On this page
01
What you'll set up
Cloptima credits let you send requests through the gateway without a provider account or API keys. Credits pay for requests at provider list prices, so you can start in minutes and keep full governance from the first call.
- Credits added to your organization
- A first request that runs on credits
- A view of which spend ran on credits and which on your own keys
- Limits so credits are never used by accident
- A clear path to your own provider keys
Owners, admins, and billing admins can add credits. Anyone with a virtual key can send requests.
02
How credits fit in
Every request is paid one of two ways. If the request uses a provider key of your own, your provider bills you. If it does not, the request runs on Cloptima credits.
| Balance | Where it comes from | How it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly included credits | Your plan | Used first, and renewed each month |
| Purchased credits | Packs you add | Used after the monthly credits, and carried forward |
Both appear on the Managed LLM Credits card in Organization settings, along with the total available.
03
Add credits
Credits are bought in packs from your organization settings.
- 1
Open Managed LLM Credits
Go to Organization settings and find the Managed LLM Credits card. It shows your balance.
- 2
Choose Add credits
Pick a credit pack.
- 3
Check out
Checkout opens on a secure hosted page and brings you back to the console when you finish.
- 4
Confirm the balance
Your balance updates once the payment is confirmed.
Add managed LLM credits
- 2Credit pack
- $30$50$100$200$500$1,000
| Credits | $50.00 |
| You receive | $50.00 |
| Total today | $52.50 |
Includes a 5% payment processing fee.
04
Send your first request
Create a virtual key, then call the gateway like any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Because you have not attached a provider key of your own, the request runs on credits.
- 1
Create a virtual key
Go to AI → Credentials & Keys and create a key for your app.
- 2
Check the policy
Make sure a policy is bound to the key. With no policy, the gateway asks you to bind one.
- 3
Send a call from the console
Open Test Virtual Key, select the key, and choose Send Test Call.
- 4
Send a call from your code
Point your OpenAI-compatible client at the gateway and use the virtual key as the API key.
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(base_url="https://api.cloptima.ai/v1/ai", api_key="clop_vk_...")
reply = client.chat.completions.create(
model="YOUR_MODEL",
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Say hello"}],
)
print(reply.choices[0].message.content)05
Check which funding applies
You can see how a request would be paid for before you send it.
- 1
Open the Request Simulator
It is in AI → Policies. Enter a model and select the virtual key.
- 2
Read the credential
The result shows which credential the request would use. Platform managed credits means the request runs on credits.
In AI → Explorer, group by Credential Mode to see how much of your spend ran on credits and how much on your own keys.
06
Put limits around credits
Credits are prepaid, so a limit keeps one job from using them all. The same policy controls apply to credit-funded requests as to any other.
- 1
Open the policy
Go to AI → Policies and open the policy bound to the key.
- 2
Set a Monthly budget
Choose an amount below the credits you are willing to use this month.
- 3
Add a rate limit
A request limit per minute keeps a retry loop from spending quickly.
- 4
Restrict models
Allow only the models the app needs, so no one picks the most expensive one by habit.
07
Credits or your own keys
You can mix both. Pick per workload.
Cloptima credits
- No provider account or keys to manage
- Prepaid, billed at provider list prices
- The fastest way to start
Your own provider keys
- You pay your provider directly
- Your negotiated rates apply in reports
- Keys stay yours
| Stage | A good fit |
|---|---|
| Prototype and evaluation | Credits |
| Internal tools | Either, depending on volume |
| High-volume production with a provider contract | Your own keys |
08
Move a workload to your own keys
When volume grows, connect your own provider key. Governance, budgets, and reports stay the same. Only who you pay changes.
- 1
Add the credential
Go to AI → Credentials & Keys. In Provider Credentials, choose + Add Credential and enter your provider key.
- 2
Attach it
On the policy, choose it as the Default upstream credential or add a Per-provider credential override on the Advanced step. A virtual key can carry its own per-provider override too.
- 3
Confirm in the Request Simulator
The result now names your credential instead of Platform managed credits.
- 4
Add your contract rates
Record your negotiated rates so reports show what you pay.
09
Keep an eye on the balance
The Managed LLM Credits card shows what is left. A banner appears in the console when the balance runs low, and again when it reaches zero.
At a zero balance, requests that run on credits return HTTP 402 until you add more. Requests that use your own provider keys carry on.
10
If something goes wrong
Most questions are about who can buy credits and when the balance updates.
| What you see | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| 402 on a request that runs on credits | The balance is used up | Add credits |
| Add credits is not available | Only owners, admins, and billing admins can buy credits | Ask one of them |
| The balance has not changed after checkout | The payment is still being confirmed | Refresh after a moment |
| 403 policy_not_configured | No policy is bound to the key | Bind a policy to the key, app, or team |