Beyond the pro-forma credit system, Relm has a soft "fair use" cap on AI token usage to prevent runaway spend. For most users this is invisible — you'll never approach the cap. This page documents how it works in case you do.
What counts as token usage
- Chat queries. Each turn of the AI chat panel uses tokens for input + output.
- Deep Research runs. Each agent's reasoning consumes tokens.
- AI Summary generation. Tokens for the summary's reasoning + output.
- Per-unit research. Same.
What doesn't count:
- Pro-forma generation. That's accounted via credits, not tokens.
- Document indexing (embedding) — tracked separately and not capped at the user level.
- Static UI rendering — no AI involved.
Self-Serve cap
Self-Serve has a monthly token allowance that resets each cycle, set high enough that typical usage (heavy chat + several deep-research runs) never approaches it. If you do approach it, the UI shows a warning at 80% and 95% of the allowance.
If you exceed:
- New chat / Deep Research / AI Summary actions are throttled or temporarily disabled.
- Existing pro-formas, sections, and chat history remain readable.
- The cap resets at the next billing cycle.
Enterprise
Enterprise contracts include a much higher allowance (or, for some contracts, no cap). Specific terms are in your contract.
If your team is approaching its allowance, your account contact gets notified at 80% — there's no surprise lockout.
Where to see usage
- Settings → Billing → Usage shows your current month's token consumption against your allowance.
- The dashboard shows a small chip when you're past 80%.
Why we have a cap at all
Two reasons:
- Cost control — frontier-model tokens cost real money. Without a cap, a runaway script (or a bug) could consume orders of magnitude more than expected.
- Quality — heavy users sometimes hit reasoning latency budgets. The cap is a soft signal that the workload is unusual and worth a conversation about Enterprise.
Adjusting
If you legitimately need more tokens than Self-Serve allows, the cleanest path is to upgrade to Enterprise. We don't sell token packs as a Self-Serve add-on.