The decision
Usage controls should protect against both accidental loops and intentional abuse. A per-minute request limit alone is insufficient if one request can process an enormous document or generate a very large output. Bound each operation and the total budget it can consume.
A worked example
A trial feature allows a small number of drafts, caps note length and output length, and reserves estimated cost before a job starts. If the daily account budget is exhausted, the application rejects new work and shows when access resets. A global budget protects the service even if many accounts each remain under their individual allowance.
How to put it into practice
- Set maximum input size and output size in addition to request frequency.
- Limit concurrent jobs so a burst cannot overwhelm workers or the provider.
- Track reserved and actual cost so simultaneous requests do not all pass the same remaining-budget check.
- Alert on unusual failures, retry volume, and spend relative to useful results.
A failure to plan for
Client-side counters reset easily and can be bypassed. Keep enforcement in durable server state and test two simultaneous requests competing for the last available budget.
Try it on your project
Send a maximum-size input, a burst of requests, and concurrent requests near the budget limit in an isolated environment. Confirm that rejected work never reaches the model and that limits recover predictably.
Keep the next step small
Use the free demand scorecard or planning tools to make your assumptions explicit. The $19 launch kit brings the blueprint and seven editable worksheets together.