Billing and NCU lifecycle

NCU is the hosted build credit unit. Before submitting, a signed-in dashboard user can obtain a quote and inspect wallet and ledger information; those are dashboard JWT operations, not automation-key operations. A quote estimates cost from the requested configuration and input metrics, but it does not itself reserve credits.

The earlier quote is advisory and does not lock a price. At submission, the service recalculates cost from the uploaded input and resolved platforms/features, then holds that submission quote from the wallet. On completion it reconciles the hold to the measured charge and refunds any unused portion. A failure before phase 2 receives a full refund; a mid-build failure is settled proportionally. Cancellation follows the task's reconciliation path, so inspect the dashboard ledger rather than assuming a full refund after work has started.

Because the submit POST is non-idempotent, an uncertain network outcome is a billing decision as well as a transport decision. Inspect build history and ledger entries before a human-approved resubmission. Plan quotas, grants, pricing, and retention can change; consult the current dashboard before committing a release budget.