MCP Metering Schedule

Revision: September 19, 2026.

Resource units

A request uses credits equal to its measured compute-seconds divided by 2, plus its delivered response bytes divided by 1,048,576. Compute and data contributions are additive. One MiB is 1,048,576 bytes.

Example: 2 compute-seconds and 1 MiB delivered consume 2 credits. A cached response using 0.02 compute-seconds and 0.25 MiB consumes 0.26 credits.

Compute-seconds mean aggregate processor time attributable to the request across execution workers and database processing. This is not end-to-end elapsed time: queueing, network wait, idle hosting, ingestion, backups and unrelated customers' work are excluded. Parallel work is summed. If a component cannot be attributed reliably, it cannot be charged as measured compute under this definition; the serving architecture must provide measurement before MCP activation.

Delivered bytes mean the uncompressed UTF-8 or binary response payload successfully written to the client transport, including requested provenance and result metadata. HTTP/TLS framing, request uploads, transport retries and duplicate server retries are excluded. Transport delivery cannot prove a human read the result.

Precision and failures

Credits are accumulated fractionally. No whole-credit minimum or per-request upward rounding applies. Preserve raw integer CPU-time and byte measurements, request identifiers and the applied schedule version so charges can be recalculated. Account monetary calculations must preserve sub-cent amounts; do not round every request to a cent.

Authentication and validation failures, requests rejected before execution, and internal service errors cost zero. Customer cancellation consumes resources already used and results already delivered before cancellation took effect. A service-imposed timeout is treated as an internal failure and is not charged. A customer-specified execution limit follows cancellation accounting. Internal retries must not produce duplicate charges; a customer's newly submitted request is a separate request. Cached results are billed only for actual attributable work and bytes delivered.

Rates and spending protection

Early Discount Access rates are $0.002 per credit for the accepted introductory period, then $0.0025 per credit. The $500 access fee includes no usage balance.

Customers must be able to set a per-request spending limit. Execution must reserve sufficient funded balance before work starts and stop within the authorized limit. A request cannot silently overdraw its authorized budget. Usage statements expose request ID, compute time, bytes, credits, rate and dollar debit. Final implementation and metering tests must pass before activation.