> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.firedrill.run/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Credits

> How Firedrill credits are estimated, reserved and released when you prepare worlds, start tools and reassess drills.

Firedrill uses **credits** for the cloud resources and model calls it runs for you, such as simulated users, synthetic tools and scoring. You always see an estimate before anything that uses credits starts.

## How it works

1. **Estimate.** `firedrill plan`, `firedrill tools start` and `reassess` show an estimate and a maximum before you approve.
2. **Reserve.** When you approve, the estimate is reserved from your organization's credits.
3. **Release.** When the work is settled, unused credits are released.

A credit is not a fixed number of drills. The estimate depends on the scenarios, repetitions, tools and scoring in your world.

## What is not charged

* Your agent's own model calls. If your agent uses your model API key, your model provider bills you directly.
* Running your agent on your machine.

## Credit approval

Owners can turn on **Credit approval** in **Settings → Billing**. Starting work then needs an extra budget confirmation. In the CLI, add `--approve-credits`.

## See your usage

Open **Settings → Billing** to see your credits, where they came from, when they expire, and your usage history. You can also redeem an event code there.

```bash theme={null}
firedrill billing usage --from 2026-11-01T00:00:00Z --to 2026-11-30T23:59:59Z
```

If you run out, commands fail with `simulation_balance_insufficient`. Add credits in **Settings → Billing**.

> [card] [Run drills](https://docs.firedrill.run/run/run-drills.md)
>
> Where the estimate appears.

> [card] [Team and roles](https://docs.firedrill.run/account/team.md)
>
> Who can change billing settings.


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