What a $1.00 scheduled run can make: captions, music, images

A Scheduled run that has no cap of its own can spend up to $1.00 of generation, and that buys five standalone caption jobs, eight Music Router tracks, thirteen Ideogram 4.5 images at medium quality, or one short avatar clip. Pick one, or mix them as long as the total stays under a dollar.

The cap is a default, not a fixed ceiling you cannot move. This page converts it into what you can actually plan a schedule around, using the flat prices in Sume's docs.

What is the default cap on a schedule?

The create-a-schedule doc says the generation spend cap bounds what one run may spend on generation, and that when unset the effective default is $1.00 per run. A caller can lower the cap for one run with generation_spend_cap_usd, but never raise it above the schedule's cap. Sending null runs without the automation ceiling, though wallet balance, generation admission and org limits still apply, and 0 is rejected.

The run receipt reports usage.billable_amount_usd_micros, the generation spend counted against the cap. It counts both reserved and captured amounts, so it climbs while work is in flight, and it excludes the agent's own LLM turn.

What does $1.00 buy?

Each row converts the cap into whole units of one product. The prices are the flat ones in the model docs: $0.20 per standalone caption job, $0.125 per Music Router generation, $0.02 per trim, and so on. The Ideogram 4.5 and avatar prices come from the clone's provider-pricing package.

Since reserved amounts count, assume the full estimate is spent as soon as a job is accepted.

Can one run mix several products?

Yes; the cap counts the sum. A scheduled morning job that makes one background track, four medium images and two caption jobs reserves $0.125 plus $0.30 plus $0.40, which is $0.825 and leaves $0.175 in headroom.

If an agent decides to add a fifth caption it would reach $1.025, and the run cannot spend past its cap, so it ends instead. Design the schedule's instruction around a fixed count of paid steps and leave a margin.

When should I lower or raise the cap?

Lower it per run when the work is smaller: a run that only trims clips needs a few cents, and generation_spend_cap_usd: 0.25 documents that intent and stops a runaway. Raising it is a schedule setting, since a per-run override can only lower the cap.

Ask what the worst successful run costs. For a daily schedule that is the sum of its paid steps, which you can price from the table. Multiply by the number of days to see the month: a $0.825 run, daily for 30 days, is $24.75 if every run spends its full estimate.

How do I check the real spend?

Read the run receipt and GET /v1/usage with run_id. The usage summary separates debited (what the wallet deducted) from held and refunded rows, and the receipt's billable amount is a running figure rather than an invoice. Confirm live rates on the API pricing page before you commit to a schedule's budget.