Some of what your organisation uses is metered per period and compared with your plan: device messages, e-mails, camera minutes and more. This page explains the Usage page, which quotas stop something when they run out and which never do, and how you are warned.
The Usage page
Open Usage (address /admin/usage): “Metered usage for the current period against your plan quotas”. You need the Admin role or higher.
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Metric | The metered value. |
| Value | The count so far in the period, in the metric’s unit. |
| Period | this month (the calendar month, UTC) or today. |
| Quota used | “value of quota unit” with a bar; No quota when your plan sets none; Unlimited; in grace while a soft overflow is allowed. |
Counts are updated within seconds. They are best effort: if a processing worker stops, a few seconds of counts can be lost, which counts in your favour.
What is metered
| Metric | Unit | Quota | When the quota is used up |
|---|---|---|---|
| IoT messages | messages | Your tier’s monthly allowance | Nothing stops. Messages are accepted and the overage is billed. See Message quota and usage. |
| IoT data points stored | points | None | For information only. |
| Automation messages | messages | Only when your plan sets one | New entries into flows on the General host are refused until the next month; webhook calls answer 429. See Flow limits. |
| Camera minutes | minutes | Your plan’s monthly minutes | Viewers see Camera minutes used up until the month changes. See Camera limits and privacy. |
| Panel tunnel data | bytes | Your plan’s monthly data | New router panel sessions are refused; running ones are not cut. See Remote access limits and audit. |
| Emails sent | emails | When your plan sets one | A flow’s Notify block leaves e-mail out and uses the other channels. See Email. |
| SMS sent | messages | When your plan sets one | SMS is left out. See SMS. |
| Storage | bytes | When your plan sets one | The stored files in use, net of deletions. |
| API calls, Webhook calls | calls | None | For information only. |
Only metrics whose module is on for your organisation are listed. Per-second rate limits (messages per second, data points per minute) are not quotas: they are not shown here and are explained in Plans and the IoT add-on.
Quota alerts
Hermetry checks usage periodically and warns once per month, metric and threshold:
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| The count passes a threshold (by default 80 % and 95 %) | The usage.threshold webhook is sent, and owners and admins get a notification. |
| The count reaches the quota exactly | Owners and admins are told the allowance is used up. |
| The count goes over | The usage.overage webhook is sent, and owners and admins are told. |
The notification text is shared by all quotas and says that what needs the allowance is refused until next month. For IoT messages that does not apply: nothing is refused. When a usage pack for that quota is on sale, the notification links to it; otherwise it links to Plan & Billing.
Change the thresholds
- On Usage, select Usage settings (Usage Settings: “When the usage job warns that a plan quota is filling up”).
- Edit Quota alert thresholds (%): “Comma-separated percentages of a plan quota (1 to 99, at most 5) at which a usage threshold webhook is sent, once a month each.” The default is
80, 95. - Save. “Going over the quota always sends an overage webhook.”
To receive the webhooks in your own systems, subscribe to usage.threshold and usage.overage. See Webhooks and Webhook event reference.
Usage packs
Where Hermetry offers them, usage packs add to one monthly quota:
| Kind | How it works |
|---|---|
| Monthly pack | A recurring add-on that raises the quota every month while you hold it. |
| Top-up | A one-time purchase that raises the quota until the start of the next month (UTC). Top-ups stack. |
Packs appear in the store and on My Modules. See Your subscription and entitlements.
Read usage over the API
GET /tenant/{tenantId}/api/tenant-usage/metricslists each metric with its label, unit, period, value and quota. GET /tenant/{tenantId}/api/tenant-usage/metrics/{metric}/series returns its curve over time. Both need the permission to read usage metrics (Admin).
Keeping usage down
- Send device readings less often, batch records, and send attributes only when they change. See Message quota and usage.
- Turn on the “still watching?” question for cameras on wall screens.
- Close router panel sessions when you are done.