Unexpected Credit Surge in Clay Workflow Using Sonnet 3.5 Steps | Clay

Unexpected Credit Surge in Clay Workflow Using Sonnet 3.5 Steps

Hey I was running my Clay workflow today with a couple of different Claygent steps using Sonnet 3.5. Compared to running this same exact workflow in the past I noticed I was burning through a high amount of credits. I then saw that one of the Claygent Sonnet 3.5 steps charged me 15 credits per row instead of the projected 3 credits per row which it charged me when I ran it at scale last time a couple of weeks ago. An unexpected and unannounced 5x increase in credit usage makes it difficult for me to justify having this workflow on Clay compared to build out the service myself. Is this sudden overcharging a bug or what is happening?

12 comments

Channeled
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This isn't a bug but rather a feature of how AI credit costs work in Clay. The credit cost for AI models like Sonnet 3.5 varies based on prompt complexity and token usage. What likely happened is that your workflow's prompts became more complex or longer, requiring more tokens to process. Clay now offers variable credit costs, where some rows may require additional credits if they exceed the default token limit. You can control this by editing your AI column and adjusting the "Clay Credit Budget" setting. This lets you set the maximum charge per row - only complex prompts will use the higher credit amount while simpler ones will cost less. If you need more credits, you can purchase credit top-ups on top of your existing plan.
Sources: Claygent (AI Web Researcher) with Artificial Intelligence Credits | Documentation | Clay University
Tom D.
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This specific prompt is unchanged from when I last ran it but it's still consuming 5x the number of tokens. This makes using Clay very unpredictable. Will the cost increase 5x again the next time I run it?
Channeled
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Credit costs for AI models like Sonnet 3.5 are based on prompt complexity and token usage, not just the prompt text itself. To ensure predictable credit usage: 1. Edit your AI column and set a specific "Clay Credit Budget" limit. This controls the maximum charge per row, with simpler prompts costing less. 2. Consider using your own API key instead of Clay's shared key to bypass Clay's credit system entirely. The variable credit system is designed to handle complex prompts rather than block them, but you control the maximum spend. If you need more credits, you can purchase credit top-ups on top of your existing plan.
Sources: Claygent (AI Web Researcher) with Artificial Intelligence Credits | Documentation | Clay University
Tom D.
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Where do I "adjust the Clay Credit Budget setting"? I can't find it when editing my Claygent column. See screenshot.
Channeled
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To adjust the "Clay Credit Budget" setting for your Claygent column: 1. Right-click on your Claygent column 2. Select "Edit Column" > "Select Data Type" 3. In the editing interface, look for the "Clay Credit Budget" setting 4. Update this value to a higher number if you need to allow more credits per row This setting controls the maximum credits that can be used for complex prompts. Only rows requiring more processing will use the higher credit amount - simpler prompts will still cost less. If you're still unable to locate this setting, you might need to request human assistance by clicking on "Talk to a person" for more specific guidance with your interface.
Sources: Select Column Data Type Claygent: AI Web Scraper [Clay 101] - Clay University
Tom D.
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This is the URL to the table: https://app.clay.com/workspaces/542055/workbooks/wb_C9ZWCBV5z3X3/tables/t_3v2tJwJX8hpn/views/gv_AyrN4nfkdD9K
Tom D.
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I couldn't help thinking it was odd that I was charged 15 credits per query even though I choose Sonnet 3.5 which is supposed to be 3 credits per query. For all my other web browsing Sonnet 3.5 this 3 credit budget has always hold true. So I tried changing to Sonnet 3.7 which indeed is projected to charge 15 credits, ran it once and as expected it charged me 15 credits. Then I switched back to Sonnet 3.5 which I had earlier and suddenly I'm charged 3 credits as expected and not 15. So I have basically been charged for Sonnet 3.7 even though I used 3.5 which has messed up my Clay credit budget for the month.
Tom D.
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Would be great if you could validate that I for rows 1390-1758 in the table I shared previously have configured to use Sonnet 3.5 but instead been charged for Sonnet 3.7.
Bo (.
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Hey, really sorry this happened. There was a recent change where Claygent using Sonnet 3.7 now charges 15 credits per row. We actually sent a message via email but it might have been missed. I can help fix this. Just let me know how many credits were used incorrectly, and I'll add them back to your account. Let me know if you have more questions.
Tom D.
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Hi Bo (.. Thank you for picking this up and explaining what happened. 5k credits was used incorrectly due to this.
Daniel K.
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Hey Tom, I went ahead and refunded 5k. If there's anything else I can assist you with, please let me know! 😊 Have a great Wednesday, Daniel
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Tom D.
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Thank you Daniel K.!