> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://explore.airia.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What your users experience

> How budgets, warnings, and limits appear to people who use Airia day to day.

Most people in your organization will never open Spend Management — they just use Airia. This page explains what spending under a budget looks like for them, so you know exactly what your users see before and when a limit is reached.

A budget can be enforced on someone at three levels — as an individual **User**, through a **Project** they're working in, or through a **Gateway** they're using — and a person can be subject to more than one at once.

## Warnings before a limit

As spend approaches a limit, Airia shows a warning banner in chat under the heading **Budget warnings**. The banner names the level, how far along it is, and when it resets. For example:

<CodeGroup>
  ```text Your own limit theme={null}
  You've used 80% of your monthly spending limit. Resets [date].
  ```

  ```text A project's limit theme={null}
  [Project name] has used 80% of its monthly limit. Resets [date].
  ```

  ```text A gateway's limit theme={null}
  The [gateway name] gateway has used 80% of its monthly limit. Resets [date].
  ```

  ```text The company limit theme={null}
  Your usage is approaching the organization limit. Contact your admin.
  ```
</CodeGroup>

If more than one limit is getting close at the same time, the banner summarizes them — for example, *2 spending limits approaching* — and your users can minimize or expand it.

<Note>
  As an administrator, you control how early these banners appear. Where the **Show end-user warnings starting at** setting is available, you choose the percentage at which warnings begin (or **Never** to turn them off). Its helper text says it plainly: *End users will see a warning banner in chat when they reach this percentage of their limit.*
</Note>

## When a limit is reached

If a budget has a **Hard Limit** enabled, requests are blocked once spend reaches 100%. The banner then tells the user that chat is paused and when it will resume:

<CodeGroup>
  ```text Your own limit theme={null}
  You've reached your monthly spending limit. Chat is paused. Resets [date].
  ```

  ```text A project's limit theme={null}
  [Project name] has reached its monthly limit. Chat is paused. Resets [date].
  ```

  ```text A gateway's limit theme={null}
  The [gateway name] gateway has reached its monthly limit. Chat is paused. Resets [date].
  ```

  ```text The company limit theme={null}
  Usage is temporarily paused by your organization. Contact your admin.
  ```
</CodeGroup>

<Info>
  **Paused, not lost.** When a budget resets — nightly for daily budgets, and at the start of the week or month for weekly and monthly budgets — usage resumes automatically. Nothing your users created is removed.
</Info>

<Warning>
  If your budget has **Hard Limit** turned off, your users won't be blocked when a limit is passed — they'll still see warnings, but chat keeps working. Enabling **Hard Limit** is what turns a warning into a pause. See [Enforcement policy](/admin-hub/budgets-and-spend/budget-policies#enforcement-policy).
</Warning>

## Spending controls give users room

When you've enabled the **Spending controls** on a budget, users have some flexibility once they reach a limit:

* **Allow to resume** lets them resume their spending after reaching the limit.
* **Allow to edit** lets them edit their spending after reaching the limit.

If these aren't enabled, a reached **Hard Limit** stays paused until the budget resets or an administrator adjusts it.

## Email alerts for the right people

Banners keep your users informed in the moment. **Budget alerts** keep administrators and stakeholders informed by email. When spend crosses a threshold you've set (for example 50%, 80%, or 95%), everyone on the **Send budget alerts to:** list is emailed automatically — so the people responsible for a budget hear about it even if they aren't in the app.

Set thresholds and recipients in [Budget Policies → Budget alerts](/admin-hub/budgets-and-spend/budget-policies#budget-alerts).

<Tip>
  Pair the two: set in-app warnings early so users can self-correct, and add a high email threshold (like 95%) so a budget owner is notified before anyone is paused.
</Tip>