From 210b5434940320a75afcec07fa3713872eaa56dd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Susana Cardoso Ferreira Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:52:46 +0000 Subject: [PATCH 1/3] docs: use approximate spend and add Everyone group tip for AI Gateway cost controls Align the cost control docs with the UI, which now labels spend as approximate rather than estimated, and rename the methodology section to How spend is calculated. Also note that an admin can use the organization's Everyone group Members tab to look up any user's effective group. --- docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md | 38 ++++++++++++----------- 1 file changed, 20 insertions(+), 18 deletions(-) diff --git a/docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md b/docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md index dba6be0e631..c8d5c639a8b 100644 --- a/docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md +++ b/docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md @@ -17,20 +17,20 @@ AI Governance Cost Control requires: - AI Gateway [enabled and configured](./setup.md) with at least one provider. > [!NOTE] -> AI Governance Cost Control reports estimated spend rather than billed cost. -> Estimates will not match your provider invoices exactly. For details, see -> [How spend is estimated](#how-spend-is-estimated). +> AI Governance Cost Control reports approximate spend rather than billed cost. +> These figures will not match your provider invoices exactly. For details, see +> [How spend is calculated](#how-spend-is-calculated). These terms appear throughout this page and in the Coder dashboard: -| Term | What it means | Where it is set | -|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------| -| **Budget period** | The window spend accumulates in before it resets. Defaults to the UTC calendar month. | Deployment settings | -| **Budget policy** | The rule that selects a user's effective group. Defaults to the highest budget. | Deployment settings | -| **Group budget** | A spend limit granted to each member of a group. | **Groups** > {group} > **Settings** | -| **User override** | A spend limit for one user that supersedes their group budget. | **Groups** > {group} > **Members** tab | -| **Effective group** | The group that supplies a user's budget and has their spend associated with it. | Resolved automatically | -| **Estimated spend** | A user's approximate spend in the current budget period. | Estimated from usage | +| Term | What it means | Where it is set | +|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------| +| **Budget period** | The window spend accumulates in before it resets. Defaults to the UTC calendar month. | Deployment settings | +| **Budget policy** | The rule that selects a user's effective group. Defaults to the highest budget. | Deployment settings | +| **Group budget** | A spend limit granted to each member of a group. | **Groups** > {group} > **Settings** | +| **User override** | A spend limit for one user that supersedes their group budget. | **Groups** > {group} > **Members** tab | +| **Effective group** | The group that supplies a user's budget and has their spend associated with it. | Resolved automatically | +| **Approximate spend** | A user's approximate spend in the current budget period. | Calculated from usage | ## Deployment settings @@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ affected user: For delivery methods, see [Notifications](../../admin/monitoring/notifications/index.md). -## How spend is estimated +## How spend is calculated Coder multiplies the token usage of each request by the published price of the model that served it. Prices come from a curated [models.dev](https://models.dev) @@ -200,10 +200,10 @@ https://github.com/coder/coder/blob/release//coderd/aibridge/prices/dat Replace `` with your Coder minor version, for example `2.36`. > [!IMPORTANT] -> Estimated spend can differ from provider-reported amounts, and some usage might -> not count toward spend: +> Approximate spend can differ from provider-reported amounts, and some usage +> might not count toward spend: > -> - Estimates exclude negotiated discounts, committed-use pricing, and +> - Approximate spend excludes negotiated discounts, committed-use pricing, and > provider-specific billing rules. > - Requests to models that are missing from the price table record token usage > but add nothing to a user's spend. A user who only calls unpriced models is @@ -275,7 +275,9 @@ Visibility follows the viewer's role: group budget. If the effective group is another group in the same organization, the row shows `Budget managed by another group`. If the effective group is in a different organization, the row shows a dash and explains that the group is not - visible there. + visible there. Because the organization's `Everyone` group includes every + member, its **Members** tab is a quick way to look up any user's effective + group. - The avatar menu reports the signed-in user's own spend for the budget period as `$ / $ USD`, or `$ / Unlimited USD` when no budget applies. @@ -286,7 +288,7 @@ endpoint to see a user's current effective group. ### CSV Export -Users who can read group-member data for the organization can export estimated +Users who can read group-member data for the organization can export approximate spend for reporting and internal cost allocation. The export is available through the API only. @@ -333,7 +335,7 @@ Expect the following differences: Control applied the lowest. - Budgets cover priced AI Gateway traffic. Chat, IDE extensions, and CLI agents draw on the same budget when their provider and model are priced. See - [How spend is estimated](#how-spend-is-estimated). + [How spend is calculated](#how-spend-is-calculated). - Recorded spend does not carry over. Every user starts the first period at $0 USD. - Coder Agents users who exceed their budget see a usage limit error in chat. From a75e8ddcc163a93ea4a1dc671fe340f01e83266f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Susana Ferreira Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2026 17:15:46 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 2/3] Update docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md Co-authored-by: Nick Vigilante --- docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md | 3 +-- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md b/docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md index c8d5c639a8b..1824d18848f 100644 --- a/docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md +++ b/docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md @@ -18,8 +18,7 @@ AI Governance Cost Control requires: > [!NOTE] > AI Governance Cost Control reports approximate spend rather than billed cost. -> These figures will not match your provider invoices exactly. For details, see -> [How spend is calculated](#how-spend-is-calculated). +> These figures will not match your provider invoices exactly. For details, visit [How spend is calculated](#how-spend-is-calculated). These terms appear throughout this page and in the Coder dashboard: From 6a90dadb8007af3c82fa8bb1e2a6418e5aa5ee9f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Susana Ferreira Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2026 17:16:00 +0100 Subject: [PATCH 3/3] Update docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md Co-authored-by: Nick Vigilante --- docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md | 3 +-- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md b/docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md index 1824d18848f..5e95b826440 100644 --- a/docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md +++ b/docs/ai-coder/ai-gateway/cost-controls.md @@ -199,8 +199,7 @@ https://github.com/coder/coder/blob/release//coderd/aibridge/prices/dat Replace `` with your Coder minor version, for example `2.36`. > [!IMPORTANT] -> Approximate spend can differ from provider-reported amounts, and some usage -> might not count toward spend: +> Approximate spend can differ from provider-reported amounts, and some usage might not count toward spend: > > - Approximate spend excludes negotiated discounts, committed-use pricing, and > provider-specific billing rules.