Set usage limits and alerts
You can manage usage alerts and limits for your whole organization, users, teams (departments or identity provider groups), and agents from the Usage dashboard. Usage limits reset at the start of each calendar month.
The steps below apply to both the Enterprise Flex dashboard and the Glean Core Suite and Model Hub dashboard. Usage amounts appear in FlexCredits on Enterprise Flex plans and in dollars (Model Hub Usage cost) on Glean Core Suite plans. Where behavior differs by plan, it's called out inline.
How Glean enforces limits
Glean enforces limits in near real time. If a user query or agent run crosses the threshold while it's running, Glean lets the in-flight action finish, then blocks subsequent billable usage for the rest of the calendar month. As a result, a small amount of overage may occur.
Glean does not support user or agent usage limits for the legacy Glean Enterprise plan.
Set limits for all users
Here's how to manage the default usage limit for all users:
At the top of the dashboard, select Manage usage limits to display a modal where you can configure usage alerts and monthly usage limits. By default, Glean sends alert emails to Super Admins, Admins, and Billing Moderators.
Total usage alerts (Enterprise Flex only)
Total usage alerts are available on the Enterprise Flex plan, which tracks a pool of credits across your contract period.
In the All time section, the Total usage alerts card shows your Total available credits and contract period.
Under Admin alerts (daily digest email), select the thresholds (50%, 75%, 90%, or 100%) at which Glean sends alert emails. To add additional recipients to the alert email list, toggle Add additional recipients and enter the email addresses of the recipients.
Monthly usage limits
In the Monthly usage limits section, you can set the following limits:
- Total monthly limit: Set a total limit for your organization.
- User monthly limit: Set a default limit for each user.
- Agent monthly limit: Set a default limit for each agent.
To set any of these limits, first turn on its toggle. Then, configure the limit and alert threshold:
- In the Usage limit field, enter the maximum amount allowed for the period (FlexCredits or dollars, depending on your plan).
- Under Admin alerts (daily digest email), select the thresholds at which Glean sends alert emails. To add additional recipients to the alert email list, toggle Add additional recipients and enter the email addresses of the recipients.
- (Optional) Select Block usage until the next month to stop usage once the limit is reached. Usage resumes at the start of the next calendar month. If you leave this unchecked, Glean sends alerts to admins but does not block usage once users reach the limit.
When you finish configuring limits, select Save.
Set limits for specific users
You can override the default limit for an individual user.
In the Breakdown section of the Usage dashboard, select the By users tab. Select the three dots menu next to a user to open the Manage usage limit modal, where you can set a custom limit, remove their limit, or reset their limit to the default.
Set a custom limit for a user
- Select Set an amount.
- In the Usage limit field, enter the maximum amount the user can consume per month (FlexCredits or dollars, depending on your plan).
- (Optional) Select Block usage until the next month to stop the user's usage once they reach the limit. The user's usage resumes at the start of the next calendar month.
- Select Save.
Remove limit for a user
- Select No limit. The user has no individual usage limit, but if you configured an organizational limit, it still applies.
- Select Save.
Reset a user's limit to the default
To remove an individual override and reapply the default limit, select Reset to default, then select Save.
Set limits within a department
Apply a monthly department limit to allocate different budgets to different teams without individually configuring each user. For example, you might give all developers within Engineering a higher limit than all staff within HR.
Department limits rely on the department metadata in your people data. Make sure department members have department information in your identity provider or org chart. See People data attribute mapping.
To set a limit for a department:
- Select the Current month. In the Breakdown section of the Usage dashboard, select the By departments tab.
- Select the three dots menu next to a department to open the Manage usage limit modal.
- Select Set an amount, then enter the maximum amount each member of the department can consume per month (FlexCredits or dollars, depending on your plan).
- (Optional) Select Block usage until the next month to stop a member's usage once they reach the limit. Their usage resumes at the start of the next calendar month. If you leave this unchecked, Glean sends alerts but doesn't block usage.
- Select Save.
Glean enforces department limits the same way as user limits. For details, see How Glean enforces limits.
How department limits interact with other limits
A department limit is not pooled. It sets the same monthly limit for each member of the department. For example, if you set a $100 department limit for R&D, every user in R&D gets an individual $100 limit — not $100 shared across the whole team.
When more than one limit could apply to a user, Glean enforces the most specific one, in this order:
- Individual user limit: An override set for a specific user on the By users tab.
- Department limit: The limit set for the user's department.
- Default user limit: The organization-wide user limit.
- Start with alert-only limits (leave Block usage until the next month unchecked) to observe how each department consumes before you enforce hard caps.
- Set higher limits for departments that rely on Glean more heavily, and use individual overrides for power users who need more headroom than their department's limit allows.
- Because department attribution follows current department metadata, revisit your limits after reorganizations so they stay aligned with your teams.
Set team limits
Team limits apply a monthly per-user default to every current member of a selected team. The limit isn't a shared team budget. For example, a $100 team limit gives each member a $100 monthly limit.
Your teams and their memberships must be available in Glean before you configure limits. See Group-based permissions for supported identity providers and identity sync requirements. You don't need to assign Glean roles to a team to use it for usage limits.
Switch from departments to IdP groups
A workspace uses either departments or IdP groups as the team source for per-user defaults. You can't apply both at the same time.
Switching to IdP groups discards existing department-level default usage limits. Individual user overrides and the organization-wide default user limit aren't affected. You can't recover discarded department-level defaults if you switch back.
To use IdP groups as your teams:
- Select the Current month. In the Breakdown section of the Usage dashboard, open the three dots menu and select Manage usage by IdP groups instead.
- In the Settings modal, select Switch to Groups. This changes the By departments view to By groups and discards existing department-level default usage limits.
- (Optional) To change how Glean resolves limits for users who belong to more than one configured team, open the three dots menu next to the Groups breakdown, select Group settings, then choose an option under Multi-group usage limit. If you take no action, Glean applies Highest limit.
- Highest limit applies the highest matching limit. A team with no limit takes precedence over teams with a limit.
- Lowest limit applies the lowest matching limit. A team with no limit doesn't override a team with a limit.
- Select Save.
Before switching, make sure an IdP group provider is configured and its groups and memberships are available in Glean. If a user doesn't belong to a team with a configured limit, the default user limit applies.
Set a limit for a team
- Select the Current month. In the Breakdown section of the Usage dashboard, select the By groups tab.
- Select the three dots menu next to a team, then click Manage user usage limit.
- Select Set an amount, then enter the maximum amount each member can consume per month (FlexCredits or dollars, depending on your plan).
- (Optional) Select Block usage until the next month to stop a member's billable usage once they reach the limit. Their usage resumes at the start of the next calendar month. If you leave this unchecked, Glean sends alerts but doesn't block usage.
- Click Save.
View team usage
The By groups tab shows each synced team's current member count, current-month usage, and configured per-user limit. The usage total includes each current member's full usage. It isn't progress toward a pooled team limit.
A user who belongs to multiple teams contributes their full usage to each team. As a result, team totals overlap and shouldn't be added together or compared with the organization total. For previous months, the dashboard attributes usage using the current team membership data, not the membership from that month.
How team limits interact with other limits
When more than one per-user limit could apply, Glean uses this order:
- Individual user limit: An override set for a specific user on the By users tab
- Team limit: The team limit selected by the Highest limit or Lowest limit setting
- Default user limit: The organization-wide user limit
Organization-wide and agent limits apply independently. Reaching either limit can still block a request even when a user's individual or team limit hasn't been reached.
Team membership changes affect the user's limit going forward. Glean keeps the user's existing month-to-date usage, so joining or leaving a team doesn't reset their usage.
Team usage limits control how much team members can consume. They don't grant access to Glean features or change connector permissions. To manage roles and feature access with IdP groups, see Group-based permissions.
Set limits for all agents
Here's how to manage the default usage limit for all agents:
- At the top of the dashboard, select Manage usage limits to display a modal where you can configure usage alerts and monthly usage limits.
- Toggle on Agent monthly limit.
- Configure the limits according to the previous instructions in Set limits for all users, but for all agents instead of users.
Set limits for specific agents
Here's how to manage the usage limit for a specific agent:
- In the Breakdown section of the Usage dashboard, select the By product types tab.
- Select Agents to open the Agents usage page.
- On the Agents usage page, select the three dots menu next to an agent to open the Manage usage limit modal. Configure the limits according to the previous instructions in Set limits for specific users, but for the agent you selected instead of a specific user.
End-user experience with limits
As a user approaches and reaches a configured limit, Glean notifies them through email and in-product banners so they know their current status. End-user notifications appear at 75%, 90%, and 100% of the limit. The 50% threshold applies only to admin alert emails.
End users can view a personal usage page under Profile → Your settings → Usage only when their organization configures usage limits and an admin enables an applicable hard-cap usage limit for them. On Enterprise Flex and Glean Core Suite plans, the page shows current-month usage and, when the hard cap applies, progress toward the limit. For details, see View your usage.