Manage budgets

Set a daily spending cap for an organization, Team or Member, then choose how matching traffic is handled at the threshold.

Current controls

Supported Gateway paths check rate limits, model/provider access rules, and hard budgets before forwarding. A hard budget can refuse a new request with HTTP 402. An alert_only budget does not block admission. Configuration and availability depend on the managed deployment and client path.

Atlas can show configured budget records and captured activity. A saved budget is configuration evidence; an observed refusal is enforcement evidence. Estimated spend describes captured activity over a selected reporting window, not an authoritative shared balance or proof of complete coverage.

A listed AI tool is not necessarily routed through Gateway. Confirm each required client path using SDKs and AI tools and the policy boundaries.

Before you begin

You need the organization's Admin role and a live Gateway management view. Sample records do not permit writes. Budget configuration can be available without enforcement: Attributed spend metering is unavailable for Team and Member budgets. Block matching traffic can deny matching traffic while metering is unavailable; that is not a measured cap comparison. Organization enforcement depends on device application and available metering.

Create a daily budget

1. Open Gateway → Budgets for the intended organization.
2. Select Create budget.
3. Choose Organization, Team or Member under Applies to. For Team or Member, select the subject from the organization directory.
4. Set Cap (USD) and review Day under Reset period. The current creation form uses a rolling UTC daily window; a reporting chart does not establish a calendar reset.
5. Review the model/provider filters, soft threshold and Action at threshold. Alert only permits admission and does not establish notification delivery. Block matching traffic still requires the qualified enforcement and metering path.
6. Select Create budget, then confirm the scope, cap, period and response on the refreshed row.

Change a configured budget

1. Open Edit budget for the intended saved record.
2. Confirm the subject and window. They were set at creation and remain fixed during this edit.
3. Change Cap (USD), applicable filters, soft threshold, action or status.
4. Select Save changes.
5. Confirm the refreshed configuration. Test a new request on the affected supported path separately to verify application.

A manager title alone does not grant edit permission; use Roles and visibility. Team membership and a reporting relationship are separate from policy scope. Estimated spend uses its reporting window, not the budget's admission balance. Missing denial history is not proof that every request was admitted.

Understand the result

• Configured limits and reporting estimates.
• Refusal and recovery.
• Configured windows.
• Inspect usage and spend.