions | Turning a corpus slice you described in words into filters. |
| Term cleansing | A quick check of terms while a term map is built. Runs by itself. |
What doesn't use credits
- Browsing SciVerse signed out, SciVerse type-ahead suggestions, and SciVerse browse and detail pages.
- Term definitions and translations that are already cached.
- Features that don't use AI, such as reading PDFs, writing notes, citing and organizing your library.
Assistants cost different amounts
The research assistant has several assistants. Sage (Superior) is the default. Vega (Standard) and Nova (Budget) cost less per turn. Atlas (Expert) is locked. Switching assistant in the chat composer changes what your next turn costs. See Assistants and credits.
Check your usage
- Click your avatar to open the user menu.
- Click Usage limits.
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Weekly complex compute budget | A meter of credits used this week, "of N credits", and "Resets in …". |
| Budget week, Avg per week, Total | Summary figures for this week and recent weeks. |
| Credit usage | A chart of raw credits per UTC day, grouped into weeks. |
| Where the credits went | Each feature's Calls, Input, Output and Share of week for this budget week. |
| Where the chat credits went | Each assistant's Turns, Credits and Share of chat. Appears only once you've chatted this week. |
| How the weekly budget works | A short explanation of the rules above. |
| Storage | How much you're storing. "No limit applies." |
The chart and tables show raw, unweighted credits, so their totals are lower than the budget meter. The chart can trail your latest activity by about half a minute.
Storage
The Storage section shows how much space your uploads and work take, by category. It's for information only: no storage limit applies. Shared publication data and cached full text aren't counted against you. Figures are estimates, measured once a day. If you see "Your storage has not been measured yet.", check back after the next daily measurement.
When your budget is spent
SciNodes shows "Weekly complex compute budget spent." followed by when it comes back, for example "Resumes Sunday, date at 00:00 UTC."
Until the reset:
- Features with a non-AI fallback keep working. File uploads are still saved, without catalog details: "Saved without catalog metadata — weekly complex compute budget spent." Searches use your own words instead of AI planning: "AI search planning wasn't available, so this search used your own words."
- Other AI features stop, including the research assistant, new term definitions and suggestions. The reset can be up to six days away.
- Everything that doesn't use AI keeps working, including maps you've built, the library, PDFs, notes and cached definitions.
- SciVerse signed-in searches stop, with "Your weekly search budget is spent". You can still browse SciVerse.
SciVerse searches and credits
When you're signed in to SciVerse, each search costs a flat amount of credits, charged before the search runs. A search refused because your budget is spent isn't charged. If a search fails on the catalog's side after it starts, the credits aren't refunded. Searching signed out is free but shows at most 8 results. See Guest vs signed in.
Tips
- Start a new chat when you change topic. Long chats cost more per turn.
- Use Vega or Nova for simple questions.
- Long PDFs in view make each chat turn cost more.
- Check Where the credits went if your budget drops faster than expected. Cluster naming and Term cleansing run by themselves whenever you build maps.
FAQ
When do my credits reset?
Every Sunday at 00:00 UTC. The Usage limits page shows a countdown under "Resets in …".
Do unused credits roll over?
No. The allowance resets to the full amount each week, whether or not you used it.
Can I buy more credits?
Not yet. Paid plans with larger weekly allowances are coming soon. See Plans and billing.
Is there a storage limit?
No. The Storage section shows how much you're storing, but no limit applies.
Why is the budget meter higher than the totals in the chart?
The meter counts weighted credits, where text the AI writes costs more than text it reads. The chart and tables show raw counts.
Why did a term definition stop loading?
Your weekly budget is probably spent. All AI features share one budget, so chats and other features use it too. Cached definitions still load.