What are AI credits?
AI credits are the unit of measurement for AI actions in Protodesk. Most actions cost one credit; heavier actions like multi-variant Suggest and auto-resolve cost two.
Key takeaways
- AI credits make support automation easier to forecast than per-resolution billing.
- Most preparation actions cost less than customer-facing automation.
- Credit usage should be reviewed by workflow, not only by total monthly spend.
Quick answer
AI credits are the unit Protodesk uses to measure AI work. They let teams forecast usage for triage, ticket context, sidekick drafts, and auto-resolve without treating every automated answer as a surprise line item.
What counts as a credit
- AI triage: 1 credit.
- Ticket Context refresh: 1 credit.
- AI sidekick draft: 1 credit.
- Auto-resolve attempt: 2 credits.
What costs zero credits
- Manual replies.
- Reading tickets.
- Searching and filtering the inbox.
- Using canned responses.
- Editing AI drafts before sending.
How to forecast usage
Start with monthly ticket volume, then decide which percentage should receive triage, sidekick drafts, and auto-resolve. A small team may triage every ticket, draft replies for half of them, and auto-resolve only a narrow set of routine questions.
How to avoid wasting credits
- Fix weak knowledge base articles before retrying auto-resolve.
- Use labels to limit automation to the topics that are safe.
- Review draft acceptance so credits go toward useful preparation.
- Pause automation on topics with high reopen or escalation rates.
Why AI credits are easier to plan than vague AI usage
Support teams need to know what AI will cost before they depend on it. Credits make the cost model operational: triage, drafts, context refreshes, and auto-resolve attempts each have a known unit cost.
That matters because AI usage grows differently from seat count. A two-person team can have a large ticket queue, and a larger team can use little automation. Credits let the team forecast based on actual support behavior rather than only the number of agents.
The practical way to plan is to estimate monthly tickets, decide how many receive triage, how many need drafts, and how many are safe enough for auto-resolve.
How to reduce wasted credits
- Keep labels simple so triage does not need repeated correction.
- Improve articles that produce weak drafts instead of regenerating the same answer.
- Limit auto-resolve to topics with reliable source coverage.
- Use canned responses for fixed policy wording that does not need generation.
- Review credit usage by workflow, not only as one monthly total.
Frequently asked questions
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