Usage & Credits

How usage is measured

Every call to Alchemist is attributed to your API key and broken down into two layers:

Layer	What it tracks
Requests	Top-level actions: a search, a document fetch, a chat turn
Token events	The underlying LLM and embedding calls that power each request

You’re billed at the request level — not per token. Tokens are tracked internally for cost transparency and displayed in your usage dashboard.

What counts as a request

Operation	Triggered by
`search`	`POST /api/insights/search` or `search_insights` MCP tool
`explore_message`	Chat turns in the Alchemist console or `search_web` MCP fallback

Fetching documents (GET /api/documents, GET /api/documents/{id}) does not currently count against your search quota.

Checking your usage

Via the API

curl "https://api.askalchemist.com/console/content/me/usage?days=30" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <clerk_jwt>"

{
  "days": 30,
  "start_date": "2026-05-17",
  "end_date": "2026-06-16",
  "total_input_tokens": 124800,
  "total_output_tokens": 38200,
  "total_tokens": 163000,
  "total_requests": 412,
  "daily": [
    {
      "date": "2026-06-16",
      "input_tokens": 3200,
      "output_tokens": 980,
      "total_tokens": 4180,
      "request_count": 11
    }
  ],
  "operations": [
    {
      "operation": "search",
      "input_tokens": 98000,
      "output_tokens": 12000,
      "total_tokens": 110000,
      "request_count": 380
    }
  ]
}

Via the app

Go to app.askalchemist.com/settings/usage for a visual breakdown by day and operation type.

Free tier limits

The free tier includes a generous monthly allowance for building and testing.

Specific free-tier limits are shown in the app under Settings → Usage. Contact hello@askalchemist.com for higher limits or custom plans.

Rate limits

Requests are rate-limited per API key, not per account. See the API Keys page for current limits and rate limit headers.

Cost-free operations

The following operations are tracked but do not consume your search quota:

GET /api/documents/filters — listing available sources
GET /api/documents — browsing document metadata
GET /api/documents/{doc_id} — fetching a document and its insights
list_filter_options MCP tool
list_documents MCP tool
get_document MCP tool

Get Started

Add to Agents

MCP Reference

API Reference

How usage is measured

What counts as a request

Checking your usage

Via the API

Via the app

Free tier limits

Rate limits

Cost-free operations

​How usage is measured

​What counts as a request

​Checking your usage

​Via the API

​Via the app

​Free tier limits

​Rate limits

​Cost-free operations

How usage is measured

What counts as a request

Checking your usage

Via the API

Via the app

Free tier limits

Rate limits

Cost-free operations