Why AI work uses credit holds

An AI request can fail after it starts, be retried by a browser, or race another worker. Charging at the beginning over-bills failures; charging only at the end can overspend a shared balance.

Instaflow reserves available credits before provider work. Successful generations settle the hold alongside the durable artifact or action. Failed generations release it, while abandoned holds expire through maintenance.

The Usage page reads the append-only ledger, so the displayed totals come from server-authoritative debit and credit events rather than editable settings.