Running out of credits
When your Captain credits reach zero, Captain stops answering in Credits mode. Nothing is lost: your profile, your draft changes and the conversation stay as they are.
What you see
Section titled “What you see”The message box is turned off. In its place you see “You’re out of Captain credits.” The starter buttons on an empty chat are turned off too.
If you run out part-way through a message, Captain stops and shows “Captain ran out of credits for this message.” The changes it made before stopping stay in your draft. Open the activity line on the reply to see which steps ran.
Before you reach zero, the credit count changes colour when your balance is low, so you have a warning.
Your options
Section titled “Your options”Next to the message, Captain shows the one button that fits your plan:
- Buy credits appears when your plan offers extra credits. It opens the purchase in your InteOcean account, in a new tab.
- Upgrade appears when a higher plan with a larger allowance exists. It opens the plans in your InteOcean account, on the plan that raises your credits.
- No button appears on the highest plan.
You can also:
- Wait for the refill. The refill date is shown with your balance on the Credits page of the Captain app. See Monthly credits.
- Use your own model. On a plan that includes Bring Your Own Model, messages answered by your model use no credits. Running out of credits blocks only Credits mode: switch the chat to Your model and carry on. See Requirements.
- Keep editing by hand. The dashboard editor does not use Captain credits.
Plans and what they include are on the pricing page.
In the mobile app
Section titled “In the mobile app”The mobile app shows your balance and the out-of-credits message. It has no Buy credits or Upgrade button. Use the dashboard or the Captain app in a browser for those.
After you have credits again
Section titled “After you have credits again”If the message box still looks turned off, reload the page. Captain reads your balance when the chat opens and again after every message.
A message that was refused because you were out of credits was not run and was not charged. Send it again.
Make credits last longer
Section titled “Make credits last longer”- Ask for related changes in one message instead of many small ones. Each message has the model re-read your profile outline and recent conversation.
- Select Clear conversation when you start a different task. A shorter conversation costs less per message.
- Attach only the documents Captain needs. The text of an attached document stays in the conversation and is read again on later messages.
See How a message is charged for what makes a message cost more or less.